Locked Out

This morning, we took a trip to Walmart to get out of the house. We really didn't need anything, but we went anyway. That probably tells you how my morning was going while Doug was out playing golf.

When we returned from Walmart, I took Barrett out of the car and told him to carry his sippy cup in and put it on the kitchen counter while I unloaded the things we didn't need to buy.

He ran to the door, laughed, and shut it.

This is actually a normal thing for him to do. I reminded him I still needed to get Fisher out of the car, and I opened the door to go back into the garage.

As I was unloading Fisher, the door slammed shut again followed by the typical, "uh-oh."

As I was walking to the door, I was lecturing him about not shutting it while Mommy is in the garage. Then, I went to open the door, but it was locked.

Barrett locked me out.

Not on purpose, but somehow he hit the little lock button next to the knob.

I told him to turn the knob, and I could hear him trying. Unfortunately, he wasn't successful.

I went back to my car to get my keys because usually I leave them in it when it's in the garage, but usually wasn't today.

So, now Fisher and I are in the garage while my keys to the house, my cell phone, his bottles, and Barrett are all locked safely in the house.

I look next door, and one of the neighbor's cars is home.

I run next door and bang on the door, but they don't answer. Either they're not home or they are ignoring the door which is very common for them. (Mental note to self: make house key copies for more neighbors!)

I run back to the garage, and I can still hear Barrett messing with the door knob. I am amazed how well he listened to me. I guess I need to sound panicked more often.

I realize that him turning the knob enough to make the lock "pop" may not happen, so I try another approach.

I ask him to go get his stool from his potty and bring it to the front door. To my amazement, he says, "yep."

I run to the front door and look through the glass that I always complain people can see in. (Now I am glad it's there.)

Barrett was just rounding the corner to his bathroom.

He is very easily distracted when we send him on other missions, so I was concerned that the unsupervised bathroom might be way too tempting.

Just a few seconds later, he comes running back around the corner carrying the stool looking extremely proud of himself.

He gets it to the front door, and I tell him to stand on it.

I then begin trying to explain to him to turn the dead bolt lock. He looked confused, but he was trying to listen.

He finally grabbed on to it, and as I cheered for him, I told him to turn it.

He was trying to turn it, and I was encouraging him to keep trying.

He finally stopped and told me it was, "too heavy." I told him to keep trying, but it never worked.

Next, we tried the garage door again, but it wasn't looking good.

I decided that I would have to find another neighbor that was home to let me call Doug or help me break in if he didn't answer on the golf course. I was just worried about leaving Barrett for too long.

As I was walking out of the garage with Fisher, I heard the greatest sound ever, "pop," followed by, "Yea Barrett."

I ran back to the door, and it was unlocked. After 45 minutes of trying, Barrett unlocked a door!

I know the lesson here should be about not leaving a toddler in the house alone even for a second, keeping an extra key hidden somewhere, or having more than one neighbor with a key, but what I learned is that Doug shouldn't leave to play golf on Saturday mornings.

After all, they wouldn't have been driving me crazy, I wouldn't have made a pointless trip to Walmart, and I wouldn't have ever been locked out by my son. Therefore, this was entirely Doug's fault! :)