Sunday, November 18, 2007

The mommy monitor

I think I've finally figured out a way to "watch" Holland without him knowing and without him escaping from his room. Let's see. So far I've: put a hook lock on his door. He ripped that off. Tried a sensor door alarm. The door jam isn't flat, so the beam doesn't connect. Changed doorknobs to a push knob lock on the outside. It took him a couple months, but he finally figured out how to pick the lock. The first few months, he would get out of bed and knock on the door if he had to use the bathroom. Seemed very polite and orderly. He went from polite and orderly to sneaky and methodical. He used a pencil to poke in the hole and unlock it. I've even had him sleep next to me on the floor. I never hear him get up - it's like he's some sneaky snake (Tom T. Hall)

So I went out and bought a baby monitor. Yup. Paid 60 bucks for a digital monitor (this way the neighbors can't hear all the great stuff I have to say in the middle of the night!) The tricky part was finding a place that wouldn't be discovered. If he realizes that I'm listening to him at night he'd probably take apart the baby monitor or hide his unit. I stashed it underneath a bookshelf right next to his bed. Now I just have to keep the parent unit camouflaged so he doesn't try to plug it into anything. Maybe a bell to hang above his door so I can hear that, too.

I'm thinking about shopping for a publisher. I'm sure someone out there could use a few pointers on how to keep tabs on an impulsive bipolar kid.

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