I like to think of myself, my husband, and my boys as reasonably intelligent individuals. And yet, our lives have turned upside down after installing screen doors on the French doors in our dining room.

It seemed simple enough. We’d be able to have the French doors open to let in the breeze and not the bugs. But yesterday, just minutes after helping Kendal install them, I tried walking clean through them. And not just once, on several occasions. Kendal admitted to nearly walking through them a few times as well. And, of course, the dog smacked her nose against the screen at least once. Kendal and I joked about spray painting a big orange “X” on the door to maybe, I don’t know, remind us that there is a door there.

Then this evening rolled around. It was getting stuffy in the house, so I opened the French doors to let in the evening air. I went outside to get something out of my car, when around the house comes Riley Coyote, tears streaming down his face. He had forgotten about the new screen doors, walked through them, and knocked one completely off the tracks. As in, the entire door was laying on the deck. He was so embarrassed.

There was some minimal damage to the screen, but Kendal was able to reinstall it.

And the big orange “X”? Not a joke anymore.