Leaving Home

This evening, after I got home from work, my darling four-year-old
daughter informed me that tomorrow, *before* it was wake up time, she
was going to get dressed in her pink Aurora dress, and sneak out of
the house as quietly as she could, and go to her school. Then she was
going to climb over the fence, and wait for Shelby. When Shelby got
there, they would tiptoe to Shelby's grandmother's house and pick
flowers.

I wasn't entirely sure what to say. I didn't want to make a joke
about it, because if she really did get up and leave the house, it
could be a huge problem, obviously. So I asked her why she would ever
want to leave without telling mommy or daddy, because we would be so
sad when we couldn't find her. She then responded that she promised
that she'd tell us first, before she left. But that wasn't an
original part of her story. So I told her that if she ever left and
*didn't* tell us, that she would be in big, big trouble. She again
promised that she'd tell me before she sneaked out of the house.

Now, realistically, her bedroom door squeaks, and before that even,
she usually goes to the bathroom when she gets up, and the upstairs
plumbing runs through one of our bedroom walls. And, if, for some
reason, she actually got through those noises without waking me up,
she couldn't get past the alarm system. So she's not getting much
further than the front yard, at best.

But I'm left wondering if I should call Shelby's parents. I don't
want to tattle on Shelby, or even accuse her of being a bad influence
on Nicole (especially since Shelby starts Kindergarten next week and
won't be spending nearly as much time at the day care as she was
before). I'm sure their little adventure plans are harmless. But
clearly Nicole wasn't the only person involved in this plan, because
if it were completely up to Nicole, she'd be going to her own
grandma's house to pick flowers.

I generally cross paths with Shelby's dad a few times when we're
dropping off the kids - maybe if Nicole is still set on these plans
next week, he and I can have a talk. The last thing I need is for
Shelby to leave home and declare that it was all Nicole's idea.

Ah.. the joys of raising kids. :-)