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So… we have a problem… Correction… We HAD a problem.
Our kids are only allowed electronic devices for a certain amount of time every day. Some days they are not allowed any time for technology. During those “No Tech Time” situations, we have to put the devices in a locked environment, or at least one of my kids… (cough… Max… cough) will sneak his device and hide under a blanket in a closet in the dark to play smash bros or Minecraft… or whatever game he is into at the moment. Max has Autism and he obsesses over things, specifically anything electronic. If we didn’t lock down technology (internet shut off, Nintendo Switch and phones timed out) at night time, Max would stay up all night playing. All night long.
Here enters the problem. We would normally lock devices down in our bedroom whenever necessary. We had a normal indoor lock on our door like most bedrooms in normal houses. You know, the kind of lock that has a little skinny key that people would keep on the door frame in case it gets locked on accident so you could open it. In our house, those keys do not last. Everything in our house goes missing at some point. If we keep our TV remote in plain sight for more than 12 hours we throw a party. Everything goes missing sooner or later.
Our room key was always missing and we were trying to keep our door locked so that Max could not get into our room and get to the devices or anything else that caught his fancy. However, with the door locked… and the key missing… we would find ourselves locked out of our rooms regularly.
A couple of months ago, I had finally had enough of being locked out of my own bedroom so I quickly ordered a keypad lock for our door. It was easy to install and 3 months later none of our kids had guessed the code. We have managed to go 3 months without having to tell one of our kids the code to get in. And best of all, I am never locked out of our room. I wish we had bought the keypad lock years ago. Best $50s I’ve spent in a long time.
I’ve decided to invest time and money into making life easier instead of getting upset about the little things that can distract me from what’s important. I was getting so frustrated with the locked door that I found myself angry quickly over something so small. Something as small as a new door lock fixed tons of frustration.
What are things that you wish you had done sooner to avoid frustration around your house?
