The doors might be locked but that's not stopping Miles.

Today, I had to go upstairs to 'help' Lola go to sleep. This usually means laying down with her, snuggling her so tightly that she can't escape to get out of bed. Then when she falls asleep, I'll transfer her to her bed. I always make absolutely sure that the little lock and the dead bolt are locked as well as the chain. Today I reinforced to Miles, as I always do about this time, not to go near the door, not to open it, not to even touch it, no matter what.

As I heard the downstairs commotion, I wondered what in the world she could possibly be doing. Racing *Baygo to see who could jump the farthest off the bar definitely crossed my mind. I heard several banging noises, and to be honest, felt fairly confident that my kid was just jumping up and down on something to see if it would break. Then I heard what sounded like knocking, the gleefully joyous expression, "I got it!!!!!" and a door open and shut. It was right about now that I realized the banging was my child trying repeatedly to open a door only to be stopped be the chain. I raced downstairs, hollering her name. I got no reply, and I rounded the corner in a panic, scanning the room. No sign of her or *Baygo. I rushed to the foyer in pure panic only to hear some meager little knocks coming from the porch. She had gotten a step stool and undone the chain up high.

As I flung the door open, she says, "Mommy, I was jus' lookin' fa you!" I reminded her that she knew good and well where I was and she tried to snake her way out of trouble, regardless. So I point out that someone could have snatched her outside all alone. Do you know what this child said, "Oh, no, Mommy. I looked all around and there is nobody out here to snatch me!"

We had a looooong talk about going outside alone. Then I plotted my intentions to install an extra lock...you know, the kind that only works with a key and has no knob. Yeah, Shirley, Shirley, can I get one of those locks, ASAP! (This last part is an inside joke!)

*Baygo is Diego. You may be familiar with him from the Dora the Explorer series or his own spin off? Yeah. He lives at my house. He races Miles round the house nonstop and particularly likes his own helping of her favorite snack foods.