Independence

On days when the weather will permit, my kids love to play outside as soon as they get home. The kids will ride bikes, play hide and seek, play mother-may-I and any other host of "active" activities that usually end with the requirement of bandaids. All while us moms yack it up because we haven't spoken to another grown up all day.

Well, several days ago, we were doing just this. But because I was busy chatting, I didn't realize that the garage door was still closed. And Micah wanted his bike.

So out of the corner of my eye, I see Micah open the back hatch of the suburban. You know those moments when you let your kids continue something because you're curious to see what they're doing... this was one of them. He had opened that door because its the only one he's strong enough to open himself. And he opened it so that he could then climb through the suburban, all the way to the front, so that he could push the button on the garage door opener, so that he could then turn around, climb back out, and get his bike out of the open garage. I kid you not.

A few days after that... we were once again outside after school and I was solving the problems of the world with neighbors.

I'm not sure if he was wanting something he knew I'd say no to, or if he was just trying to exhibit independence. But at some point, Micah came into the house and closed the door behind him. Went into the kitchen and dragged a bar stool back to the front door. Climbed up, locked the door, locked the dead bolt AND locked the child lock. Then he dragged the bar stool all the way back to the kitchen, to eliminate any evidence. I only know this because once I realized we were locked out (which was only a FEW minutes, mind you) and started banging on the door to get his attention, he came to the door, gave me a "oh you want to come in?" look, and then did this whole process again to unlock everything and let us in.

When Micah see's a problem or wants something done, he does it himself. He don't need no help from an adult!

Tell me that's not a smart kid. While on one hand I really need to teach Micah not to lock me out of the house, on the other hand, I'm really proud of his problem solving skills. And I know he's so proud of his independence. :)