So wife and I and two kids jump in the truck and head home. Wife drives and we go over what I anticipate will happen when we arrive. We both are thinking we may have left the back door unlocked and/or open (kids had been playing in backyard just before we left with grandparents etc to go out to eat).
We arrive, wife pulls in front of our house and one patrol car is parked there, only parking lights on (no headlights). I get out of our truck and approach the patrol car - window is down, can hear the radio, but no police officer. So I grab my phone to call police so they can relay to officer on site that we are here. Before I can complete the call, police officer comes around the corner and I make my one semi-mistake (in my mind, anyway, officer didn't mention it) when I go to put my phone back in its holster (probably not the best move, reaching around and under my jacket at night in front of an officer at a house with alarm blaring ).
Officer and I meet on sidewalk in front of my house. We shake hands. He tells me his name (difficult to pronounce last name which of course I've already forgotten
) then asks to see my ID. I pull out my wallet, hand him TDL & CHL. He looks at both, calls in to dispatch on his radio, reads off my name and TDL number, gets some confirmation back and hands me back my plastic. Never once mentions anything about CHL or asks if I have a gun or anything. 
Even better, he very professionally informs me that when he arrived on scene the back door to the house was open and that he is awaiting the arrival of a backup officer so they can enter and clear my house together. He asks me to wait back inside my truck. "Yes, sir. Thank you." I reply and head back. Even though he is roughly my age, or perhaps younger, a police officer in uniform with a professional attitude will always illicit a respectful "yes sir" from me.
When I get into the truck and explain situation to my wife, my 4-year-old daughter starts telling us she has to go potty. "Can you hold it?" we both ask her. "No" is the urgent reply.
So my wife walks across the street to see if neighbor is home - no luck. Back in the truck, daughter is getting panicky - really needs to pee. We're just about to leave to go back to the corner gas station when the second patrol car arrives, two uniformed officers get out, and the three of them head toward the back of the house. This - thankfully - distracts my daughter's attention from her bladder to "what are the police men doing now?" questions. So we wait. I ask my daughter if when the police are finished searching our house she wants to say hello to them and shake their hands. She says "yes!" and gets a big grin on her face (she's the perfect age right now, learning all about police and firefighters and such at pre-school - she's met McGruff the crime dog and a few local police and firefighters at school, as well as National Night Out, but this is a chance to meet policemen in a "real" situation - she is excited). They're back outside quickly. I get out of the truck to meet them. They tell me no one is inside and everything is secure, no sign of anything. I inform them that we think we may have neglected to close the back door when we left for dinner and the lead officer says "Yeah, that's usually what happens. But we always want to check just to be sure." I thanked him and shook his hand again, thanked the other officers. Then asked if they wouldn't mind if my daughter said hello to them. In unison they all said "sure!" So I opened the door and my little 4-year-old blonde-headed bundle of joy lept out and shook each of their hands, told them her name, that she was 4, and said "thank you" very politely. I was SO PROUD. I thanked the officers again as did my wife. And my 2-year-old son just said, somewhat coherently, "puh-leace sTOP!" He too is learning about police in pre-school, but so far just knows that a policeman says "stop" and a fire truck goes "woo woo" (siren noises). I was a little worried the officers might think he was yelling "cop" but they waived and didn't seem to mind as they got back into their patrol cars.
So, false alarm and shiny new reminder in our brains to LOCK THE BACK DOOR, DUMMY!
But a great, professional contact with three of our little city's finest and a big, exciting "what did you do this weekend" story for my daughter to share at school on Monday.
