Addie loves her new room. She loves going in there and closing the door. In the house they’re currently in, there are no doors on the bedroom where Addie sleeps.
Addie in her room
There’s a lock on her new bedroom door. It’s the kind with the button that you turn up and down to lock. I told Nicole that it won’t be long before Addie is going to be able to reach that and since she loves to fiddle with things, she’s going to lock herself in the room so Nicole should get an ice pick or something to be able to open the door.
Nicole went in and looked at it and decided to see if she could open it with a nail. She turned it to “lock”, went to get the nail and you know what happened . . Addie went in and slammed the door! She was locked in the room. She was fine for a minute but I think she sensed we were all in a panic and she began to cry. The nail didn’t open the door. Since they haven’t moved in yet, we had so few things in the apartment that we could try to use. I went out to my car to see if I could find a knitting needle that might work and they still hadn’t removed the lady from the apartment across the street but now, there was a firetruck, firemen and a white van over there. I didn’t want to get in the middle of the action so I walked to the end of Chad’s driveway and said “Can I borrow one of you firemen for a minute?” The first fireman who came over told me the same thing had happened at his house when they first moved in and his wife had to call him from work to come unlock the door.
Three of them came over and tried a couple of things. We had locked the windows back so we couldn’t get in through them.
Finally one of the firemen asked for a credit card. That did the trick.
When he opened the door, Addie was so happy to see someone and then she realized it was a stranger and she was about to cry. Nicole picked her up and said “Can you say thank you?” She buried her head on Nicole’s shoulder and smiled but she wouldn’t say anything to him.
It ended up that the firemen had two jobs to do while they were in the neighborhood. Hopefully there will be no more of that kind of excitement for at least a few days.
Again, I’m sorry the lady passed away but was certainly glad the firemen were there. The lock on that door will be taped and double taped so Addie can’t turn it and you can bet that won’t happen again!
Thanks to all firemen out there for all you do!
Shirley Albertson Owens says
I keep a GAME called PICK UP STICKS handy. Those think long little sticks pop locks just dandy. I put a pick up stick on the wood frame over each door. VOILA….instant entry into a locked room.
GLAD ADDIE GOT RESCUED! 🙂
sao in Midlothian, VA
JudyL says
I left a couple of metal knitting needles in the perfect size for opening that door!
Judy H says
Poor Addie!
When we moved into our current home, my kids were young teens. The bedrooms had locks on them, and they immediately began using them. I got very proficient at unlocking the doors with a coat hanger. I could do it as fast as just opening an unlocked door.
After about a month of being in the home, I realized that the little pieces of stiff wire hanging on a hook in the hall closet were “keys” to the bedroom doors – they were pieces of coat hanger that had been twisted at one end to have a little loop for easy holding and for hanging. These keys were hung around the back of the inside door jam so that they were not immediately noticeable, but easy to grab and use when the occasion was necessary.
My kids never figured out how I got those doors open so fast when they had locked them.
Howdy says
It’s the little things like helping parents & grandparents rescue a toddler locked in a room that help to offset the calls where someone has died or is injured. I’m sure helping y’all boosted their day!
I hope they get settled quickly and you get some time to relax while you are visiting too!
Enjoy the snuggles!
Donna Williams says
We had that same thing happen when the boys were little. I was happy with the coat hangar method, but my husband went to the hardware store and switched the lockable ones with closet door ones with no locks. We rented, so we saved them and put the lock ones back when we moved, took the closet ones with us – and repeated until we were able to get our own house. That’s where they are to this day – 25+ years later. 🙂
Margery says
We don’t have locks on bedroom doors. But when our 3-year old granddaughter got to the stage of saying ‘no’ to everything, we changed all the bathroom locks to the kind you can open from the outside with just the edge of a coin. Peace of mind!
Mary in VA says
This post made me smile. My older son would lock the younger one in a bedroom so he could play undisturbed. I got really good at unlocking the door with a piece of wire or a bamboo kabob skewer.
Marky says
When we were renting an apartment while building our house, a young mother in the apartment next to us went out her front door to investigate a man at the side of the apartment. (turned out it was the cable man who’d come to shut off her cable in preparation for her moving.) You guessed it, she locked herself out. Her infant was asleep in the apartment and her 4 yr old was due to be picked up at pre-school but of course her keys to the apartment and the car were inside. She panicked and was near hysterical, when I came to the rescue with a credit card. I’d heard you could pop a push button lock with one, and sure enough it was “easy-peasy” . Lesson to all of us: On your outside doors, install a deadbolt that only locks by turning a lever from the inside, or with a key from the outside.
Our builder put the “wire keys” for the interior doors above the door frame of every door that was fitted with a push button lock. Thankfully we haven’t needed to use them, but there’s comfort in knowing they’re there.
Vicki W says
What a great story!
JudyL says
It’s one of those stories we’ll be able to tell her and laugh about when she’s a teen.
Glen in Louisiana says
After Carrie locked herself in her room for a few days in a row, we just turned the doorknob around. With the lock on the outside in the hallway, it didn’t matter if it was locked or not.
Once they figure out how to do something that panics your, they will contunue to do it just for fun!
JudyL says
They won’t be there long enough for Addie to figure out how to get the tape off. I’m betting they’ll have moved again within 6 months.
Cheryl M. says
When I had my granddaughters living in the house we also switched the door locks to the closet door handles, or turn the door handle around so the lock is on the outside of the door. The problem with tape is that it wears out and the edge will fray and then the kids would play with that and sure enough they would pull the tape off.
JudyL says
They’re prepared to change the tape often. It will be a while before Addie is able to pull off fresh duct tape. They probably won’t be there long enough for the tape to wear at all . . it’s a hazard of Chad’s job.
Deb W. says
Take a larger paperclip and try opening it that way or an ice pick. It’s worked for us.
JudyL says
We didn’t have any of those things with us since they hadn’t moved in yet.
Linda Steller says
Aw! So glad there were some strong firemen there to help out. Shouldn’t the landlord need to provide a key to locks like that?
Jen says
I had 4 kids and now 13 grandchildren so it’s the voice of experience here. LOL Turn locks around so they lock from the outside. Later on it also works for locking them in. hee,hee.
Susan says
Great story! They could buy a knobset that doesn’t have a lock mechanism, or just turn the lock around to the outside, possibly. I have one door in my house that is backwards like that. Just thinking that a child who is that determined could probably get the tape off, no matter how much there is.
Eileen Eisner says
I was afraid you were gonna say she locked herself in! Little people. 🙂 Very thankful the firemen were there to help.
JudyL says
Me too!!
Amy (Waunaknit) says
There’s never a dull moment! Poor Addie. Hopefully she’s still OK with closing the door.
Carol Williamson says
Judy, I have raised 3 children of my own and two grandbabies. I know the doorknob you are talking about. Tell your daughter-in-law to take the doorknob off and reverse it so the lock portion is on the outside. The door works fine and Addie can’t get locked in on accident again. When she gets older or they need to move (heaven forbid) they can then reverse the knob back. This way Addie can’t pull the tape off either.
myrna sossner says
Oh, my gosh! Isn’t it funny how many people have had this problem… including me. Only it was a young, unhousebroken dog! When we went to work, we left him in the bathroom where there was nothing for him to bother with. EXCEPT, he got mad and clawed at the door knob and hit the little twisty thing that locks the door! When my partner and I got home, we analyzed the problem. We had no key, the hinges were on the inside of the door and there we were with a dog (a large Rhodesian Ridgeback) locked in. Luckily the window was not locked and I was able to boost my partner in. This was a while ago and my reference to our solution is the Watergate break in. I took a small piece of wood and nailed it into the place where the lock tongue fits. Now NO ONE can lock the door but so what!!! We did finally house train the dog and that was that! LOL!
danielle says
Go to the hardware store – they have little doohickeys just for that. And then keep it on top of the door frame (on the hall side)