This past weekend I was solo parenting as my husband was away in Niagara for the weekend. Saturday I had it a bit rough, our older one was just moody all day and our younger one was teething, she woke up many times during the night in pain, so I'd barely had any sleep.

Added on top of that, I had a friend come by on Saturday night to keep me company and being the awesome host that I was, I busted open a beautiful bottle of Riesling by Megalomaniac...ok, I admit, I really wanted a couple of glasses of wine, I merely used my friend's company as an excuse...I mean, the hubby was at Niagara having fun, why couldn't I create a little enjoyment for myself too, am I right?

Sunday morning rolls around, I'd forgotten how much of a lightweight I've become since I haven't had a proper glass of wine in over a year and a half...damn, 2 glasses the night before and I got a nasty hangover, that's pretty embarrassing...

At 9:30am Sunday morning, I'm rushing out the door trying to make my elder one's 10:00am swimming class. As usual, I hustle the older one out the door, and I schlep our second one in the car seat behind. Younger one goes in the car first, then the older one, and off we go.

About 10:35am, I get a phone call from my neighbour across the street, I'm thinking he's calling to tell me he'll be over later that afternoon for a get together with his daughter. Instead, he calls to ask if I'm ok.

"Hey, is everything ok?"

"Yah, I'm just finishing up with K's swimming class, got to grab a couple of things before heading back."

"Oh, good, ok, because I thought...anyways, uhm...just wanted to let you know that your front door is wide open, and I don’t see you around…is it ok if we close it?”

Turns out, in a haste of wrangling my kids, I'd totally forgotten to close and lock the door behind me!

My neighbour kindly closed the door for me.

When I got home, I went to see my neighbour across the street to say thank you for calling me. Turns out, 2 other neighbours were involved in this "incident" as well. My neighbour right next door was the first to notice. My neighbour 3 doors down the other way was playing with his son, and came by to scope things out as well, he also sent an email to my husband because he didn't have our number. 3 neighbours stood on my front porch and driveway for a good 15 minutes, calling into my house to see if I was around, and then trying to figure out if it was just an act of aloofness or if something had happened to us.

This action from my neighbours proved that each of them showed genuine concerned for me and my family's well being, and it’s proof that neighbourhood community watch is extremely important.

If you haven’t already, get to know your neighbours, and keep a list of your neighbours contact information, this helps create awareness for each other, also create that sense of togetherness. You want your neighbours to know you. I’m not saying they need to know all of your business, but at least a little bit so that you’re looking out for each other. My neighbour took off for a month, and we made sure their driveway was shoveled, and every other day, we’d park one of our cars on their driveway to show a little bit of “movement”. You want your neighbours to do the same for you when you need it. I know confidently we can count on our neighbours if something happens. Thank goodness it was just me and my aloofness this time around, but if it had been something else, I know they would have took action.