November 17, 2006
So much for the alarm.
I don’t even know how to start this post. Something happened tonight that I just didn’t expect tonight and it scared the living daylights out of me. I was in the kitchen getting Clone something to drink when there was a knocking at the front door. Before I had a chance to answer it, Clone ran to the door. He unlocked the deadbolt and let a guy into the house.
The guy was trying to deliver a pizza. We hadn’t ordered a pizza. It didn’t take long to figure out he had the wrong house; he meant to go to the neighbors. After he was on his way I scolded Clone for answering the door and explained that he is NEVER to answer the door, he is to get either Ktreva or myself.
Fortunately this turned out to be nothing, but the thought of him letting some stranger into the house scared the ever-loving shite out of me. I know he has seen Ktreva or I answer the door a thousand times, and was just doing what he thought was right. Even after explaining it to him, I don’t think he understood the gravity of the situation. I’ve been raking my brain thinking of things I could do to prevent this from happening again and I’m coming up with a blank. We have a chain on the door that is high enough he can’t reach it, but that isn’t always the solution. Like tonight, Ktreva was on her way home, and chaining the door would have locked her out of the house. It’s just not practical to use the chain every time we shut the door.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate them. Until then, I’m thinking we’ll just have to suck it up and use the chain. The next time he might let in the local homeless guy that comes around every couple of weeks looking for a hand out. The last thing I want to do is to try and wrestle him out of the house.
my kids are like rabid squirrel when the doorbell is rang or knocking is heard.
I leave 2 doors chained at all times...
I am unsure what the best answer is, because children never get levity.
Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at November 17, 2006 07:59 PMUnless you wanted to install a deadbolt high enough that he can't reach, I'm afraid you're stuck with either leaving the chain on or being ready to jump before he does.
He won't ever "get it" at his age, it's beyond his ability to reason. Which is why stay at home moms with young ones consider it a miracle if they get one thing done daily on a list of hundreds of items. They're always jumping after the kids to keep them from doing stuff.
Unless you get a touch pad type doorknob, the chain is the only way to go.
Posted by: That 1 Guy at November 18, 2006 09:19 AMGet a double key deadbolt that needs to be keyed from the inside to get out when it is locked. You can install that in place of the regular deadbolt, and then you will need the key to open the door from the inside, but Ktreva could also unlock it from the outside.
Go to your local hardware store and talk to them. I'm sure that there are a number of possible solutions....
Posted by: caltechgirl at November 18, 2006 12:53 PMYeah, everybody has good suggestions here. HE is just too young to understand the dangers out there...
Posted by: Richmond at November 19, 2006 06:07 PMA backhand to the head worked pretty well on me.
Posted by: Ogre at November 20, 2006 02:12 PM
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