We’re on lockdown. After having my 2-year-old open and wander out the front door while I was in the bathroom getting my 5-year-old in the shower, I have seriously aged 5 years in 5 minutes. I walked into the living room only to see the front door wide open and Everleigh gone.
I was that mom running down the street in a panic looking for my toddler. Turns out she followed her brother out the door (who should not have gone out without telling me) after he told her to stay inside.
As I came running back towards the house, she walked around the van (coming from the backyard where her brother had gone). Door locked 24/7 now until Everleigh is 18.
<– This is what I saw when I walked out of the bathroom (staged this photo later, as I’m pretty sure I flew down the stairs and out the door in 5 seconds when I realized what had happened at the time!)
Blink of an eye, people.
This girl is going to turn me grey before I’m 40.
That’s my nightmare! We keep the doors dead-bolted but I know the 2.5 year old will figure them out soon enough, and probably when I’m asleep or in the shower. Glad she was OK!
Thanks! I always lock the door when I’m in the shower, it just never occurred to me that I’d have to lock it when turning my back to deal with one of the other kids! My son was smart in telling her to stay put when he went out the door, but not so smart for going out in the first place and not telling me. It was a domino effect disaster tonight. Sigh.
OMG! Am glad you found her and no harm done! Kids have no fear, and we mothers go grey with worry! Take a deep breath and a nice cup of tea (personally I’d go for something stronger) and relax!
I know the feeling, we were at a gymnastics meet in Kingston for my oldest and my youngest is allowed to walk around but she had to take her walkie talkie. I looked and she didnt have it on her and the meet was over people were leaving. I was a mad woman, made them go on speaker still no Reilly, got people to look still no Reilly, I stuck around the entrance way and finally she walks to me calm as can be. She wasnt a toddler but I think my heart died then came back to life when I saw her. cried for an hour after in the car from the stress. Thanks goodness your little one followed her brother and not just decide to go outside by herself glad she was safe. trust me you’ll probably have more I could write a book on the scares I have had with my girls.
I think most mom’s have experienced this at least once. I woke up at 6:30 am to find my girl missing. She conveniently closed the front door. I ran out in housecoat half on, and bare feet ….searching. Up the street and down. My emotions were too overwhelming. Crying, scared, fearing the unknown. Then here comes my little girl, still dressed in pj’s (thank goodness it wasn’t cold out), walking the dog. She told me she wanted me to sleep in and decided to walk the dog. This girl that created terror, made me so proud. Now, it was my duty to inform her that what she did was wrong.
My little girl likes to get up at night to explore. Not sure if she’s sleep walking or just wakes up and is bored in her room. We have found her a few times playing in the living room at 5:00am! We have a latch up high on the front door, a deadbolt on the back, and keep the baby gate closed at night just in case.
ugh they are fast little rugrats!!! I’m all for lockdowns…. I’ve had more scares then a few with my 5 as they were growing up. Things like this are very common, a lot of the time parents think their child can’t get the door open or reach the handle, there’s always that 1 day..
I’m so glad Everleigh was found safe and sound!! Sounds like she might be your ‘feisty’ one :).
Ohhh do I know this feeling! I have to make the trip to Home Depot for a chain lock. DS3 has figured out the deadbolt and was found standing on the porch in rainboots & gitch at 730AM last Saturday. #facepalm
I had this problem with my son as a toddler and we live on a busy street! Thus we installed a chain near the top of the front door and a lock at the top of my patio door. Now i know that the toddlers can’t take off!
Oh my goodness that must have been scary. I am so glad she was close by!
We kept the plastic child lock on the front door until my son was 4.5 for just this reason. Glad she was fine!
So glad she was ok! We have a chime on both doors (part of the alarm system), and used child-proof doorknob covers as well. I was always so scared of this happening with #2. Our eldest? Never would have occurred to him.
OMG I have been there before! A blink of an eye and everything that is normal in you life can change! So scary. My almost 3 yr old did this last winter, I had just ran downstairs for 2 minutes to grab something out of the freezer and he opened our door and walked outside in just his diaper. I freaked big time! Luckily he was just standing on the deck, but a couple minutes more and who knows where he would have wandered to!
I heard a similar story from my friends (they actually laughed at the situation as their daughter returned home before they realized it). But I got so scared that I put safety locks on all exterior doors as soon as my son started to walk 🙂 And they are to stay there for a long while…
My son was an absolute Hudini. We put a hook latch on our screen door, a child proof door knob thingy on our front door, an extra lock on our backyard gate etc etc. When he was 3 he climbed a tree in our backyard and jumped the five foot fence so he could go to the neighbours to see if he could play with their girls. I ran around the front to get him and in that amount of time the neighbour phoned me to yell at me about how he could supervise his children properly and so why couldn’t I.
Seems his docile girls would never dream of jumping a five foot fence so that makes me a bad parent. I tried explaining to him that each child is different and that in the time it takes me to go to the bathroom my son can escape, but he didn’t seem to understand. I can only assume that his bathroom trips are luxurious and stress free….
Anyways — there is hope. My son is now 7 and still independently minded, but thankfully he has stopped his “escape” attempts.
All my doors are lock unless I have quest over. Always have been like that even before being a mother. Even my car doors lock automatically.