How do they know?

Roy and I have been involved over the past couple of weeks in a fairly large-scale home improvement project--tiling our bathroom, hallway and laundry room, painting, and other misc. tasks associated with beautifying these areas. Our kids all play independently pretty well, allowing us to get our hands dirty even during their waking hours. Well, during one such time, we allowed Kaitlyn to wander alone down the hall to the boys' room. I figured it takes her at least a couple minutes to climb all the way up to the top bunk bed, so we were okay for a minute or two before I had to go check on her. What I didn't realize is that a brother (who will remain nameless) had apparently left some "no-nos" in the bedroom for Kaitlyn to find. And, despite the fact that there were plenty of big, safe toys for Kaitlyn to find, somehow she, like all kids, likes to bee-line for that which would be to her potential detriment. Roughly one minute after Kaitlyn wandered down the hall, I hear the pitter-patter of her little feet back towards me. I glanced in her direction, and got quite a surprise. No joke, this is how the scene unfolded:

In one hand, Kaitlyn had a very sharp, OPEN pair of scissors, her little fingers wrapped around the sharp part. In the other hand, she is grasping a toy snake, which only looks dangerous. As I'm carefully taking the scissors away, I notice her munching on something. I pry open her mouth to find a lego. As I struggle the lego out (with much resistance on her part), she drops the snake, and a marble falls from her same hand. How in the world do they know what to do to give their parents a mild heart-attack? I'm actually kind of surprised she didn't climb up into the top bunk bed with the scissors, snake, legos and marble in hand, laughing to herself and she teeters over the edge.

A day after this experience, I was finishing some painting in the bathroom and I saw Kaitlyn prance by to go play in her room. No problem. At least that room is childproof. Well, I heard a bit of a gagging noise, and ran out to check on her, and she was gagging up an entire mouthful of pistatio nut shells, along with a little of her lunch. Up it came. I can't believe how many nut shells she had jammed into her mouth! And, the bad thing is that she dug them out of the top of the trash can for her little feast!

I really do try to keep her safe. She's never been to the ER (yet). I've never had to perform the Heimlich. I guess we all just have those moments when we look away...and, inevitably, THAT'S when the real action begins. This is just such a wild age, where they can get into trouble in just a matter of seconds! I keep praying that God will watch over her during those brief moments of inattentiveness on my part.