Lucy locked herself in her room yesterday. I didn't even know that door locked. Our house was built in the 1910s? 20s? It's old. Most of the doors have old skeleton key doorknobs that only lock from the inside AND outside with keys. Well, Lucy's door had a turn-the-thingie-on-the-knob type lock. And it locked the knob on the inside as well as the outside so Lucy couldn't turn the handle either.
Abject sadness
Now. This wouldn't be a big deal if there was some sort of unlocking mechanism on the outside. Or if the hinges were on the outside. Or if the knob had screws to take it off. Or if the wood trim on the door wasn't glued on with a century of paint. Too bad none of this was working to my advantage.
Tending toward despair
Also learned: I don't have what it takes to be a burglar and break into windows. I only got as far as getting the screens off.
Not amused. Stop trying, Mama.
I used a big screwdriver and hammer and tried to trip the latch. I tried to pry the knob off. I tried to use a hammer as a lever and pry the dang door off.
Almost okay
And then I called the Bubba to come home. It had been 20 minutes, and Lucy was clearly done with this business. And even if she wasn't. *I* was.
Pacified and waiting for Daddy
And then Daddy came, banged real hard, tripped the latch with the screwdriver-hammer trick while I kept Lu away from the door in case it broke open.
She was totally fine. She had pooped her pants, was happy to see Daddy, wanted some lunch. Fine.
Mama, however, needed a stiff drink and a massage.
7 comments:
Oh so sad and scary! So glad that you guys got her out without too much permanent damage. And Sandra Boynton Books are an excellent choice (at least in our house they are).
We have a friend here whose 2 year-old son locked himself, his father, and his little brother all inside his 2nd story bedroom with no one else home. I think dad ended up kicking the (not very sturdy) door in. Heh.
This made me laugh out loud. If I were in that situation, however, it would not be funny. It's just funny in the telling. Looks like you need some sort of different door for safety's sake.
Oh my god, the picture where you were reading her a book THROUGH THE GLASS just killed me dead.
Off to tape down all the locks on our doors.
And thank goodness that ordeal is over. I hope you got your stiff drink AND your massage.
Aw, her face breaks my heart! I jumped into the twitter updates on this too late, but MAN. It makes me think about where we move next year, and switching out any door knobs with locks (even our master, because my son locking himself in there would be even more terrifying than if he did so in his child-proof bedroom).
Liz those are the saddest pictures I have EVER SEEN. And I'm all teary again because seriously, SO SCARY. Gah! Now I need a stiff drink after reading this post! (But yes, I can use any excuse...)
Oh my gosh! What a wild day you all had!!! I love that you did your best to keep Lu occupied in the meantime. She must have a future in engineering if she figured out how to lock the door. . .
(BTW: Yay Sandra Boynton--she's a Philly girl!)
this is very sad, but i have to say I felt Lucy's pain and unamusement when I saw those pictures. awesome pictures, funny story.
i had fun reading this!
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