The loft

Weeks ago, during nap time, I heard a big thud like a door slamming and whimpering coming from Jovie's room. I opened Jovie's door and found Ikey lying on her floor in the fetal position. Jovie was running around saying, "I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything!" This was an especially strange scene because the kids can't open their doors and I'd  put them down for naps in their own rooms. I comforted Ikey for a little while and determined that he was ok, and anyway, whatever happened to him was clearly not Jovie's fault.
The kids' rooms have a shared loft with ladders in each of their rooms. The bottom of the heavy wooden ladders fold up with hooks that don't fit great, but are too high for the kids to reach. The ladder in Jovie's room was down and there was a big pile of pillows and an inflatable cow by the ladder in Ikey's room. Apparently, Ikey had scaled a pillow mountain to get to his ladder, played around in the loft, then tried to climb down Jovie's ladder. Her ladder came unhooked and it flung him about six feet down into her room. Luckily, he hadn't fallen from higher and the kids hadn't collided or been hit by the heavy ladder. It was scary, but I made a huge point about telling Ikey that he had to have permission before he could go into the loft. Todd tied the ladders up with rope so they can't flip down anymore, with plans to fix the hooks later.
A few days later, Ikey asked permission to play in the loft, and I helped him climb up and down. I was just so proud about how effective my lectures are and how he's so grown up and making good choices. In another few days, I heard the kids talking at naptime between their rooms. Ikey said, "Jovie, are you in the loft?" She wasn't. "Did you say to come up there? I'm not going to. Mom said next time I go up there without permission, she'll take my ladder out." My gosh! I'm the best mom and he's the best kid! My threats are spot on!
A few days later still, Todd was watching them during naptime and he went to check on a huge ruckus and found Ikey throwing things down from the loft into Jovie's room. I had not given him permission to do that obviously. So yesterday, TB attached cardboard to the ladders so they are not climbable  and I slunk away from the scene with my pride in my mothering in tatters.
At 5 am this morning, Ikey was yelling for "Dad!" from his room. Todd went to find out what emergency was underway and he found Isaac stacking up pillows and pointing to the ladder:  "What is this? What did you do to the ladder? What's going on here?"
You're not climbing that thing, buddy. Ever.