  This is week 2 of life with Aidan in pre-school. This is not his first ever care apart from home experience. When I worked for MECA, he first had formal day care, then later I shared a nanny with a friend. Since I resigned, however, after becoming pregnant with Ellie last year, Aidan has stayed with me full time. Until last week. Cue choir of angelic singers toning *aaah*. It's been blissful, to say the least. He really needed the social interaction and extra brain stimulation and I really needed the break from the toddler. All that was foreseeable. I was unprepared, however, for Ellie's reaction. She has flourished in his absence!
I think this marks the beginning of a new stage for her. Until now, she's adored Aidan so much. She emulated him nonstop. She still adores him, but she seems to be craving her own space as well. For some time, everyone who knew Aidan would be starting school soon admonished me about the morning chaos of getting out the door. I have to say Aidan is pretty good about this. We already had a pretty simple morning routine of wake up, eat, watch TV. It's not like I shower him in the mornings--or ever. just kidding, sort of--and he's a boy so his hair isn't hard. I just brush his teeth and dress him. I have to dress Ellie too because even though she's only in the school as my hip accessory as long as it takes me to walk him in and leave, I feel all sorts of pressure for her to be beautiful for that brief appearance. But still, I have my own morning horror story for parent parties now. Yesterday morning, as I prepared to get the kids out the door, I ran out to the car with the lunch bag, the nap blanket, and my cup of tea.
I thought I was making things easier on myself by not having to juggle quite as much on the next trip. If I'd only known. When I got back to the door, Aidan had locked the chain lock on the inside. I tried so hard to get that little boy to unlock the door. I tried to talk him through the motions, but my instructions were lost in his little 2-year-old brain.
Fortunately, I had left Ellie in her crib and the TV was on in the living room. Aidan was more interested in watching Caillou than helping and after a while that was just as well because I needed him away from the door. I used the lawn clippers to dry to wedge the lock off the wall. Then I used them to try to clip the chain. I had my cell on me, so I called John for advice. He said to just kick door where the chain was and rip it from the wall. We went over whether damaging the door was more or less expensive than the window and whether there were any other options. We came up with nothing. It turns out that those little chains on doors are pretty strong. I never knew what a good theft protection device they could be. I thought of my dad's advice he gave me in the fifth grade when I thought I might get into a fight on the playground with a bullying girl. He told me to imagine her a few feet behind where she was so that my punch would not come up short.
Even then I was such an ardent pacifist that I ended up walking away from a punch in the back rather than fighting, so it was nice that dad's advice got used eventually. I kicked the door pretty hard, but the damn chain held! The door hinges, however, did not. On the first kick the bottom one gave, a few kicks later the top gave, too.
All this time, Ellie played in her crib and Aidan sat watching TV. I don't know what went through their minds and when I finally got inside I was a little afraid of how I would react to Aidan so I just took him quickly to school. Right before I left the house I was pulling the door back into its frame and some neighbors walked by. They asked if I got locked out (because I'd been standing like that on the porch when they came by the first time. I said yeah and they asked if I got in yet. I pushed the door a little and it fell out of the frame, holding on only by where I had the door nob.
Now you can see how the neighborhood is going downhill because the old neighbors would have found that moment hilarious. They would have returned with alcohol and tools and by the time the door was fixed up again, the event would have been transformed into legend. But those neighbors are increasingly dispersing to the outer and cheaper areas of Houston and these guys just looked a little frightened and quickened their steps as they walked on. 
