At 2 years and 6 months, Kirsten was still unable to open the door by herself. Considering that her brother has been opening his own doors since he was 20 months old, she’s like way behind the in this particular physical development area.
being short is no fun at all
This wouldn’t be so bad if not for her penchant for locking herself in rooms. She does it both at home and in other people’s houses. One time, we had to smash the lock with a hammer to get her out, which was a harrowing experience for everyone involved.
Recently, she did it again and this time, it had to be my bedroom, which happens to be the only room in the house without an access key (we had the doors replaced for the other 2 rooms). Naturally, I was reluctant to go through the whole door smashing debacle again, so we tried to talk her into opening the door on her own.
Me: Baby, open the door!
Kirsten: I’m too short, I cannot reach.
Me: Yes you can. That’s how you locked it in the first place. Now I need you to try your best to unlock it yourself.
Kirsten: I tried, I cannot open it.
Me: Go grab the mattress and stand on it, you’ll be able to reach.
Kirsten: The mattress is too heavy, I can’t…push…it…ARRGGHHH *grunting sounds while attempting to push the mattress*
Me: Ok, stand on your tippie toes and try, you can do it.
Kirsten: I’m too tired, I’m going to sleep.
Me: NO WAKE UP! Don’t sleep, you need to open the door first.
Kirsten: *silence*
Me: Sweetie, listen to me. You need to get off the bed and come to the door to try again. Mommy’s right outside, we can do it together.
Kirsten: *silence*
Me: Hey are you there? If you come out by yourself, I’ll give you ice-cream.
Kirsten: I get ice-cream? Ok.
Me: Yes, you’ll get a whole bowl of ice-cream. Promise.
Kirsten: I think I need to find a card to open.
Me: No, you don’t need a card. Just tiptoe and open the door. Come on!
Kirsten: *scraping sounds at the door*
Me: What are you doing? You can’t scrape your way out, you’re not a ferret. Just reach up and turn the knob with your fingers.
Kirsten: Mommy you do it, I cannot open.
Husband: Ok, this is futile. I’m getting the hammer.
Me: No wait, give her a chance. She’s tall enough, she can do it.
Me: Kirsten, mommy’s here. Just turn the knob, I’ll count to 3 and we do it together. 1, 2, 3! TURN NOW!!
Just like that, she did it. She opened the door and walked out looking mighty pleased with herself.
Kirsten: I opened the door by myself, you know. Now I get ice-cream.
Me: Why, yes you can. But after that, we’re practicing opening the door 20 times so this doesn’t happen again.
23 Comments
now I’m thinking if she does it for a reason :)
jen´s last post ..Moodboard: Birthday
I think so too! She secretly enjoys causing us distress..
aww great milestone for her. think of all the doors (and $$) you saved! ;p
Ai Sakura´s last post ..Wordless Wednesday {linky party}: Danboard Mail Order Bride | Week 6
Hahaha true!
Hmm.. wouldn’t calling a locksmith be cheaper than the hammer-and-fix-door approach? Glad my 13 month old is not going to be able to lock herself in rooms anytime soon. I better track down my room keys in any case though, just so I have them on the ready for unforeseen kiddy circumstances.
Elaine´s last post ..Hands for Homes
Actually we thought of that too but just to pick the lock would cost us $50. To change the whole door and get a new set of keys would be $110, so we figured it’d be better to have the new keys on standby
Oh, just get the door knob safety covers from Home Fix or some hardware shop. A pack of 3. Plastic covers that cover each door knob, child can’t lock it, and only an adult can open it by grabbing real hard.
I use it on ALL my door knobs with locks, to prevent my boy from opening the door and rolling down the stairs, or from locking himself in.
And yes, spare keys outside the rooms always. :)
Thanks for the tip!! I have no idea there’s such a thing, will go check it out for sure.
u need keys, pronto, mommy!
Daphne Maia´s last post ..WABAR Beer Bar at Tanjong Pagar Road
yes actually I really do. but then again now that she’s quite prolific at opening doors, I’m probably going to sit on it until the next kid gets locked in the room..
LOL! The *silence* periods must be really frightening! And the scraping! LOL! I know it must seem funny on my end but must have been not at all when it was happening!
My younger brother once locked himself in too and while I don’t remember how we eventually opened the door, I do remember that we tried to coax him into opening it. His room was those along the corridor kind, so we could talk to him. But he was crying and everybody was super panicky!
Bun Bun Makeup Tips´s last post ..Bourjois Contour Clubbing Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner In 45 Blue Remix For A Wild Night In Town!
She used a card because that’s how I picked the lock once. I used a plastic sheet to pry open the lock from the side.. But obviously it wasn’t very useful LOL
I once accidentally locked my then 4 month old son in my room. As the locked was already spoiled, I told myself not to shut it all the way and what do you know? Next thing it happened, I had shut the door. Suffice to say, I used a hammer to try to break the knob but thats like scratching the surface and best of all my phone was in the room too, so can’t call my husband who’s at work. Resorted to msn to get to him, ha and got him to call the locksmith.
Hahah ingenious, you still could MSN your hubby. I would have gone with the hammer first, talk later.
hahahaha that’s hilarious! kirsten’s a cool cat!
strawberrymilkmama´s last post ..My little sunshine
yeah she’s totally unfazed. I bet if we had left her in the room she would have gone to sleep on her own
Hilarious and hooray for Kirsten!
DancingMommy´s last post ..The One about Bugs
Hahah hooray for my door, it didn’t have to get smashed
My girl loves to play with door lock. Once my girl locked herself at Bossini fitting room and I panicked. I had to put my face on the floor to peep thru a narrow opening to calm her down and get her to open the door herself. Luckily it didnt take long for her to unlock herself. At home, I have got this old fashion door knob for the toilet that has no key hole. Can’t imagine if my girl lock herself inside, we would really need to hammer the door knob to get her out.
LOL that one maybe hammer also cannot work, may need to use the police method of kicking down the door
Omg child number 3 u are my hero. Like really. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
I love this post it’s so adorable.
lovexiaolongbao´s last post ..Lily inspired: Wear Sunscreen
Thanks babe!! Haha your kids are so cute you should go for 3 too!
I can so relate to this! My daughter loves to play with door locks, so I keep that in mind when childproofing my home.