This morning, I went out to open the gate for someone, and when I got back to the house, the door was locked. Grace was inside.
We have two front doors–a regular, wooden one, and an outer, iron one. It was the wooden one that was locked. We keep the key in that door, on the inside, because it tends to fly open on its own. So either Grace had fiddled with the key and locked it, or it had somehow locked when I closed it. Regardless, I was on the outside and Grace was on the inside.
Now, for those of you from FCC who read the story about Hannah in Japan, this won’t seem nearly as entertaining. But it still was an adventure.
Every window of our house is covered with iron bars. Great security (and necessary), but makes it impossible to break in. Going through a window was out of the question.
Now, I had my keys with me, because I had unlocked the gate, and I had the key to that door. But since there was another key in the lock on the other side, I was unable to put my key in. So my first strategy was to try to get Grace to take the key out on her side. Didn’t work.
Next I told her to drag her chair over and try again. She obeyed. I could hear her trying. Still didn’t work. Next I told her to drag over one of the kitchen chairs–which by the way, are made of a very hard and heavy wood. She succeeded in dragging it over, and I told her to stand on it (normally a no-no), and try again. She still couldn’t do it.
My next strategy was to tell her to find Mommy’s phone, which was in our bedroom next to my bed. After two tries, she succeeded. I cut a hole in the screen and had her pass it to me. I called Gil. He told me to “kick it like they do in the movies”–karate chop kick it right at the lock. I did this about 25 times. Did not succeed.
Gil was in the middle of teaching a class so he came when he could. He kicked it like they do in the movies and succeeded! What a guy. My hero. Without even too much damage to the door.
Grace was locked inside for almost 2 hours. She was perfectly fine; didn’t get upset, and obeyed my instructions. Even though I kept telling her, “If you take out the key, Mommy will give you candy. If you take out the key, Mommy will give you a present. Try again!” Poor thing. She did try. She got candy anyway.
Grace kept saying to me “Hodi! Hodi!” which is what you say in Swahili when you want someone to let you in. It was great.
