I always found that title funny... MY brothers hadn't done that, so obviously not EVERY boy did it. Benjamin threatened to, once, I think (he didn't get out the door if I remember correctly), but Gavin never did.
... Well, leave it to Wyatt, the youngest boy and youngest child, to take on the "adventure" of running away.
One day, he yelled at Mom, "Fine! I'll run away then!"
Mom: "Okay, Wyatt, you go ahead and run away. And just see if you can find someone who loves you as much as we do."
Wyatt: "Fine. I will."
He marched to his room, got his little suitcase, and packed. He packed socks, underwear, t-shirts, shorts, and his little neckties.
He drug the suitcase down the stairs, went to the pantry, put on his crocs, and opened the door. He stood there a moment, and realized that he couldn't open the large garage door. So he shut the door, came inside, and took his shoes off.
Wyatt picked up his shoes, took his suitcase, and went to the front door. He put on his shoes again, grabbed the suitcase, and stood before the large front door. It was locked.
His little fingers tried un-locking it, with no success.
"Guys!" he yelled at anyone who might hear. "Guys! Can someone help me unlock the door?!?"
(Everyone was, at this point, hiding and watching. No one answered.)
Still determined, he decided to give it another try. After messing with the lock for a while, he successfully let himself out of the front door.
Pulling his red-and-blue suitcase, he went to the end of the driveway and stopped.
Road.
Turning around and coming back up the driveway, he stood in the doorway and said, "Mommy! Mommy, could you please help me cross the street?!?"
Mom: "Wyatt, if you're old enough to run away, you're old enough to cross the street."
Wyatt: "Fine! I'll just take the sidewalk." So he did.
Turning right out of our driveway, he headed down the sidewalk into the neighborhood, dragging his suitcase with his precious little neckties.
Mom followed him... with a camera.
About two houses down, he turned and saw Mom and the camera. Mad and determined, he started running. When he had gotten a couple more houses down, he fell and wiped out on the sidewalk.
Standing up, his elbow was all scratched and his little chin quivered.
Mom: "See, Wyatt ~ you still need me, don't you? You need me to wash your boo-boo, don't you honey?"
So Mommy and Wyatt walked back home.
Mom washed his "boo-boo", and then said, "Wyatt, go to your room right now, and unpack that suitcase, and put all your clothes back exactly they way you found them and then sit on your bed. Now."
Still whimpering, he drug his suitcase upstairs and unpacked and sat down on his bed.
Mom: "Wyatt, I don't ever want to hear you say you're going to run away again, do you understand? Do you know what could have happened to you? Some very mean person could have taken you away and would have been very mean to you and you would never have seen Mommy or Daddy or Molly or Benjamin or Samantha or Abigail or Gavin... ever again!"
Wyatt: "Mommy, only Satan is mean. Everyone else loves like Jesus and is kind."
Mom: "Yes, there are lots of people who are kind and love like Jesus. But... there are also people who are very mean and would take you away from us.
"I love you all the way to heaven, Wyatt."
Wyatt: "I love you all the way to heaven, Mama."
Mom: "Jesus loves you most."
Wyatt: "Jesus loves you most."
Mom and Wyatt were both crying, and Mom gave Wyatt a big hug and held him tight and close for a long while.
Wyatt has never threatened to run away again, even in the midst of a screaming fit.