Locked Out With a 2–Year-Old

There are a few rites of a passage that come with being a homeowner.

The unsolicited visits by security system salesmen. Learning how property taxes work. And getting locked out of the house.

My experience with the third came recently. My 2-year-old and I were playing in the backyard when her dad came out to exchange goodbyes.

CeCe and I then turned our attention back to the sandbox and water table.

Fifteen minutes later when the back door refused to open, the dread hit me. I grabbed CeCe and ran to the front of the house – another locked door.

My first instinct was to violently (and silently) curse up a storm. Done with the expletives, I checked at three different neighboring homes. No one answered.

Phoneless and exiled, I summoned my inner MacGyver.

I took stock of the supplies I had – a plastic bucket and shovel, beach towel, baby pool shaped like a tiger and a child-sized lawn chair.

Things were not looking up.

I figured I would have to hulk out and break a window.

I was debating between wrapping my hand in the beach towel or finding a big rock when I saw it – the door to the tool shed was unlocked.

Armed with five different screwdrivers and a hammer, I assaulted the front door knob.

With a bathing suit-clad toddler on my hip, I repeatedly stabbed and twisted at my front door latch and gave myself a pep talk.

We broke through eventually and made it inside for dinner.

To avoid a repeat situation, I thought about installing a dog door, then train CeCe to climb through and unlock doors.

It would prepare her for a future as a cat burglar, just in case college doesn’t work out.

Watch Baby Bump Editor Katie Saltz on ABC36 News@Noon on the first Thursday of each month. She shares her favorite products and resources for parents and babies, and always has giveaway prizes for viewers!