Cat Door Shane-annigans

Shane is an explorer. Gates…, doors…, these types of barriers offend him at his very core.  This can be a problem sometimes. 

Any time anyone goes into the laundry room, Shane drops whatever he is doing and races to the door.  He’s not allowed in the room because of the cat pot, but that’s only increased its allure to him. You have to shut the door quickly to avoid little fingers. Once you’re in, the little man will then set up camp outside and lurk around the cat door.

Frequently, this is what you see when you’re ready to leave the room again.

This is a problem for two reasons.  First, you don’t want to trip on Shane or shut the door on his fingers when you leave.  Second, if you pull him away quickly or shut the door in front of him, Shane starts to cry.  It’s too bad for him that Mama and Dada aren’t going to let him crawl around cat litter no matter how much he cries, but it’s much easier to avoid the situation if possible.

Thankfully, Shane is Absolutely Damn  Delightful.  Happily so, even.  

Carrie discovered the solution: when you’re ready to leave the room, turn off the lights. 

As long as the lights are on, Shane is intensely interested. He does not cry. He just lays down and takes it all in. When the lights are off, he has nothing to look at (duh). If you stand in the dark for 10 to 30 seconds, Shane gets bored or something else grabs his attention. You (and any trapped cats) then have carte blanche to escape. The boy may look up at you as you reenter the room, but he usually won't protest. He'll be too busy running around doing something else.

That's my boy!