Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Toddler's in Crime

Saturday night...I didn't get much sleep.

I woke up at just after midnight because I was being blinded by a light coming from the hallway. This usually means that my boy is up and wandering the house, looking for a snack or ransacking my desk....and up to no good. I slowly rolled out of bed and saw that both kids doors were wide open and lights on....at 12:35am.

Alex was in Mallory's crib and when they saw me they curled into the fetal position...hoping I didn't see them. But I'm smarter than I look and I saw them and dragged Alex out and back to his own bed. I found the scissors from my desk and the children's Claritin in Mallory's crib. They were obviously trying to open the bottle and sneak a hit of grapey goodness. My mind flashed ahead 12 years and I shudder to think of the trouble these two will get into when they are older. I made a mental note to have surveillance camera's installed in 2020.

I put everyone back to bed and returned to bed myself...and my snoring husband.  He slept through all of the commotion.

Over the next 2 hours...Alex would leave his room for a number of reasons and I would jump out of bed and return him to his bed...sometimes with a swat on the butt. I cleaned up poop,  retrieved a drink of water from the bathroom and removed all of the toys from his room. Finally...at 2:30am he was asleep.

And then I couldn't. I don't even know what time I finally drifted off but I will tell you that I was wide awake at 6:50am. Dang it.

I'm getting really tired of these nighttime wanderings because I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before he decides to go to the park in the middle of the night. There is a giant irrigation ditch between our house and the park and I pass it every time I walk to the track and I pray to God that my kid never decides to play in it.

I've been threatening to put a lock on Alex's door but Calvin has told me NO...that we can't lock him in his room. I just want him to be safe....so I came up with THIS today.



UPDATE:  Alex Houdini can get out.  Sigh.

P.S. Did you know that Houdini's real name was Erik Weiss?

P.P.S.  Did you know that Calvin's family is related to Houdini?  I guess he comes by this naturally.....

P.P.P.S  We aren't Jewish...in case you were wondering.

P.P.P.P.S  But I'd like to celebrate Hanukkah just once...

P.P.P.P.P.S  I couldn't get my surgery scheduled until October 21st.  5 more weeks.

39 comments:

  1. Ohhhh....that sucks! I live in FEAR, SHEER FEAR of the day that my daughter no longer sleeps in her 4 walled box. Er...Crib. The thought of her being able to roam around and trying to navigate the stairs in a sleepy eyed hazed makes my heart palpitate at an odd rhythm.

    Oh...I hope you find a solution soon and unfortunately, I don't really have any good advice to offer.

    And, 5 more weeks on your surgery..Ack!

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  2. My middle son has been having trouble sleeping lately. He keeps coming in my room trying to crawl into bed. I told him yesterday that if he has a bad dream to snuggle with his brother (they share a bed). My eldest said that he was a superhero and would protect him. I also told middle that he was not going to get to watch monster trucks in the morning if he kept waking mommy up! Worked last night...

    Luckily mine do not try to sneak around the house. They wake me or stay in their room playing. Isn't it amazing how husbands can sleep through it all!?

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  3. Holy cow, you must be exhausted. My oldest (6) never once climbed out of bed, and he slept in a crib till nearly 3. However, in the last 2 years he's begun to sleep walk. We had to put a chain-lock thing on our front door because one night I awoke to noise and there he was with his Lego magazine under his arm (he takes one everywhere to read in the car), undoing the deadbolt. I was so afraid he'd walk out one night and disappear, or freeze in the winter. On better nights he only pees on the hall floor or some other random spot b/c he thinks he's in the bathroom. Kids!

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  4. Why don't you just put one of those child safety things on the door knob. That isn't really locking him in, but it will prevent him from leaving. Actually, you should probably put them on all the doors or he may escape during the day. That is something terrifies me and is one reason I let my sleepwalking child stay in bed with us. I always know right where she is.

    The baby woke up last night at like 3:00 or 3:30 because he had pulled his diaper off and pee'd everywhere. David actually cleaned that up, but I got up to see what was going on and he of course wouldn't go back to his daddy. ugh. I put him back in bed crying because he wouldn't go back to sleep. He screamed for almost half an hour. Got back up. Rocked him for like five minutes and put him back to bed. That time he went to sleep. By then I couldn't decide if it made more sense to get up and face the day or go back to bed. I went back to bed even though it was only like thirty to forty five minutes before I had to get up.

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  5. Houdini, that's funny!! I too think about the trouble that our two will give us eventually. Not so much trouble as mischief! ;)

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  6. I feel your pain. My 7 year old still wont stay in her bed most nights. Usually she comes in my room and says she needs a drink or for me to fix her blankets or tuck her back in. Then I am wide awake and cant go back to sleep...so irritating!

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  7. Wow. I thought William was bad. and I'm LOL about Houdini's real name :) You poor thing. What you COULD do (temporarily, so they stop wandering) is turn the door knobs around so the locks are on the outside. I don't think the child locks would work in this case (if you pull on them hard enough, they just come off - William figured that out at 2-1/2)

    Seriously. Keep them safe. And hang in there until your surgery, the wait must be hard!

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  8. Fast forward to 16 years old. We installed a motion detector in our house so we'd know when our son was leaving. There was one night where he left and took his grandmas car with him... We only found out because we found the speeding ticket in her car the next morning...
    So we got the detectors. They tell me which area of the house has motion. "front hall, front fall", "deck door, deck door", etc. After that he must have thought we'd become extremely light sleepers and he never left the house again, thankfully. Plus he dropped that awful friend that was encouraging this type of behavior...
    As for this age... oh my... Try bungee cord for between the doors.... Or... put a regular bed in his room and sleep with him for a while. Maybe he'll get the hang of staying put.

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  9. Lol, I DID install a lock on the outside of Rowan's room, its the only way he will stay in timeout...and boy does it work :)

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  10. The kids rooms don't have locking doors...and we don't own the house or I would have changed them by now! LOL!

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  11. The tie "lock" is funny. What a night, you must still be exhausted! I can't believe they had the scissors and Claritan in bed. Who's that awake in the middle of the night to fetch that stuff? Kids are crazy like that.

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  12. When we moved into our house, we discovered that there was a lock on the outside of Oliver's door. Best thing that ever happened to us. I felt weird about it at first - but it really is a huge sense of relief to know that while I'm sleeping, he's not slicing up cheese in the kitchen...

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  13. I would definitely lock his door - I have even had people I consider child rearing "experts" (i.e., smarter than me!) say it's an okay thing to do. Or, for a little more money swap out that door with one that opens in the middle, then keep the top half open and lock the bottom.

    Of course, now I see your comment that you don't own the house. Maybe ask the owner - it's for THEIR benefit. Destruction is afoot!! ;-)

    Thanks for all the updates, hang in there!

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  14. Oh, man, I'm sorry that he's such a night kid. I was always that kid too...wait, I'm still that kid...and I'm 28...only now I do it under the influence of ambien...scares the bejeezus out of TheBoy. *sigh* maybe when I grow up, I'll stop, lol...I hope you get some sleep soon!

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  15. Oh, man, I'm sorry that he's such a night kid. I was always that kid too...wait, I'm still that kid...and I'm 28...only now I do it under the influence of ambien...scares the bejeezus out of TheBoy. *sigh* maybe when I grow up, I'll stop, lol...I hope you get some sleep soon!

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  16. Maybe you could get door alarms. I think you can buy individual ones for each outside door so if he goes out it would go off and wake you (they sell them at Lowes ect). I agree, it would terrify me about the irrigation ditch.

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  17. you are soooo in for adventures with those 2 so close together! may they always stay close. :-)

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  18. Oh my gosh! I don't think I'd EVER be able to sleep peacefully if my kids got up in the middle of the night!!That's insane! those little stinkers.

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  19. I hate to have had a laugh at your expense, but I sort of did. But rest assured, my daughter is 1 and I know I have it coming.

    You are SOOO right, those two are going to get in a world of trouble. :) That's what siblings do!!!

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  20. Oh sweetie, I feel for you. When our nephew sleeps at our house I never sleep soundly. I am always half-awake listening for him, checking to see if he is breathing, making sure he hasn't fallen out of the bed, or any number of things that never happen. I can't imagine what it must be like for you to do this every night. Big hugs...and I will be saying prayers for you to get a sound night's sleep!

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  21. Love the tie. That's something that I would do too. I lol'd at the fact that it didn't contain your escape artist AND at the fact that they were trying you bust open the meds. You totally have your hands full.

    Why are they scheduling your surgery SO late? Is a Plastic Surgeon going to remove it? I had to have 8 moles removed and I had a plastic Doc do it and it was cheap.

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  22. Oh man, that seemed like a great idea. Too bad it didn't work. Boo to kids and their figuring out things.

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  23. Oh no Connie. Hmmmm, what else can you do? That was a great idea...

    Maybe you are going to have to put in that deadbolt.... I can't believe all of the trouble he has gotten into!

    XOXO
    Jen

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  24. Connie, you (and your sister) crack me up! Sorry I have been gone for so long. But if it is any consolation, I have been keeping up on your blogs (and your sisters) just haven't had much time to respond. I will email you all of the fun things that are keeping me busy! :) Hope Houdini Alex stayed in his room tonight, and you are SO right, those two are going to get into some MAJOR trouble together, I think the hidden cameras in 2020 are a GREAT idea! :)

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  25. sounds like my son has been giving your son lessons! ahhh, the memories

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  26. LOL!! I was expecting a traumatizing haircut ending ;) when you said scissors in the crib!

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  27. Ah, man. That really stinks. I lost lots of sleep when Isaiah was a toddler. I was always so paranoid that he would wonder downstairs (or FALL down the stairs). We had a gate that locked at the top of our stairs until he was like 4 (tall enough to climb over it, which brought on a whole new set of fears for me). I'll be praying that you figure out something soon!!

    Hope you're having a good week!♥

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  28. oooo, and I'm not Jewish either, but I would like to celebrate Hanukkah...at least once.

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  29. Wow! that is crazy!!! I have a child safety know on the inside of Z's door...he has not tried to break it off and get out yet but I am sure he could. You are going to have your hands full :)

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  30. Wow. He managed to get out even with the tie lock?! Those Houdini genes are definitely kicking in.

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  31. Wow. He managed to get out even with the tie lock?! Those Houdini genes are definitely kicking in.

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  32. My kid gets out of bed a lot but I too have to admit, I would worry too. ....

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  33. Wow, he does have that magician gene, huh? Just found your blog from Speaking From the Crib and it's great! I am your most recent follower. Would love for you to check mine out!

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  34. Oh dear- I don't know how I could handle that one! Thank goodness I have great sleepers....

    Sorry for you.

    ~Becca

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  35. That is such a great story... only because it is not happening to me... anymore!
    I can remember walking into my boys' room (they shared) and finding them with a flashlight under the covers and an Easy Bake oven in the middle of the night making chocolate cake. :-)
    It's only gonna get worse!!

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  36. There is nothing more frustrating than a child that WILL NOT stay in their bed! We have been there multiple times. Ugh!

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  37. Blah! I am so grumpy any time my kids don't sleep well at night, wander, wake me up, whatever. I'm a light sleeper, but like you, eventually I would sleep through it.

    So, hopefully you won't be shocked, but we have a simple deadlock on the outside of our kids' bedroom door. I've only used it a few times, but I wouldn't hesitate to lock it if one of them started wandering the house at night.

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  38. I would think that would be an easy fix. Just offer him a special reward for staying in his room all by himself. Something easy - hot chocolate with breakfast, a favorite video, an extra story, a slightly later bedtime. I used to keep a special box with slips of paper for different rewards on it and it worked great for my son. And really emphasize how excited and proud of him you will be when he is grown-up enough to stay in his room all by himself!

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I love you. You are my best friend! Your hair looks fantastic today!