Capturing Mommy's Attention

Annalee had her friend J over this afternoon and they were playing in her room while I fed Vander at the computer. She kept yelling for me to come back and watch her jump on her bed. Finally, I put Vander down on a blanket on the floor and went back to see.

I admired her jumping skills, and J asked me to fix a pop-up toy that had something stuck in the opening. Vaguely, my mind registered Annalee saying, "I want you to stay in here!" as she slammed the door. I couldn't fix the toy, so I headed back for Vander.

Except, the door was locked. From the outside.

Yes, we are evil parents who occasionally lock our child in her room when she is up throwing a tantrum three hours past her bedtime. We used to use a child lock on the inside, but when she defeated it Nathan changed her doorknob and put the lock on the outside.

Slightly annoyed, I pulled a nail out of the wall and tried to pick the lock. That's when I remembered that this was not that type of lock; it had an actual key, which was not in the room. I stood there in shock for a moment while I assessed the situation: Tavi, Annalee, J, and Mommy in the bedroom, Vander in the living room alone.

Possible solutions: Open the door myself. Go out the window. Contact Steven downstairs.

Plan A: I reached for my phone, only to discover that it was not in my pocket.

Plan B: I found the tool box we just happen to store in Annalee's closet (because that's where we have room for it) and went through the screwdrivers looking for one that could fit in the hole. Nada.

Plan C: I started pounding on the door, screaming for Steven as loud as I could. I laid down on the floor and yelled into the heating vent. I stomped on the floor. But I guess I have really good insulation because Steven never heard a thing.

Plan D: Using a chisel, I removed the hinge pins and tried to open the door from the hinge side. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself at this point. But it turns out that what works for Da Vinci in Ever After does not work on Annalee's bedroom door. I had a stinking hard time getting the pins back in.

Plan E: I considered that going out the window was sounding like a better idea.

Plan F: I held off on the window, realizing that before very long J's mom was going to come pick him up or my sister was going to come by.

Plan G: I grounded Annalee for life. It didn't help me get out, but it felt good at the time.

Plan H: I started pounding . . . _ _ _ . . . S.O.S. on the door, when I heard the doorbell.

Plan F again: It was J's mom. I opened Annalee's window and got her attention, then shared my hilarious predicament. I think it made her feel better about her trip to the doctor earlier that day when J had stuffed a Lego up his nose. I was going to have her call Steven's phone, but then I realized I didn't even know the number--I'd just always used speed dial.

Plan F2: She rang Steven's doorbell, then told him what was going on. They both thoroughly enjoyed saving me.

Vander was fine.

Tavi was very, very hyper to get out of Annalee's room.

I put the key inside her room.

She sure knows how to get my attention!