The Great Break and Enter Escapade

Today I spent an extremely enjoyable (!) 2 ½ hours breaking into Ethan’s bedroom. You see, his doorknob broke last week, and I thought to myself, “I should get the screwdriver and take that doorknob off before someone locks themselves in there.” Sadly, that thought disappeared when I was on my way downstairs to get the screwdriver. I did remember to tell the boys not to shut Ethan’s door ever, but it was insane to count on them remembering. The thought reappeared when we were out for our anniversary dinner and Susan was babysitting – as in oops, she could lock him in. Then – poof – thought gone again. I was downstairs today while the kids were playing upstairs (and let me interject here to say how well they’ve been playing together since Portugal; they’re really getting along well) when Ethan called, “Mummy I think I have accidentally locked my door!” Oh S#*t.

Sure enough it was stuck. There are no screws on the hall side of the doorknob, nor are there any bolts or anything to remove the door from its hinges. Now if we were having any sort of a freaking summer, the boys’ windows would be open and the problem would have been solved in approximately 1 minute – I could have zipped out Jack’s and into Ethan’s. But, it’s still 9 degrees so the windows have not been opened once this year – they’re locked, baby. There began my ordeal. There is a finger’s worth of clearance underneath the door. My challenge was to find something that could fit through there that was long enough to reach the doorknob on the other side, because that side still works. I knew right away the combo that would work – my Halloween lantern hanger and the Lightning McQueen tent poles. However, it was pretty difficult to hook the doorknob, so I tried a bunch of other things too. It was only after skinning all my knuckles and a full 2 ½ hours that I went back to the original and through some insane jiggling and hooking it worked. I almost let go, too, because I forgot to push the door at the crucial stage. I thought, “Oh I guess it didn’t work again” and luckily the lightning flashed at that moment and I went “Oh yeah I need to push the door too” and miracle of all miracles, it opened.

Now this is Ethan’s door:

Let me show you the tools I used in my McGyver afternoon:

Please note the successful implement in the centre of your photo. Please also note the most important tool in the lower right. That would be my Malibu and Coke.