Boys Will Be Boys

No, I"m not talking about Shane. In particular.

Shane installed a keyed lock on his library door, as the little twisty locks the kids quickly learned how to unlock from the outside. they were pretty creative and I would find Kateri using various implements on locked doors: her toy dishes, a coin and any other skinny object. And she'd do it too.

I put the push button kind on our bedroom door so now there is a warning sound of attempted jabs with any stick like object and I can get to them before they get in. so far it works, as long as I remember to lock the door when I come out. I keep a little straightened paper clip above the door so I can get in easily.

Well, Pippin has fun trying anything on any lock. I don't let him play with keys so he invents things to unlock Shane's office. The other day I caught him carefully inserting a very small stick into the key hole. I rushed to stop him but just as I did He gave it a little turn and the stick snapped- with a peice inside the lock. Its small enough that I can't retreive it. But big enough that you can't get a key in all the way. I tried. Shane cringed when I told him that part, as I probably lodged it in there permanently. But its not like it could have been fixed anyway. I had even tried the vacuum hose on it. So now we just don't lock the library door.

Then yesterday the kids came down to tell me Pippin had stuck a small thing in the outlet. I ran up to cyril's room to see a tiny plastic thing just inside the socket. I'm just waiting for the day he finds a paper clip and tries to "un-lock" an outlet.

Luckily, the circuits trip very easily in this house. I discovered that when Kateri pried her nightlight out with a metal Curious George plate. She was fine and I only discovered it because her light wouldn't turn on and there were black spots on the outlet cover. And then she showed me the plate with two lines where the metal was marred.

When I was recounting Pip's escapades to Shane, he shook his head and queried what would possess him to do such things. I told him,

"He's a boy. His mission in life is to find a hole, and stick something in it."