You have to get by the guard. He's 3 years old.

Tonight, I had a Jewish learning class at my local Chabad house. I walk up to the door (which has big glass panels) and see a folding chair placed directly in front of the other side of the door. The rabbi's younger son, David (not his real name) climbs on top of the chair and locks the door. (Since a lot students come in for classes and meetings with the rabbi and his wife, who live there, the door is usually unlocked).

I laugh a little at his prank and immediately knock on the door because it's very cold out and three year olds shouldn't think it's okay to lock out guests. The rabbi sees me and walks over to tell David to move away from the door so I can come in. After I close the door behind me and the rabbi walks away, David walks straight back to the door and locks it again. 

I ask David what he's doing. He cheerfully explains that he's locking the door. I tell him (as I'm sure his father did two minutes ago) that it's not nice to lock people outside, and unlocked the door. Sure enough, he refused to take my advice to heart, but his father lured him away from the door with the promise of a latke (fried potato pancake), and I unlocked the door again, making sure to move the chair away as well.

I'm sure there are many stories of this sort among my readers with children or young siblings. But, having grown up without any younger siblings and being the second youngest of my cousins, the kids at the Chabad House and the clinic where I work are my constant reference points for childhood behavior. Everything they do, even the really annoying things, is still new and interesting to me, and I hope that the being interested part of that feeling doesn't go away. However, it would be nice to know what to do in case of 3-year-old lock-outs.