Guaranteed to make you feel like a stellar parent.
Pierce escaped today while the hubs was 'supervising' and someone called the cops.
they came to see if there was a parent home. (the parent was here and doing Laundry)
I'm of course horrified that someone thinks we are neglectful when anything less than a shock collar won't keep the kid in our yard.
if we lock the gates he climbs over the fence.
we lock the door and he unlocks it and he leaves anyway.
he can climb over the block wall and has before.
seriously, I'm pretty sure use of a shock collar or a leash on our 3 year old is not legal, and abusive.
i wasn't home. i was gone shopping.
knowing my kids, someone took him out with them but failed to make him come back. (Paxton does this daily) but Pierce has been known to just want to be outside. out front, in the road.
it's not like we don't have a fence around our front yard. and it isn't like we don't have a spectacular back yard to play in.
But Pierce is determined. and headstrong. and too smart for his own safety and nothing short of caging the kid up is going to keep him where he should be safe.
in the meantime I'm MORTIFIED. wondering who called and what they were thinking?
while the hubs, well, he's casual at best about it. belligerent at worst. i heard about it upon my return home. a couple hours later.
could it have happened while i was home ? HECK YES. i find him out front often. sometimes he's great and just stays in the yard and sometimes he doesn't.
a couple weeks ago we had 4 adults here in and out of the front and back yard and the house and he wanted to ride his bike, down the sidewalk and into the street. 4 adults , 3 kids over 10, and a passel of others in and out , but Pierce had a plan. he knew where he was going. FREAKING KID!
last week i was in the bathroom and heard Pierce had followed Peyton to the school playground, all on his own. the neighbor kid came and reported it, i told the kids to go get dad and deal with it, but nothing happened until i was finished with "my business" . then of course i was a wreck wanting everyone home. because seriously if Peyton wouldn't have gone to play, everyone would have theoretically stayed home. and Pierce wouldn't have wandered off.
with certain freedom , comes lack of control.
I'mnot a control freak but i do want them safe and to know where they are.
all this wandering off, and bike riding is giving Pierce ideas of freedom too. it's nerve wracking. i think i just sprouted 6 gray hairs this evening.
and yes i was almost too embarrassed to post this.
we've had door alarms, maybe it's time to get another one, or just a keyed only deadbolt.
he'd still climb the fence or even find a key and open the door, but MAYBE it could take care of the Issue?
or there is always the tether in the front yard? home arrest bracelet? cowbell around his neck?
i'm at a loss.
NOTE: we totally have flap locks, he's the kind that pushes the chair over, piles something else up so he can get higher, uses a stick to flip it over , unlocks it, moves the chair back so you don't notice it's been moved and used, and then leaves .
he hasn't come by the name 'The devil' casually.
© 2010 crazymamaof6
11 comments:
Would you like me to tell you a story to make you feel a whole lot better. My 3rd child (He's 13 now) who at the time was 5 was mad because I had taken the 2 oldest somewhere and in his mind he heard me say something about Kentucky Fried chicken which is on Main/Lindsay (which is not where I was). He thought i had gone there without him and proceded to head there to find me. My husband was preoccupied and thougt he had gone with me. He had actually made it to the corner of Lindsay/ University when someone had grabbed him from going to cross the busy intersection and taken him into the gas station that used to be by Safeway there. To this day we still dont know who grabbed him and possibly saved his life and he still remembers the lady at the station gave him a Dr. Pepper and a Ring Pop while they waited for the police. The police went into our neighborhood while we were frantically looking for him and I think we would have been in trouble if werent out looking for him. I am sure there a write up on us somewhere!!! Things can happen to even the best of parents!!!!!
Most importantly, though, is the fact that The Hubs was doing laundry. So I'm super impressed by him, actually.
Deadbolt. Also, my Aunt (back in the day) would watch kids in her house. It was on a really busy street. So all the kids got a leash that would let them get to the gate. ALL the passer-byers would be VERY conserned with the 8 kids on leashes in her yard. But she should swear by it, and none of them ever got into the yard.
Would it do any good to talk to the PD or Child Services to make them aware of the problem (his houdin-ism) and what you are doing to "try to fix it" (deadbolt) so they know you are trying and if it happens again, they would be more understanding? I'm not sure how they work, so I don't know if it would do any good, or if it would make it worse.
We put a damper on our escapee by installing those little metal flap-locks. I cant remember the proper name, but if you put them on as close to the top of the door as possible, a small child with a chair still can't reach them. We also have combiniation locks on our RV and side gates.
But seriously, from the sound of it, your kid is smart enough to just climb out a window.
It happens to the best of us, but you should probably take further measures. I like the metal flap locks, too. And if he climbs on something to get over the block wall maybe that should be moved. What about grounding him from his bike (or other favorite item, like no baking) as punishment? Put it in your attic for a week every time he does that so he sees an immediate consequence.
Crazy boy ya got there...he sounds an awful lot like my 2 year old!
So ya have no idea who called the cops???
We have the super high metal locks on the top of our front door and side door! When I thought Bella had gone missing a few months ago I bought her an id bracelet...its super cute and it makes me feel better...you could low jack him, they have this device that you can put on a belt for kids!
Everyone has a story. Not many have the cops involved. I wouldn't stress too much; just add it to his charisma
WOW! Pierce sounds just like my Kaleb. We have the round door knob child locks on our doors and those work pretty good, but my son has found other ways to get outside like through his bedroom window! We also have the flap locks but ours has a little spring flap so in order to flip it you have to push back the spring, even if my son does get a chair to reach it he can't just simply push it with a stick (we have been there), they work really well.
Mom of six here. Three were wanderers. I think the police know us by name. I've done the deadbolts, gates, tried to scare the bajeebers out of them with tales of scary people - none of it worked. Finally with my youngest I enlisted the help of her imagination and freaked her out with tales of Trolls and Goblins. Her imaginary fears kept her home when the real ones wouldn't. I'm sure I'll have to pay for it with therapy later but she's safe at home now. Best wishes.
How could I not pop in after reading that Post title in my Dashboard. :) you are not alone sister. My girlfriend has the keyed deadbold thing on all her doors. Scary thing is that she has misplaced the key on a couple of visits and we were locked in. Fabulous. Fire anyone? I am worried my 23 month old is on her way to this behavior. Yes she is sweet and cute but her nickname is Baby Destructo. And kudos to you for being real and posting this.
OH BOY! I thought Gigantor was a handful! I'm sorry that he causes stress with his danger tactics! I have to watch Gigantor at all times because I"m so nervous that something like this would happen.
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