ALARM, ALARM, Do you have a plan?

Last night, I was shaken out of a deep sleep from what at first I thought was a child's scream but turned out to be the deafening sound of the inside security alarm. There are 4 small children in the house and my husband is out of town. What is YOUR plan? After a few seconds of just looking around, I realize it is the alarm, I am waiting for the phone to start ringing from the alarm company. Surely they will call the police..5 more seconds..no call. Next thought, get the children OUT. I have to admit, the 2 older kids had fallen asleep in my room after our reading time together. I shout at them to run outside to the sidewalk as I can clearly view the front door is safe and I promise to meet them in 2 minutes. I grab the phone beside my bed and run to the other side of the home to grab the 3 yr old and the 6 month old baby. By the way, my two bull mastiff 100+ pound dogs are confused and hiding and the alarm has pretty much caused me to be deaf. Cautiously I run to the little ones' rooms, grab them and run out the door to meet the two older kids. I look around and realize I have no idea what time it is; all I know it is pitch black and the neighborhood is silent..except I can hear the indoor siren..the outdoor siren is not sounding. Wait! I still have the phone in my hand. I dial 911, go through the series of questions and try to warm and calm the children. I then realize the dogs are inside staring at me from the door. If I let them out, they will run. They are safer inside I conclude. Fifteen minutes later, cops arrive, well one cop who then waits another 8 minutes for a second cop. After securing the dogs, they look through the inside and outside of the house and find nothing. I am scared to death, my kids are scared to death, and I realize I probably did EVERTHING wrong. Long story short, do you have a better escape plan and do you have back-up plans? Remember, my alarm company is not calling and no one else hears my alarm in the neighborhod as it is only inside!

1. If you say gun, you may be correct however i will say one thing. I have mace beside me but I was so scared and disoriented, it did not even cross my mind. I was shocked at how much your brain just does not work. I will never yell at a movie screen again as a stupid victom makes all the wrong decisions while the boogie man is chasing him or her.

2. Run out with only the 2 kids? No way.

3. Look at the alarm, find out which zone has caused the alarm and investigate (my husband's theory)? Not going to work..the entire panel is blinking and I did push the panic button. NOTHING

4. Take a baseball bat and investigate around the house before scaring the kids? Not likely.

5. Get better protection dogs..thinking about it after Layla licked the cop to death.

My point here is to ask you to think? It also could be a fire or another emergency. I was totally thrown off from what I thought I would do because of fear. I have decided I need a better plan.

Just in case you are wondering, it was an alarm mal-function as there was a short in the system and the alarm company did call...45 minutes AFTER the alarm..not acceptable. Thank you to Osceola police department as they were very friendly and they must be bored with this sort of thing. Sorry for the dog slobber..it is the breed.

Oh and finally, one thing I know I did RIGHT! I had on a t-shirt and shorts on when I fell asleep. I swear to goodness I was so scared, I would have ran out naked and not even noticed. YES, one bonus point for being clothed. I was told this morning that I should be in a reality show and I am beginning to believe she is correct.

Let me know your thoughts, suggestions, experiences.