Finally got to see Jurassic Park again. I love this movie. It’s exciting, and suspenseful, and sweet, and just barely over 2 hours long. (Take note, PJack!) It takes you to a world you simultaneously long to see and pray never exists. And it was the first PG-13 movie I ever saw in the theater—my rite of passage.

I had forgotten how scary those velociraptors could be, with those freaky claws, sneaky attacks, and shrieky calls. There’s the scene where the survivors are making sure everyone is safe, and Dr. Sattler jokes that they’re ok as long as raptors haven’t learned how to open doors. The camera cuts to the kitchen door handle, beyond which two helpless kids are hiding from the raptors on the other side. The handle slowly turns. Terror ensues.

Spielberg must have had kids.

It really is that scary.

It really is that scary.

Our own little veloci-toddler learned how to open doors this week. Not just the lever handles, like the ones the raptor opened in the kitchen. The twist and pull type. The first time it happened, Ryan and I felt a little like those helpless, hiding kids. We had just put him to bed (he’s in a big boy bed now, you know) and were settling down to relax a little for the night. We heard him get out of bed and approach what used to be a secure hallway door. The door handle jiggled a bit, and we sat smug, knowing what would happen next. He’d knock on the door a couple times, let out a frustrated cry, and then go back to bed.

Not this time. Clever boy.

The handle jiggled a bit more, and then the door opened a crack. We looked at each other in disbelief, eyes wide open, silently waiting. A minute later—I think he must have been in shock himself—a little hand reached out from the dark hallway and pushed the door open. He emerged, delighted as could be.

I’m not sure if we’re ready for this new phase of life. When he was in his crib, he was so contained. We knew he couldn’t go anywhere, and it was nice having that kind of control. Even when we moved him to a bed, we could still close the door at night or at naptime, knowing he would be safe inside. But if there’s one thing I learned from Jurassic Park, it’s this, courtesy of Dr. Ian Malcolm:

The kind of control you’re attempting simply is… it’s not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh… well, there it is.

Words of wisdom, parents and parents-to-be. Take heed, then hold on to your butts.