The day had finally arrived—the day I had to point out to my husband that the duct tape holding the pet-sized door closed was no match for our recently mobile, almost cat-sized child.
Replacing, repairing, and repainting all the doors in the house has been a painstakingly slow process, one that we started when we moved in almost three years ago. We simply had higher-priority projects, such as a watertight roof and a functioning kitchen.
Only two untouched doors remain in the house, and they need to be fully replaced. We have been avoiding these two in particular because these doors have been retrofitted to function for both humans and cats. This handy feature has now become a very minor risk to our curious crawler.
Both my husband and I knew that the day was coming. We both chose blissful ignorance that our sweet baby would never dare learn to move without our assistance. Of course, our only logical response was to load up and head to the home improvement store. We needed new doors immediately!
My husband and I have the exact same car in different colors. My car currently functions at full capacity. Every reachable cup holder is filled, the car seat is installed, the diaper bag takes permanent residence, and the stroller folds up nicely, fitting exactly into the slot next to my reusable bags.
This delicately balanced system is my own. It has just enough room for my average Costco run or one large hanging basket (two if I reorganize).
While I consider myself a professional at “making it fit,” my skills do not extend to fitting a husband, baby, two doors, and all the things that I would suddenly remember once we were in the store.
So, I debated leaving the husband and the child, taking stock of my ability to carry a few doors. Would it be easier to take his car? Yes. However, I would not be able to ask for his opinion on which door we wanted. Plus, I needed him to rein me in. Ultimately, I decided it would be better to make a family trip. That left us loaded up, packed into two cars, and headed to the store in a mad dash.
Of course, the minute I left the driveway, I got smart and remembered that we should probably measure the door before we took off. Quick reverse! We unloaded, found the tape measure, had a snack, repacked up, and then headed to the store.
We pulled in, and from my perspective, it was quite cinematic. Screeching in, parked side by side, stroller in one hand, coffee in the other, and husband in tow with the largest cart we could manage, we walked into the large bay doors on a mission, unstoppable.
Eventually, we found ourselves in the door aisle, immediately overwhelmed. There were so many doors to choose from: Right-Hand, left-hand, inswing, outswing, hollow, and solid core. All we wanted was a door!
I found myself in the middle of everything, pretending to walk through our existing door and triple-checking that the door we had loaded onto our cart would work. Fast-forward through some serious contemplation, and we made it to checkout in one piece, marriage intact, and ready to go home. Scan, swipe, and through the doors, we made it outside, feeling like we had won a battle.
I quickly opened the car, tucking everything just so as to maximize space. Proudly, I returned to the cart to help hoist the door into the back. We lifted and managed to wrangle the door, looked down, and realized that of all the things we got measured, we forgot to measure the car. The doors did not fit.
Panic started to set in. We were already late for the evening’s activities, overheated, and had no second vehicle option. A familiar voice came, as if from above: “How far are you going?” My uncle, equipped with his extra large full-ton truck, was standing behind us. Simply, it was just a coincidence that we were shopping at the same store on the same day.
The doors got loaded up and tucked in. Installation was postponed for at least another day, but that was not a big surprise. This whole experience was mildly traumatic.
If I did it all over again, here are some things I would change. First, I would take more pictures and a video of the space. Along with measurements, this would have given us a better idea of what was already there. Second, I would also go in with an open mind. We returned home with the same boring door that is already there, but I did not think of the options! Could we have put in something that fits the house’s mood better? Maybe it would have been okay to leave empty-handed. Finally, I would look into delivery, or make sure I had a friend in the parking lot ahead of time.
