How does that story about Little Red Riding Hood go again? Something about how she goes to visit her grandma and ends up locking the poor woman out of the house, or something like that? (No?) Maybe I'm just confusing my stories, because this one sounds awfully familiar. A toddler locked her grandmother out of the house and the fire department had to be called to get her back in again.
I'm sure this was all just an accident! No 1-year-old could have such strong feelings against their granny that they'd lock her out of the house. In fact, I can see this happening to anyone, but especially a babysitter.
Toddlers don't always understand the full implications of what they're doing. What am I saying? Toddlers NEVER understand the full implications of what they're doing. Maybe Grandma ran out to get the paper or snap a photo of a bird. She thought she'd only be a moment so she didn't bother bringing keys. Along toddles the granddaughter. Maybe she thinks she's playing a game with Granny. Or maybe she doesn't like all that cold air coming in. But for whatever reason, she slams the door, which locks automatically from the inside. Poor Granny is stuck outside!
From there we can think of all sorts of scary scenarios about a toddler getting into danger left to her own devices in the house. Yikes! Thank goodness Granny got help quickly.
But I wonder if her parents would make the same mistake? They're probably well aware of that locking door, so probably not. It's the visitors and babysitters who get blindsided by this kind of thing. And do you think grandparents are more vulnerable because they're older and maybe not quite as sharp or quick as they once were? I'm sure parents think they're being safe using a door that automatically locks when you close it -- but maybe not. Then again, parents make the craziest mistakes when we're sleep deprived. So maybe we're just as likely to make this mistake as grandparents are.
Do you think this could happen to you or your relatives, visitors, or sitter?
Image via Laura604/Flickr