Knock-knock

Last Saturday (the 14th), I had the sinus infection from heck, and Adam let me sleep in late. I was lounging around in bed in my pajamas, and he, while dressed, was midway through brushing his teeth, when the doorbell rang.

Well, I wasn't about to go downstairs in my jammies, so Adam ran into the bathroom and ditched the toothbrush. Still, there was someone even faster, because as Adam hit the top of the stairs, I heard an adult female voice say, "Well, hello!"

Yes, it is exactly as you feared -- Xavier had opened the door to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Adam is actually pretty tolerent of the Jehovah's Witnesses, especially for someone who does not go to church, and after a few minutes, he managed to get rid -- I mean, he walked them out. No harm done.

When they were gone, I came downstairs and talked to Xavier about the incident. "Xav, you can't open the door to strangers."

Blank stare. "Why?"

"Well, because they might have been bad people."

"But they weren't."

"Well, no, but they could have been. And sometimes strangers do bad things to people."

"But they didn't."

"But they could have. They could have been dangerous, and they could have done something scary."

Xavier smiled. "It's okay, Mom. They were Chinese."

I'm not sure where he came up with the assumption that Chinese people are automatically safe -- although, admittedly, the ones we know are very nice. His theory crumbles somewhat, however, when one considers the fact that they were not Chinese: one white man, one African-American woman.

Xavier's powers of observation aside, I stressed that opening the door to strangers was unsafe behavior, and he seemed to take it to heart.

So, the next day, we went to a play, a Sunday matinee, an hour from our home. Our babysitter was running a little late, and I was getting a little anxious -- we were driving three other people who were also waiting -- when Xavier shouted. "She's here!"

Looking up, and seeing through the window that this was in fact the case, and seeing Xavier dancing by the front door, I grabbed my coat and said, "Okay, Xavier -- it is Miss Erica -- you can let her in."

So Xavier opened the door, and Gwen -- who had evidently missed this exchange -- gave a blood-curdling scream and shouted, "Xav! You never open the door to strangers!"

On that note (or on the flip side) ...

I was in the backyard mowing the lawn today. I was about halfway done, and I decided it was time to take a break and get a drink. I walked up onto the deck to the backdoor; sitting just inside, filling out thank-you cards, was Gwen. Sitting about ten feet past her was Xavier, playing with a game. The backdoor was locked.

I knocked on the door. Gwen turned, waved, then returned to what she was doing. Xavier showed no sign that he had heard.

I knocked again. Same thing: quick wave from Gwen, then her back was to me again. No response from Xavier.

I knocked again. "Gwen!" I called. "Unlock the door!" No response from either kid this time.

This time I knocked continuously until Gwen finally turned and stared at me with a look of irritation. She got up, unlocked the door and opened it. "What?!? I'm busy!" she snapped. Xavier still kept playing his game, as if nothing had happened.

I guess someone has learned the lesson a little too well.