Bad Habit

My kids have recently formed a really bad habit. Just add this to the list of all the other ones. I'm not sure how I'm going to put an end to this but let's just say there have already been many threats (non harmful) and a few conversations with God.

Curious? Here you go . . . they leave the without my knowing! Walk out the front door. What in the world? You may be thinking, how does she not know when her children walk out the door? Well, I don't know but let's start here. We had a storm door installed around the middle of June. It's something we've been wanting and we finally got it. The first week all hubby did was wipe face and finger prints, breath marks and a few licks off the glass. He's a neat freak. I'm not complaining. The kids would get too close to the door and his smudge alarm would go off . . ."BACK. AWAY. FROM. THE. DOOR." Come on Dad, it's right there calling us to press our little hands and faces onto it. He finally let that go.

We like to leave the front door open when we are at home just to let more natural light come in through the storm door. Hey, we're trying to be a little green here. This just invites the kids to wander outside. When hubby is outside, the kids sneak out. If someone pulls up in the driveway, there they go. If one of us is leaving to go somewhere, "Wait, Mommy I have to tell you something!" Most of the time when they do this I am busy making dinner (just kidding - that's rare) or other mommy duties. I'll hear the front door close and get there in time to see a blonde streak running across the yard or down the drive. Sometimes I'll realize that I haven't heard anyone scream for awhile. Pleased that there is peace and harmony in the Queen's home, I jerk myself from imaginary kingdom and look outside - there they are, getting dirty. Or I will hear screams but coming from outside, a fair maiden in distress. Reality, a jousting dual over the pink chalk . Like there isn't 5 pink chalks in the huge bin of chalk the princesses have.

I'll stick my head out the door to make sure hubby knows they are out there. Every time, I find myself asking the same question to the kids "Did you ask if you could go outside?" They typically reply with "No", sometimes "No but Dad's out here." Well whoopty do. The point I try to get across is I need to know where they are. If they aren't inside with me, I need to make sure Dad knows they are outside. See, no dialog here. What do I expect from a 3 and 6 year old? A little R-E-S-P-E-C-T that's what. Yeah, yeah, 3 year old hasn't grasped that yet but 6 year old should've. Just a quick 'Mom, we're outside and Dad knows" would do. Or if hubby would poke his head in and say "They are out here with me", that would be nice.

Point(s):
Safety is an issue here.
My kids should know better.
I've lost control of my family!
Where is my Nanny when I need her?
Oh yeah, I don't have one.