I Walked Into a Dark and Quiet House...

Wed, 03/24/2010 - 10:08am |

DiggyDaddy

I walked into a dark and quiet house. I almost thought I’d walked into the wrong house. My mother-in-law had come over at 11:00 a.m. to take care of JT while I ran some errands. The clock on the table said 4:00 p.m.

As I walked in, everything seemed jarringly still. The shades were down, which made the house darker. That was the standard routine when it was JT’s nap time but it was way too late for that.

I figured Grandma and JT must be out back. Or maybe JT was playing the hiding game. I walked through the living and into the hallway. The bedroom and bathroom doors were all closed. And still no sound.

I saw something jutting out of the doorknob of my bedroom but before I could figure out what it was a shadow moved under the door. Then there was a knock from inside the room...

“Papi?” I heard JT say. I opened the door. My mother-in-law and JT were inside.

“Hi, son,” I said. “Hi, Papi,” he answered. He proceeded to give an account of how he and Grandma had been playing in the room. But my mother-in-law had a strange look on her face.

“We’ve been locked in the room for 3 ½ hours,” she said. “What?” I responded.

Turns out JT had been playing with the doorknob (a very old doorknob) while Grandma was putting some things away in the bedroom. There is a cap on the face of each doorknob, on either side of the door. One cap had fallen off. This was obviously an open invitation for our 2 year old to investigate. JT had pulled out a long pin that holds the two doorknobs together. That’s what I saw sticking out into the hallway. He pulled it half way out but far enough to leave the inside doorknob spinning uselessly. Always being one to finish a job, JT then closed the door.

Three and a half hours. I felt terrible. Grandma was a good sport. “I organized the closets,” she said. And she had. She couldn’t have climbed out the window because she had recently undergone surgery and she wasn’t about to send a toddler out alone. There had been nothing to do but wait.

JT seemed none the worse for wear but I was surprised he hadn’t wanted to pee during the ordeal. Well, it turns out he had. Grandma took it in stride. She simply put JT on the windowsill and pointed him outside. Problem solved. And it must have been an interesting sight for the neighbors.

Oh and by the way, I’ll be replacing that doorknob and doing a general safety check.

--DiggyDaddy

Hi, Denene

Submitted by DiggyDaddy on Thu, 03/25/2010 - 12:25pm.

Yea, Grandma is a wonderful blessing. As a parent there is nothing better than knowing your kids are in good hands when sticky situations arise.

And please keep writing "those" posts when you can because I agree, things do need to be said. And I do believe that some people who hang around long after their point of disagreements have been made are individuals who are questioning some of their own conclusions or have been touched in some way by what others have said. They just haven’t reconciled the conflicting ideas in their head yet.

As we say, Adelenate/Forward

DiggyDaddy

Grandma rocks...

Submitted by Denene@MyBrownbaby (not verified) on Thu, 03/25/2010 - 6:53am.

Aren't they simply amazing? Organizing closets and putting the windows to multiple use and telling your baby they're playing a "game." I would have panicked. Your grandmother handled it like, well, a grandma pro. I love it!

I just wanted to stop by to thank you for your insightful, intelligent comments at The Parenting Post. I know that when I write posts like that one, I expose myself to ridicule, irrational rants and massive judgement. But some things need to be said, and I always look forward to constructive criticism and, on occasion, the parent who will say, "You know—I never thought about it like that. Thanks for shining a light on the topic."

You are appreciated.

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