Door experiment: FAIL!

Every night at bedtime we close Baby B’s door and she cannot get out of her room overnight because we’ve got a door knob cover on the inside of her door. This does make me a little nervous in case an extreme circumstance occurs that would require her to escape her room by herself, but I’m playing the odds and guessing that’s way less likely to happen than what we’re trying to prevent. Mainly we don’t want her to have the freedom to get up when she should be going to sleep (thus getting to sleep much later than intended), and I have no desire to be woken up by a three-foot-tall person sticking her fingers in my nose or staring at me from one inch away while I try to sleep.

Last night Baby B asked us to let her sleep with the door cracked open a little. We fully knew this was not a plan that would work, but we decided to take a chance and see what happened. Having no expectations of success made it much easier to watch the display that followed.

First Baby B would walk to her door and whisper a couple of times, “Is anybody out there?” We wouldn’t answer her, and upon hearing no answer she would proceed to our dining room, which is halfway between her bedroom and the living room where we were. She would sit in the dining room chair, then wiggle off head-first onto the ground. She would stand up and gradually inch closer and closer to the living room, craning her neck expectantly to see if we could see her. We could, of course, but we didn’t let on.

If she made any sort of noise or came into our obvious view, we would say something and make her go back to bed. But a couple times she wasn’t pushing it quite as much, yet she lingered right at the edge of the living room. So one of the times she did this, I thought I’d have a little fun.

To The Husband I said, “Gosh, I sure hope they don’t come and throw Baby B’s books away! I hear all her books are thrown away if she’s not in her bedroom with them.”

Her eyes got big, you could see the panic register on her face, and she bolted back to her room. Okay, maybe a little mean, but it worked (temporarily). We eventually had to lay down the law (as expected) and close the door, which she didn’t take very well. She cried and cried, and my plan was to let her cry however long it took her. The Husband suggested that he go in there, and I’m glad he did because he was able to calm her down and she went to sleep pretty soon after that.

It was just so amusing to witness her antics, as I could see her pushing her boundaries, both literally and figuratively. I remained more as an observer and stayed emotionally unattached to the situation, and I could see exactly what she was doing. It reminded me of all those times when my sister and I were supposed to be in bed but we would sneak to the end of the hallway and eavesdrop on what my parents were saying and doing. We never gained any “secret” information during our escapades, but we were just doing what kids do: testing those boundaries to see how far we could go. The sky is the limit.

Well, at least until you overhear your mom say that someone is going to throw away all of your books if you leave your room!