Escape Artist $103

There is no trap, or box, or set of handcuffs that Houdini was ever put in that were as hard to get out of as a living room with the watchful eye of a 21 month old.

I would attempt the underwater, ankles shackled, not a key in sight, with less fear than I typically have trying to navigate my way out of the living room when my daughter can somehow smell that I'm leaving.

It's like they have mama-dar. They don't look like they're always paying attention to you, but these kids know exactly where you are all the time, when you're approaching your coat, and if you're giving off the slightest "leaving" pheromone.

Granted 99% of the time she couldn't care less when she does notice that I'm gone, but there is the grand occasion when it results in a full fledged tantrum, and at that point I really feel worse for whoever is watching her than for her.

But I successfully retreated today, in to the land of shopping for bridesmaids dresses and lunch with the girls. It was glorious.