Mom of the Year

I'm out of the running AGAIN this year! Man. Maybe next year.
This is one of those stories that I would probably rather forget, but Randy told me I need to write it down, and as it gets farther and farther away I am able to laugh about it a little more.
Last week Randy was gone for the whole week. Because the days were so long with just the three of us, I made it my goal to get the girls in bed most nights around 8 so that I could have some time by myself to catch up on housework, do school, and just watch t.v. and rest. Tuesday night I was able to do that, but before I had put the girls to bed I had started the sprinkler in the front yard. After I put the girls down, I did some things around the house and remembered I needed to go turn off the water. Cooper was already asleep and I hadn't heard Kendall for a long time, so I figured she was asleep or almost asleep, and I was just going out to turn off the water and come right back in.
When I walked back around the side of the house though, I saw our neighbor, Bud. We said hi and then he told me that he just heard I was working on my masters. We started talking and I told him some about what I was doing and he was very complimentary and before I knew it, we had been talking awhile. It was fine though, I figured, because the girls were both asleep. Then Frannie pulled up with their daughter Nicole, who just found out she is pregnant recently with their first child. We started talking baby stuff and I started to think it had been a pretty long time and it was probably time for me to head back inside. When I went inside, it had been about 45 minutes. But both of the girls were still quiet, so I just took care of stuff around the house and went to bed.
The next morning, when Kendall called me from her room, I went in to get her and the first thing she said was this:
"Mom! Last night (which, I never know what this means--it could mean five minutes ago or it could mean two weeks ago) I was crying and calling you. You didn't come get me, so I got out of my bed."
Me - "Kendall! You got out of your bed? (She never gets out of her bed) When did you say this was?"
Kendall - "Last night Mom! I was crying and I got out of my bed and I didn't find you! I went to the back door like this (she is acting all this out for me) and I tried to open it but it was locked. And then I still couldn't find you and so I laid down on the floor (in the hall between the kitchen and living room) and I cried like this! (She is so distressed at this point). Mom! You left me and Cooper by ourselves and we are too little to be by ourselves! We need someone to watch us!"
So, I am starting to think that this must have really happened because there are too many details and she is really upset. I told her that last night I went out in the front yard to talk to Frannie and Bud and Nicole, but that I didn't leave her. I told her that when I came back in the house she was asleep. I remembered that her door was still closed when I came back in, so I asked her what she did next and if she closed her door.
Me - "What did you do, Kendall?"
Kendall - "I didn't find you so I got in my bed and cried!"
Me - "Did you leave your door opened or did you shut it?"
Kendall - "I closed it. I didn't know you were outside!!"
Oh.My. I felt so awful! She thought that her and Coop were all by themselves! I held her and told her probably a million times that she is never alone and I would never leave her by herself. I told her that I thought she was asleep and I was just right outside the front door talking to the neighbors. I can't believe she just got back in her bed and went to sleep, thinking that she was by herself!
She told Randy about it on the phone that day, she told him about it when he got home, and she has retold the story to me several times since then. Awesome. Glad that one of the only times she has ever gotten out of her bed was a time when I was in the front yard for 45 minutes.