Baby Proofing

Baby proofing sounds easy enough. Put away harmful chemicals and medicines. Make sure she can't pull breakable things off a shelf. Maybe put up a gate? Let's just say that it's not a task for beginners.

If you've ever walked down the "child safety" aisle at a baby mega store it can be pretty overwhelming. So many choices. Which products are necessary? Which ones are taking advantage of a mother's desire to keep her baby safe? Can I not just bubble wrap my child for the rest of her life so that nothing bad will ever happen? Kidding. Overall my goal in baby proofing was to take a few steps to avoid putting her in harm while creating lots of space in our home where I knew that she could explore without me having to constantly redirect her. I think it is best to have an environment where she can gradually become more independent while staying safe (independent as in being a few feet away from me playing with blocks, not independent like playing in the oven).

It's easiest to conquer the obvious places in your home. Outlets? Plugged up. Stairs? Gated. Breakables? Stashed away for the next 20 years. But what about all the little things? I knew she'd want to pull out every DVD and book we own 10 times a day. I didn't expect her to pull over the entire DVD rack. Next she figured out how to open the doors to my china cabinet - this kid is strong! With in a few weeks of crawling she has discovered that she can crawl up the two steps we have leading into our living room and up into our office area. What she hasn't realized yet is that if she doesn't go far enough she can easily tumble back down the steps. We have gates on the stairs but gates in these two spaces would be ridiculous. So for now if she goes up the steps I'm right behind her. Then there's the fact that she knows how to open the bathroom trash can ... mother's of small children do not have the luxury of using the restroom in private. If I'm in there, she's in there. Which means that she will play with the trash can, pull on the shower curtain, and on the off chance that I don't wash my hands quick enough, she'll try to eat the toilet seat lid.  Are your visions of a stay at home mom sitting on the couch all day eating bon bons quickly dissolving? Good. Don't even get me started on moving to a place with tile floors just as she starts to crawl and walk. At least our floor is easier to clean when she throws her dinner off her highchair :)

A few months ago I was under the illusion that if her toy or food dropped on the floor that meant it was dirty. I didn't realize that after seeing her sweet hands crawl all over the floor/trash can/toilet and then go directly into her mouth for the 100th time, your perspective of dirty changes (we do always make sure to wash her hands before eating).

I've decided that there is only so much worrying and planning I can do. For the rest I have to pray for wisdom and learn to let go. Of course, there is always the Red Neck play pen to fall back on when needed.