Living in a house that was built in 1919 provides our home with character, charm, and a few hidden hazards.
One such hazard is our upstairs doorknobs. They are beautiful antiques, but...they don't always work. And with two small kids, it is kinda necessary that when you turn a doorknob, the door... you know... opens.
Quite a while ago now, Anders got himself trapped in the upstairs bathroom. It was one of those "OMG" moments where I was turning and turning and jiggling and jiggling and the darn thing just wouldn't catch. Anders was happily playing inside, unraveling toilet paper and emptying the cleaning products from the under the sink. (Super safe, right!?) I made myself stop, step back, take a breath, and assess the situation. There was a screw on my side of the doorknob, so I decided to see what would happen if I tightened it. Viola. Open door.
Today we had a babysitter who had to put the boys down for naps. I told her to wedge a shoe in Isaac's door so that he couldn't escape. When I got home Isaac was still awake in his room, so I went to tuck him in again.
When I got to his door, there was no shoe in sight. I tried to open the door, and it was jammed. Somehow (I have no idea how this is even possible) the babysitter had wedged the door closed with the shoe inside Isaac's room. No matter how hard I pulled, I could not open the door.
Isaac was jabbering away to me, happy as a clam. I asked him to pull the shoe out, but he couldn't. I talked him through wiggling and pulling it, and after a couple long minutes, he got it out. But I still couldn't open the door.
There was no screw on my side this time. I had Isaac try the doorknob from his side. No luck. I tried to take the whole thing of its hinges. Not possible. I called Zach at work and tried to remain calm. I had visions of borrowing the neighbor's ladder and cutting open Isaac's screen to break in. Yikes.
Eventually I tried prying the latch with a sharp knife. The knife was able to catch the latch just enough that I could push it into the door. I got in to Isaac, but the doorknob did not work at all. Before we could close the door again, the latch had to be removed.
I had to take the whole darn doorknob off while Isaac stood there with his mimi, blankie, and baby caressing me and telling me, "I missed you, Momma! I missed you so much!" (I had been gone two hours.)
Forget charm. Screw character. I need new doorknobs.
P.S. I was trying to invoke Bedknobs and Broomsticks with the title. Did it work?
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Doorknobs and Babysitters
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It did work Kate. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, how did the babysitter do that? That babysitter must not have had kids. LOL. So glad you got him out okay. I actually love the old doorknobs, but I agree, with kids and the troubles you have, maybe save those things for later use. Don't get rid of them, they're not cheap. Love you!
I feel your pain! Our house has the same old jiggly doorknobs; "full of character" to be sure, but I'd take "working" any day. Our problem is the opposite: most of ours don't latch at all.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if you want to get cool WORKING antique doorknobs, you can order off www.houseofantiquehardware.com. We haven't replaced all ours, but got a couple new ones, which are more beautiful than the old ones and built like Fort Knox to boot. AND they have both regular doorknobs (where the door has a round hole) and mortise doorknobs (where the door has a rectangular box stuck inside it). Recommended!
We just got that movie cuz I remembered LOVIN' it as a kid! so random :) good luck with the new doorknobs!
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