As in... brilliant.
My new darling daughter (age 6) has epic fits. Epic. Really long, really big, really... loud, defiant... you get the idea. (Remember... attachment.) Her trick a few weeks ago was to run into the bathroom (our ONLY bathroom) during one of her fits and pull open the drawer right behind the door so no one could open it. She's lived with us 5 months, total, and the truth is, I don't know what she's capable of. Would she trash the place? Harm herself? Crawl out the window and run away? I don't think so, but for her safety and our comfort (remember... one bathroom in this house), it was imperative that we fix this little problem. I got her out that time by threatening (actually promising, I guess, since it wasn't an empty threat) to start throwing away her toys one at a time until she opened the door. And it worked again the next time, but required the demise of several toys first... her resolve was getting stronger.
So this time, I just removed the drawer.
It's been out for a few weeks, looked terrible missing, and was cluttering up our shed until I figured out what to do with it. I was lamenting the problem a few days ago while on the phone with my mother and she shared a trick from my great grandfather (who passed away just before Easter, and would have been 100 this year.)
When we were growing up, my brother had a desk in his room that belonged to Great Grandpa. (He may have even built it, I'm not sure.) But wise old Grandfather had installed a very "high-tech" lock in the top drawer of the desk...
He drilled a hole from the next section over, through the drawer, then inserted a long nail through the hole. If you didn't know it was there, you'd never notice it, and it kept the drawer from opening. The same trick worked on the bathroom drawer. I re-installed the drawer, and the "fancy" lock this morning.
Brilliant.
I'm so glad you were able to find such a slick way to keep the drawer closed! I'm praying for this girl...
Posted by: Rebecca m | 06/19/2010 at 01:26 PM
Absolutely STELLAR idea Hilary. My autistic child did the same thing once, only I was forced to climb through our second story bathroom window to get him out. Our solution was to put a keyed lock on the bathroom door - but I like your idea much better! (I think I'll use this idea to secure my knife drawer!) Hang in there!
Posted by: Gwendie | 06/19/2010 at 01:31 PM
Necessity truly IS the mother of invention....nice work!
Posted by: jess o. | 06/19/2010 at 09:15 PM
That is a wonderful idea. You may what to install a few more of those so you can keep things out of her hands. Our RAD child still can not have certain things without supervision. We are pryaing for all of you.
Blessings,
Dawn
Posted by: Dawn | 06/21/2010 at 12:42 PM
wow, God bless you. And I thought I have it rough with 2 yr old foster daughter issues! :)
Posted by: Hannah | 07/02/2010 at 07:41 PM