Margaret is three and a half. I had hoped (and dreaded a little) that she would be able to open the front door on her own by this point in time. Instead - up until last week, I was summoned each and every time she wanted to go outside.Last week, to both my joy and my dread, she figured out how to open the door from the inside. She still knocks when she wants to come back in, but she can get outside on her own. This is particularly useful when she is inside and I am outside needing the door opened because my arms are full with groceries or something like that. She's a wonderful door opener.
Not too long after figuring out (with a little help from Savannah) how to open the door, Margaret woke up a little earlier than I wanted to. (side note here: I work the night shift at the Portland Oregon Temple 4 nights a week; I don't get to bed before 4 in the AM on those nights, and greatly value the precious 4 hours of sleep that I get on average.) When Margaret got up, she got dressed and came into my bedroom only to find that at 6:30 AM, Mom was STILL asleep. I know. How DARE I sleep in. Well... to complicate things, Margaret has been blessed with an adventurous spirit and a great love for animals. Especially small fuzzy ones that say meow. We have seven of them.
So... as you can expect from the lead in, Margaret went outside to play with her little furry kitten friends. She shut the door behind her. And then, she couldn't get it opened again. I THINK she went outside sometime around 7 AM - she sat downstairs and read some books for a little bit (that much was evidenced by the books all over the floor when I woke up...). At 7:15, I was jolted from a deep sleep by Margaret SCREAMING my name. As if she were being tortured, screaming. I'm not sure that my feet touched the floor of my bedroom as I ran downstairs to see if she was being injured in some manner. She wasn't downstairs. I threw the door open and hollered her name... no answer. She was running around the house trying to find a way into the house again - screaming my name.
Why haven't I put this up before? Because it's taken me this long to recover from the shock and fear of what could have happened if I hadn't heard her.
Will Margaret go outside again when I'm sleeping? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. She's figured out that if I'm asleep (or downstairs doing laundry, for that matter) I can't hear her, and she is either going to have to find a way to open the door, or wait. (or scream my name in terror... that works too.) That and we've established a new family rule. Kittens are off limits unless Mom is alert and coherent. (try explaining THAT to a 3 year old...)
2 comments:
This reminds me a bit of the time Ethan opened the door and got outside. He was 15 months old!! Very scary. Kimberly was 2 weeks old. I had put him in his crib so I could take a quick shower. He climbed out,opened the door, and off he went. I scooped Kimberly up and off we went in search of him. I found him about 3 blocks away sitting on the driveway where Cory's brother's family had lived until just a few weeks prior. I was so relieved to find him. That was the last time I took a shower when he was awake. I'm glad Margaret is safe and well. Denise
We've had to install deadbolts - high up - on every door we've lived behind since Calvin was born because we've always lived on busy streets and my boys think rules are invitations...but my friend put a big string of bells on her door instead, so her kids could adventure out, but she would always know when they left and could be aware when they needed back in...I don't know. It truly is a great thing (for you and them) when they learn to open the door, but it's also scaaaaaarey (for you and them). :)
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