This morning Evelyn and I were in my room. She had been up for 20 minutes, and I was getting dressed. So she told me she was going downstairs, which is totally fine with me. Ten or fifteen minutes later I went downstairs, and I didn't see her anywhere, but the basement door was open, so I assumed she went down to the basement. "Evelyn? Are you down here?" I looked around the basement, and didn't see her. There is only one other place she could be. Evelyn never used to be brave enough to go outside by herself, but recently, that has all changed. She is allowed to be in the back yard by herself, but never without permission. I looked at the front door. Locked. The side door. Oh God. It's unlocked. Oh God. EVELYN?! EVELYN?! The back yard...empty. Garage...empty. My level of panic increasing exponentially with every passing second, I ran out front, still calling her name. She wasn't in the front yard. It is at this point that I know that this story could end very badly because I have no idea where else to look except for up and down the streets. Then I heard another voice besides mine. It wasn't Evelyn's. It was one of our neighbor's voices--a woman in her bathrobe who had apparently come out to get the paper and saw Evelyn. The woman was saying, "She's right here", but it seems like it took me forever to figure out what she was saying. My thoughts were racing. Then I saw Evelyn. She was just standing on the retaining wall in our neighbor's front yard. When I got to her, she was a little scared. I don't think she was scared of being there alone, but it scared her when she saw how I was acting and because the other neighbor lady was asking her questions. We talked about how she broke the rules and why it is not safe for her to be alone without my permission/supervision. To her, it was no big deal.

Later, I asked Evelyn if she had unlocked the door by herself. She said yes. I asked her to show me how she did it. She couldn't do it again. I think she just got lucky, but I know that soon, she will be able to do it by herself every time. I have such mixed emotions about Evelyn maturing, as does every parent. I am so proud that she is not afraid to go outside by herself. But I want to make sure that she never does it again. Sort of.