Trials and Tribulations of the Lock-Obsessed Toddler

I don't know about your kids, but my two-year-old is completely OBSESSED with locks. Nothing gives her a greater sense of accomplishment than successfully locking a door. Bonus points? When she locks herself, a family member, or a dog or cat in (or out) of a room. Or the house, for that matter.

In her free time, Marley enjoys locking Pagoda into the upstairs bathroom. She locks herself into her nursery. She locks our cat onto the patio. She locks Daddy into the garage, and mommy out on the balcony.

Good times. For this reason, I always have a butter knife handy to jimmy the lock. (At our old house, it was a screwdriver.)

To curtail her contraband locking activities, I invested in a couple of lock-based toys, thinking this would lessen the need to lock other things around the house.

My mom, God Bless her, bought Marley this lock-board from Melissa and Doug.

She also loves the Critter Clinic, a gift from her last birthday.

Needless to say, the lock toys only seemed to fuel her obsession and fine-tune her locking skills. Now, she is empowered. Sly, dexterous, and spunky...no lock is past her skill!

Case in point: Today, she locked her preschool teacher out of the building. When poor Miss Leah stepped out to grab some kid's shoes from the outside cubbies, Marley swiftly locked the door to the classroom.

"I panicked," a shaken Miss Leah said to me when I picked up Marley from school today. "I could hear the kids in there freaking out, so I had to run down the alley and around the back of the building to get back inside. I've never ran so fast in my life!"

Yeah. Luckily, the kids held it together in the classroom and nothing happened. No barbaric tribal rituals or sacrifices ensued in her absence. But I'm sure Miss Leah will be pouring an extra class of wine tonight. I know I would!