My Doorman

I am not a fan of bugs.  I can tolerate them outside, but I cannot tolerate them inside.  So, with varying degrees of success, I’ve repeatedly coached my girls on the importance of keeping the screen door closed in warm weather.  No matter how many times they run in and out, I constantly remind them to close the door behind them.  For the most part, they remember, and my house stays bug-free. 

However, we’ve run into a problem. 

Jimmy can’t open the screen door by himself, and he likes to follow his big sisters on their errands in and outside.  And since his sisters and I aren’t always responsive to his incessant cries for us to open the door for him, he takes matters into his own hands…er, head.  He just buts his head against the screen door until one of us notices and complies. 

Well, today the weather was drizzly but warm, so I had sliding glass door open to let the breeze in.  Jimmy decided he wanted to go outside.  So he bumped his head against the screen door, and out he went.  Without my help.  The screen door just ripped.  When I looked over and saw what had happened, I was at first dismayed.  My screen door is broken, after all.  But then I wondered if he hadn’t stumbled (or head-butted) upon some kind of perfect solution.  Now, he can enter and exit at will, and the screen door simply flaps closed behind him.  It’s like a Jimmy-sized doggy door. 

We’ll have to see how this works in practice (especially whether it’s still effective at bug screening), and how long the rest of the screen door holds up.  In the meantime, Jimmy is mighty pleased with this new arrangement!