Mejojac's Memos

Lesson Learned
Little Bug is one smart kid. He is patient. He knows how to watch and wait for the moment to try and get away with something. These plotted activities are always things that he knows he shouldn't do. He waits for me to be preoccupied and then makes a dash for it!
For example, when we lived in Oregon he got out the front door. But, I didn't know he had gotten out. I had been folding laundry. He had gone out, taken his clothes off and was trying to play in a little ditch that ran past the house. An officer was driving by, noticed the little naked boy all alone by the busy road and stopped. He asked Little Bug where he lived and what his name was, but, of course, Little Bug can't talk. A friend drove by, saw the cop car and stopped to see what was wrong. She told the officer where the naked little turkey lived and then picked him up and brought him to the door. I had no idea he wasn't in the house.
A few days later he got out the side door. I looked everywhere in the house. I ran hysterically up and down the street. A neighbor got on his bike and started searching. I started knocking on doors. Then I headed home to get in the car to start looking for him... and there he was. Sitting in the van giggling as he shook plastic Easter eggs with rocks in them. After that we got latches on the tops of the doors and alarms. He never figured out how to undo the latches, but if we ever forgot to hook them, the blaring siren let us know he was outside!
We thought the Houdini stuff was over...
Till yesterday. We had friends over for dinner and to play some games in the evening. The kids were all playing when I noticed that the front door was open. We immediately started looking for all the kids, but couldn't find Little Bug. I peeked out the back window and he was outside... on the other side of our back fence. You see, there is a kind of walk way behind our house and you can access it from a little park in our neighborhood. He had gone out, walked down the road, into the park and behind all the houses. I was not a happy camper.
Tonight? Hubby and I were folding laundry. He went out and tried to run into the road when a neighbor kid grabbed him and kept him out of the street. I brought him in, locked the door, sat him on his bed, scolded, tried to get him involved in some toys, and went back to folding. He got out again and got into the neighbor's back yard... the one with the swimming pool. This whole post makes me sound like a horrible mother. I really do try to keep my eyes on him, but I can't follow him around all day. He's so sneaky! He will wait for the opportune moment and then run like mad!
But, now that I think about it... 3 out of 5 escapes have been while I was doing laundry... hmm... I think it's a sign that I should never do laundry again... what do you think?

P.S. - We will be getting some kind of alarm on the doors. We would do latches, but we are renting and I'm not sure the landlord wants us putting holes in the doors... I'm going to call him, just to check... any other suggestions besides never eating, sleeping, doing housework, or going to the bathroom so that I can follow him around every moment?