if you only had 60 seconds, what would you grab?

On Saturday morning, we were at a hotel in Charlotte and the fire alarm went off at 7 a.m. It was pretty surreal. I happened to be up (the baby woke at 4, and we couldn’t get him back to sleep) and had just put my shoes on to take him downstairs to entertain for a bit.

My husband reacted quickly and waited on his dad to help get him downstairs. I immediately grabbed the baby, my purse (which had my phone, wallet, etc.) and the baby’s monkey lovey. Other family members were not far behind me, but I was wasting no time getting out since I had no idea what was happening.

Apparently there was a major issue with one of the elevators and cables were jammed and the thing just shut down. We could smell something the previous evening, which turned out to be an electrical burning smell. I’m glad that we weren’t in the elevator when the major problems happened and that nobody was seriously hurt.

Later in the morning, I was reminded of the movie Leap Year. (I’m a sucker for cheesy chick flicks.) In it, Declan asks Anna if she had 60 seconds to escape a burning building, what would she grab? Would it be the expensive items? The items you’re emotionally attached to?

At the end of the movie, she was given her 60 seconds when she pulled the fire alarm and I just really loved that scene. It makes you think.

I was given a short time frame this morning and the thing I grabbed wasn’t the laptop or the expensive camera. In addition to my son and my purse, I grabbed my son’s plush monkey. He loves that thing. (Later, I had wished I had also grabbed the dog because he wanted both. Good to know for future – hopefully all false – alarms.) It made me laugh because I do tend to put so much emphasis on the electronics in my life, but this monkey was pretty priceless this morning (and every night when he needs it to go to sleep.)

If you were given 60 seconds, what would you grab?