That I hate the phone. Marvelous communications tool that it is, there are days that I would rather it not ring. Of course, those are usually the days that I am VERY glad to have the damned box.
Early Tuesday morning, my two grandsons, Gavin, 4.5 and Talon, 2.5 woke up, broke down the baby gate, got frozen tv dinners out of the fridge and when they discovered that they were too cold to eat, stacked things up and got to the locks on the front door. They went for a walk. This was about 4-5am. They were picked up by the police about 1.5 blocks from home. They were taken back to the house and the police woke up Bryan. Katie was at work. Of course, the police took the boys to the station, gave them clothes, toys, treats, movies, etc… Bryan got a citation for third degree child endangerment. DHS visited, the cops visited again, etc…. DHS checked out the house, said the back door lock was tight and shouldn’t be a problem, but they needed to get a chain on the front door.
Bryan missed work, they got the locks on the door and chaos was supreme. Bryan and Katie were aghast that the boys did this. Of course, living in Arkansas doesn’t help either.
Of course, they called me. A lot. Oh, and don’t forget the texts.
Yesterday morning, Bryan again wakes to the sound of police knocking at the door. The boys broke the baby gate again, couldn’t get out the front door, so they got out the back door. They only got half a block away this time. The same policeman arrested Bryan after giving him a citation for second degree endangerment. Katie of course had just gotten off of work and was dealing with the boys while Bryan went to jail.
Once again, the phone began to ring.
Many phone conversations later, including some which were NOT so pleasant, we find that Bryan had been released on his own recognizance. He was suppose to change clothes and get to work. What you have to understand is that Bryan works at a swanky country club in Arkansas. So does his brother Stefan. The chairman of the board of the club is the Chief of police. Stefan called in a favor. So, Bryan got out of jail, got yet another lock that was put on the OUTSIDE of the back door and then went to work.
More phone calls.
As the dawn began to break, I wondered if 1) the boys had been kept inside or escaped again, 2) if Bryan or Katie got any sleep 3) if the phone was going to ring again.
It did.
The boys did stay inside. Locks, baby gate, Bryan sleeping in front of their bedroom door, etc. Bryan and Katie did get some sleep. Enough so that Bryan went to work. Today, he’s seeing a probono lawyer who also is a board member at the country club from what I understand, about the case. He is due to go to court on August 11th.
I have to admit, that the whole lawyer and police chief involvement gives me the creeps. Granted, the police rewarding the boys bad behavior bothers me too. Around here, things would have been handled differently. Even DHS said that the cops shouldn’t have arrested Bryan or given him a second ticket. sigh…
I expect the phone will ring more in the next few days…