Don't Leave Your Child Unattended

You see this warning on everything, from carts at the grocery store to playlands at McDonald's. Perhaps they knew something when they came up with that little slogan . . .

Here's the scenario; Brian was nice enough to offer to take the kids grocery shopping so I could squeeze a workout in. Everything was going smoothly until Kadin decides he doesn't want to go grocery shopping, he wants to stay home with mom. Brian tries to convice him to go - "if you stay home, you know that mommy isn't going to play with you right? She wants to walk on the treadmill." He nods in agreeance . . . so off go Bella and Daddy to the grocery store.

So, here I am pondering if it's really ok for me to walk on the treadmill . . . leaving my four year old with the run of the house. I get my exercise gear on and head downstairs with Kadin in toe. Before beginning my walk I have a talk with my son.

Me: Now Kadin, mommy is going to walk on the treadmill for awhile ok?
Kadin: Yeah I know.
Me: So, you will have to play by yourself for a little while ok?
Kadin: Yeah.
Me: So I want to go over some rules while mommy is walking.
Kadin: ok.
Me: Do not leave the house for any reason. If you hear someone ring the doorbell or knock on the door, don't answer it. Come and get mommy first ok?
Kadin: Ok, if I hear the doorbell I will run downstairs and come and get you ok?
Me: Yes, that sounds great. Are you going to play down here?
Kadin: Yes I will play down here. Well, then I might go upstairs and play.
Me: Well, can you make sure you come down here a few times so I know you're alright?
Kadin: Why?
Me: So I can make sure you are ok.
Kadin: ok.

So off he runs to find something to play with and off I go to sweat off some extra pounds. So I'm walking, and walking, and walking and as I instructed him to, Kadin pops in every few minutes to tell me what he's doing. I'm thinking heck, this is working out great!

Then I notice he starts showing me different colored pieces of paper. Keep in mind I was aware that there was a HUGE pile of papers that needed to be shredded and recycled. Also keep in mind that I was aware that Kadin LOVES to shred. So I start putting two and two together that he has decided to shred while mommy is walking.

I'm almost done with my walk and Kadin pops in and tells me that the shredder is full and he needs to empty it. Knowing that he will never be able to go upstairs, get a garbage bag and dump the shredder into it - I tell him what I thought at the time was a good idea. I tell him to empty a little bit of the shredded paper onto the floor so he can make room for more shreds. (Keep in mind I'm thinking - I'm almost done and if I can keep him occupied for a few more minutes then I can help him)

As I'm entering my cool-down, Kadin comes back, very proud, and says "Mom, I emptied the shredder all by myself." Oh great . . . .

I never knew our shredder could hold that much paper!!