Keys and Pleas

On the top ten list of parental "don'ts":
Don't Give Your Child Keys...to ANYTHING valuable.

Being a first-time Mom, I still have a lot to learn. So, in an effort to have a moment's peace as I was frantically dashing through the house this morning, trying to prepare for a Primary Presidency meeting, I gave McKay a favorite toy: the keys to the church. These are special keys that seem to open everything in the church, from the outer doors to the R.S. closets (shhh...don't tell).

As I handed him the keys I thought fleetingly, "I really shouldn't let him play with such valuable keys. This could really backfire someday." Little did I know how quickly "someday" would come. Literally two seconds after I had handed him the keys, I turned around and they were gone. Just gone. Absolutely gone. I was shocked, horrified, and M.A.D, not at McKay but at myself for being so stupid. Honestly.

I then proceeded to tear the room apart, knowing that the keys couldn't have gone far. I searched the immediate area where he had been playing, the ground, the bed, the bags nearby, the drawers. Nothing. I moved on to the bathroom and tore through the cupboards, the drawers, the shower, the tub, even the toilet (thank heavens it wasn't in there). Then the closet and on and on, all to no avail.

Finally, in a last ditch effort, I tried asking McKay. I bent down, looked in his little blue eyes and pleaded, "McKay, where are Mama's keys"? To my amazement, his eyes lit up and he toddled off purposefully toward the family room. "Could it possibly be", I wondered as I trailed him down the hall. "Could he actually take me to the lost keys?"

I continued in hot pursuit as he walked down the hall, into the study and to the hutch where we keep the car keys. He pulled open the very drawer where our keys are stored and looked at me, beaming. I laughed out loud and gave him a big hug. Neither BJ nor I have ever shown him where we keep the keys (for obvious reasons) yet there he was, showing Mommy where she keeps the keys! They weren't the right set of keys but they were keys nonetheless. I just laughed. He had done what I asked and found my keys. What more could I ask? So, I went to my presidency meeting Primary key-less yet pleased with my sweet and helpful little boy.