the essence

Addison was standing at the sliding glass door at the back of the house trying to let the cat in; in through the door with three locks on it, designed to foil any attempts the kids may have to open it.

"Mommy, can you open this for me?" (suddenly the door slides open while my back is still turned) "Look mommy, I'm so big now!"

Which reminded me of the sliding glass doors we had at our house growing up. They had pins that slid into the top so that the door was not only locked but the kids couldn't reach it. Ours doesn't have a pin, instead it has a little metal plate towards the ground that drops up & down to lock. (easy for the kids to reach AND easy to fall down all by itself when you step outside, thus locking you out of the house)

When I was a kid, my room had a sliding glass door with one of those pins that I couldn't reach at the top. When I was around six I convinced my parents to let Megan & I switch rooms. Megans' room had a nice big window which I much preferred over the sliding glass door.

See, I was afraid that we might one night have a house fire & that if we did I wouldn't be able to get out of the house because I wouldn't be able to reach the pin at the top of the sliding glass door. Apparently I had no problem with the idea of my YOUNGER sister being trapped in her room. Self-preservation, you know?

I don't know what reason I told my parents for wanting Megan & I to switch bedrooms, but, I know I didn't tell them it was essentially because I was afraid of dying in my room.

On that same note, I must've been 75% sure that we would one day have a house fire because I also kept a little bag of "essentials" next to my bed to quickly grab when jumping out of my easily opened bedroom window.

I think I need to relive my childhood, this time as a child. No wonder my mom says I was born 40!