Locked In

Let's start at the end . . . After working for a couple of hours this morning, Troy came home to find our next-door neighbor, Linda, walking over to our house. She told him, "I think you have a situation in your house." At that moment, Evelyn opened the front door and said, "Daddy! Miss Linda! Mommy is locked in the bathroom!"

Julia may be a chunky monkey, but she is quick. In order to keep Julia safe, baby locks have been popping up all over the house. We have baby locks on the cabinet doors and drawers in the kitchen. The set of double doors to the master bathroom doesn't properly latch, so we use a double-loop baby lock for the door handles. When not in use, the double-loop lock rests, open, on the outside door handles.

I was changing my clothes in the bathroom this morning, and I could hear Julia and Evelyn in the bedroom. The next thing I knew, I heard Evelyn say, "I'm sorry I locked you in, Mommy." I thought she was kidding, but when I tried to push the doors open, I couldn't. Evelyn had, in fact, locked me in the bathroom. With the way the lock works, there was absolutely no way I could let myself out.

Not knowing when Troy would get home from work, I asked Evelyn to bring me the phone. Thankfully I had our next-door neighbor's phone number on the caller ID, so I called Linda to see if she could come rescue me. I think she was a little surprised, to say the least, by my request, but she was happy to oblige.

As you read at the beginning of this entry, Troy came home in time to set me free. Evelyn had a stern talking-to, and the bathroom baby lock no longer rests on the door handles unless it is being used.