Obstacles

We have a big wooden sliding door in our living room that separates the entry way and stairs from the living room. Anna thinks she should go out there all the time and play with shoes or go up the stairs. I don't want her to go out there for many reasons, the main one being her own safety. We have a daily battle of wills about it and she does not give up. We've tried some different ways to "lock" the door with varying levels of success.

Our door.
It's big, like a sliding wall.

Our first attempt, back when Matthew was small. We bought a lock that adheres to the wall. It worked until Matthew got too strong and ripped the lock off the wall with the wallpaper. Fail.

A recent idea of mine: using this bouncy ball as a wedge. It was very effective at preventing Anna from opening the door for about two days. Then she realized the ball was the obstruction and that, with a little elbow grease, she could pull it out. Fail.

I also tried putting the chair in front of the door. That didn't work 'cause Anna can shove the big chair around too easily. So strong. Fail. Here she is a few days ago - she fell asleep while trying to shove the chair out of the way. She also threw all the clean laundry on the floor in an act of defiance.

This was Scott's idea: the lid of a big plastic container wedged between the door and the wall. Anna has figured out what the obstruction is, but she can't reach it. So far its working.

Anna does not give up easily, so we'll see how it goes.
She's probably hatching some kind of new escape plan right now.