- WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH HER? -

do i put her in handcuffs??

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do i lock her up behind bars??

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i truly have no idea what i'm going to do with ruby (age 5 & small for her age)! - brittan got up at 5am & found ruby standing upon the kitchen counter! - she put her in our bed (which's what happens every morning when she gets up for school as ruby typically wakes up between 5:30-6:30 so she brings her in at 5, ruby stays asleep & then when she does wake up, she's in our bed with us & doesn't have the opportunity to wake her sisters (YEAH!)

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i, not knowing all that went on, woke up before my alarm went off to the sound of 'clinking' - i rolled over to find ruby staring at me as if she was a deer caught in headlights - keep in mind she's deaf so i've got to sign everything to her when she doesn't have her CI on - i started asking her, "what are you doing?" - "nothing", she said - she just acted funny, so i pressed the issue & asked again & again was told the same answer (but i knew i'd heard something) - me, being the persistent one of the family (*smiling*) i asked a 3rd time & demanded an answer & that's when i found her 'treasures' - she'd about 10 quarters in her hands - i said, "WHERE DID YOU GET THESE???" - she got out of bed & took me into the kitchen & pointed the the girls' 'token jars' (glass jars they earn plastic tokens in for doing jobs, etc.) - i said, "no, where did you get the $ from?" & then she said she didn't know (GRRR) - i was so frustrated as this' how i woke up this morning & i was in no mood to 'guess' & play this little game so off to our bed i sent her

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at this time it's just me & the 3 bear cubs as spike left early this morning for a meeting & brittan was already at school - i called spike & see if he could shed any light on the subject & he did - he said, "did you see the note brittan left you this morning?" - "nope", i said - he shared that brittan woke up at 5 & went to get ruby, but she wasn't there - she came into our room thinking maybe ruby had waken up & i'd taken her in with us in the middle of the night, but she wasn't there either - she began searching the house & found her standing upon the kitchen counter - she pulled her down, put her in our bed & started getting ready for school (leaving me a note to share of her findings)

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after hearing all this, i made ruby show me again where the $ came from - again, we walked into the kitchen & she kept pointing at the token jars - it was then i remembered they'd received quarters for easter in their baskets at my sister in laws house & there were no quarters in them at all - i said, "show me how you got up there" to which she proceeded to hook her toes on the bottom ledge of the bottom cabinets & then with her other leg, hiked it waaaay high up on the counter, then with monumental strength, heaved herself up there - she then showed me how she confiscated all the quarters that she felt were now 'hers', then she showed me how she gingerly walked along the counter, ACROSS MY STOVE, onto the other counter, up to the refrigerator, which houses on top... 2 baskets (1 full of snacks for lunches & the other full of plastic ware) - she could only reach the first basket as the other was out of reach due to her only having 1 free arm as the other one was gripping the top cabinet for stability - she then signed to me, "no snacks... only forks & spoons" GEEEZ

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i think of what could've happened & it makes me ill (her getting into the knife drawer, her turning on the stove that she walked across, her falling, etc.)

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we're in the process of moving so i've got to really be creative as to how i confine her in the night so as to not leave the room a mess, but it's obvious a baby gate doesn't work - i already use a baby monitor, but we didn't hear her - anyone have any suggestions??