Over the past month a few interesting situations have transpired when I've been with Carson. I've been debating whether or not to share this particular story for fear of judgement, but I figure, it's kinda funny now and I'm sure I'm not the only parent that has had something crazy happen to them throughout the course of raising their children. I'm only 2 years in, so I'm still trying to figure out how to outsmart a toddler. I really never expected my son, my teeny tiny baby boy, to ever be this smart so fast. Obviously, Carson is my first and only, so I have nothing to compare to and have no idea what I'm doing half the time.
My way of parenting has been just learning as I go and figuring out how to tackle the challenges I face when I'm faced with them. The only book I've ever referenced has been a sleep book or two and even then, I didn't read the book from cover to cover. What parent has that kind of time? I'd love to say I did!!!!
So here's the story.....
One morning Carson and I were playing and having lots of fun. Then he wanted to watch his favourite TV show at the moment, Daniel Tiger. I told him before we started to watch it, that we could only watch half the episode because we had to meet our friends at the gym. When the 15 minutes were up and I told him we were done, of course he didn't like that. I gave him a chance to co-operate, when he didn't, I turned off the TV, turned off the basement light (don't worry, it's not dark, we have windows!!) and went upstairs to my bedroom to get myself ready.
About 2 minutes later he walked upstairs with no pants and no diaper. (He's been taking his own diapers off lately and going potty when he feels like it). He then told me that he let our dog outside. I asked him if he let him out in the backyard and he said, no the front door.
GREAT!! Now my dog is running around my neighbourhood (I live in an urban development), I'm naked and my kid is half naked.
Carson leaves the room saying he's going to go check on our dog.
I frantically throw on my clothes and by the time I run down the stairs, our front door is wide open and my kid is outside. It's cold... REALLY!!!??
Thankfully, two neighbours were out walking their dogs and caught my crazy dog and made sure my kid didn't run out on the road.
The whole issue here, my kid can open the front door and unlock it! How did this happen!?? We've never showed this to him.
I was so embarrassed! The parents were really understanding as they have 2 small children of their own and I'm sure have a story kinda like mine.. maybe?? I hope I'm not alone here with my crazy story.
I talked to Carson and told him that he can't leave the house without a grown up. He seemed to understand and I didn't get upset with him. He's only 2. He was just trying to make sure our dog was ok.
I've really learned that even when I wasn't distracted by Facebook or music or anything, these things can happen so fast!! I called my husband and told him what happened. He wasn't upset with me at all. He understands too how easily something like this can happen. This story has a happy ending, nothing bad came of it. We bought and extra lock for our door so we can lock ourselves in. There's no way our little toddler can escape on us again. He has to grow really tall first!
Morale of the story, get a second lock for your door, toddlers are capable of the unexpected! Also, no parent is perfect. We're all learning and trying to do our best. We screw up, probably a lot, as long as we learn from our mistakes we will grow and become better parents. It's good to share stories like this because it makes other parents feel "normal" and understood.
