Dear Jen,

For future reference it’s probably best not to put Ben and your purse/keys/cell phone in the house first and then go back to the car for the groceries/Target haul/miscellaneous crap that you just bought. While you think you may be consolidating trips and making things easier for yourself…you aren’t. Instead bring him into the house and buckle him into his high chair in front of Thomas or Dora, then bring in your stuff. Trust me on this.

Case in point, this afternoon after a trip to the grocery store you unbuckled Ben, deposited him in the house along with your other personal belongings and headed back to the car to fetch Evey and the a fore mentioned crap when you heard a tell-tale click. Nah, it couldn’t be. He’s not that cunning. He doesn’t know what the door lock is. He didn’t just lock the door between the garage and the house. No… Ah, hell. Yes, he did. You and Evey are locked in the garage. No house keys, no purse, no cell phone because Ben has those too. For all you know he was using your cell phone to make plans to hook up with Sebastian later for an all night Dora-thon. And those keys, you know he had those because not a minute after you discovered the locked door you also heard the click-lock/light flash of your car being locked. Repeatedly. Thankfully you’d already retrieved Evey from the car.

Now lets discuss how successfully you coaxed Ben into unlocking the door while freezing your bum off because your coat is now locked in the car. You did eventually get him to figure out how to unlock the door but not before you tried to pick the lock with a screwdriver, yeah right, you aren’t MacGyver. Evey did get a good chuckle out of you trying to teach Ben to unlock the door from the wrong side. She did prove to be very helpful when she continually pointed out that he doesn’t even know what a door lock is.

So in closing, remember, never under estimate the general chaos (and slight panic) that can be created by an inquisitive and abnormally mechanically inclined toddler. If that doesn’t deter you think of the embarrassment when you have to tell the story to your husband later that evening.

Sincerely,

You