Sebastian Cuteness & Break-in

[bobquasit]

Sebastian, watching Teri take out her blow dryer:

"Mamma, you have have to blow your hair off today?"

* * *

Speaking seriously into a dead cell phone that we let him play with:

"I've got to call my Daddy. [spoken:] Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. Hello? Excuse me? Is my Daddy there? No? He's on vacation!"

* * *

Last but not least: this morning Teri called me at work in a bit of a panic. She'd locked herself and Sebastian out of the house. That had happened once before, and she'd been able to get in through a back window; unfortunately she'd decided to lock that window after that incident, in case of burglers.

I calmed her down and assessed the situation. There was no way I could get home in less than three hours. Fortunately it wasn't cold out - in fact, it was (is) a beautiful day. But her car keys were also inside the house, and she only had a little money (it's lucky she had her cell phone on her). Her mother and brother weren't around. It sounded as if Sebastian was starting to suspect that something was wrong; I could hear him asking anxious questions in the background.

Teri checked out all the windows around the house. I came along via cell phone, to provide moral support and advice. Finally she found a window in the front that wasn't locked - but it was much too high for her to climb into, and she didn't think she could open it.

I urged her to try, though, and soon enough she found that she could open it. But it was still too high for her to get into, and though we thought and thought we couldn't think of anything that she could use to get high enough.

An idea suddenly struck me, but I hesitated; it seemed a little extreme, and I was afraid she'd be shocked. But the situation was a little desperate, and some vague memory from my own childhood was tickling the back of my mind.

Teri couldn't get in that window, but could she lift and push Sebastian through it?

I should explain that the couch is on the other side of that window. But Sebastian is still only two and a half years old. We knew he could unlock and open all the doors of the house, but would he? If he chose to go on a fun parent-free spree after Teri put him through the window, we'd be in quite a fix. I started to express reservations, but Teri was already putting him through the window.

I could hear everything pretty clearly on the cell phone:

Teri: "Open the door for Mamma, Sebastian!"

Sebastian [indistinct, demanding]: "...help me!"

Teri: "I can't help you - come and open the door, let me in!"

[pause]

Teri: "No, go back to the door, Sebastian."

[long pause, indeterminate noises in background]

Teri: "I'm in! Good boy, Sebastian! What a good job you did!"

[At this point I was either laughing helplessly or cheering.]

Sebastian: "Do it again?"

Teri: "...no, we have to go shopping now!"

To which Sebastian replied with loud wails and sobs. He really wanted to do it all over again.

So now all I have to worry about is that he'll escape the house on his own some time, and start breaking into the neighbors' houses.

What a boy.

Comments

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't worry about it, unless he starts trying to learn lockpicking or spends large amounts of time watching 'thief and rogue' films (It Takes a Thief, Return of the Pink Panther, The Great Train Robbery, Etc.)

And it can be useful... my grandparents had a tendency to fall asleep with us kids locked out of the house when I was a kid (and when my mother was too agrophobic to answer the door) at times, and I got a fair amount of practice breaking into our old house back then.... :-)

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was great at breaking in when I was a kid too. I could get into almost any window, or climb up the trellis and get in on the second floor, or climb up the porch and get in at the front...heck, I could climb up the garage and jump over the trellis onto the back roof. It's hard to imagine now, of course. I'd never climb on a roof now - I'd be afraid of crashing through!

Come to think of it, I also worked out a good way to break into our car, too. I could have probably been a good sneak thief.

[charibdis.livejournal.com]

You might want to leave a key with a neighbor if you know one you trust. It's a real pain to be locked out of your own house.

Alternatively, you might try burying a key or set of keys in a small plastic bag somewhere in your backyard. It's not going to be found accidentally because only you and Terri will know where to look. The plastic bag should keep the keys from rusting, and if the worst should happen you just go to your yard, dig it up (don't bury it too deep) and you're in.

no kidding...

[happypete.livejournal.com]

the things we did when we were young and didn't know any better...

this is a very cute story...Quinn would have liked the through the windows part, but he probably would have wandered off to play and left mommy with steam coming out of her ears...