A few weeks ago, I admitted to some coworkers that we had never baby-proofed. “Not even socket covers?” one of them asked. Nope, not even a single socket cover. The most we’ve done is buy a mat for a section of brick in front of our fire place. And we only did that because the little D’s play mat is right in front of it, and we figured it was a head banging waiting to happen.
Usually the response when I say such things is a little bit of awe. So lately, I’ve been pausing to think of how lucky we’ve gotten with our little one. I almost have to do this because there seems to be so much screaming all the time these days. And I need to think of something/ANYTHING to calm myself down.
So ya, our claim to fame is that we’ve never baby proofed. For a few weeks, back when she was less than a year old, the little D started a practice where she’d crawl over to sockets while I was in the shower and couldn’t get to her. It entailed a few soapy exits on my part, but it didn’t really last. I waited for it to get worse, but it never did. These days, I still shower with her in the bathroom. I set a few toys on the floor and she either plays with them or entertains herself playing peek a boo with me from around the corner of the bathroom. The moment the shower turns off, she’ll ask me, “all done?” and then take off. It’s bizarre. She can take off any time she wants. I leave the door open. In the beginning, I’d close of all the bedroom doors and put the dog gate up in the hallway so she didn’t have far to wander. But I’ve realized that she doesn’t really want to go anywhere. A few times she opened the cupboard but realized there was nothing exciting in there for her to play with.
When we visited my father-in-law a while back, he was impressed that she made no move for the big bowl of water that was set out for the dogs. I wasn’t surprised. For a while, when she was first learning to crawl, she liked playing in the dog water. It was disgusting and she’d be covered. I couldn’t help it, I laughed every time she did it. Finally, I managed to stop and mostly ignored her(other than to change her every time she did it). It was a quick phase that she outgrew before we knew it. Clearly, we didn't do much to try to break her of the habit. These days, she seems to know that it’s off limits. Early on, I think she realized that it was for the dogs. What’s funny about it is that if G were to take the exact same bowl, clean it out and fill it up with water for her to play with, she’d go to town.
Speaking of dogs, she’s never tortured ours. Maybe their size puts her off a little, but she has no problem telling Tucker to “beep beep” or chasing Mia with her bike. Or kicking them off their beds. Or yelling for them to come "here." So I don’t think it’s fear necessarily. She pets gently. She’s never tried to climb on Mia, although we’ve put her on Mia’s back plenty of times. And she usually waits patiently for them to move when they’re in her way. Well, or cries at me, but doesn't get too pushy with them.
She hates diaper changes but will help by lifting up her butt. She’s never tried to roll off the table. If I’m changing on the floor, she’ll wait patiently until I tell her I’m done and that she can go. Even in the midst of a screaming fit, she’ll cooperate (for example, she might not like you putting her pants on, but she’ll hold her legs out while tantrum-ing). She respects the edge of the bed and has never tried to fly off it. I think both G and I have even dozed off while she played quietly between us.
We buy toys that caution against small parts and choking hazards. Even as a tiny baby, I can’t remember her really trying to eat anything she wasn’t supposed to. I let her play with lima beans and rice kernels. G lets her play with his wedding ring. G fed her a cherry a while back and she ate the fruit but spit out the pit. I often set her on the kitchen counter while I’m cooking, and let her stir. If she sees stray pieces of dog food on the ground, she’ll put it in the dog bowl. She can open any cupboard she wants. We never bothered putting away our medicine or cleaning supplies. In fact, for a while, we let her play with the Excedrin bottle (I wouldn’t recommend that though, just FYI. Because there will inevitably be a time when she manages to open the bottle and pills will go flying all over the room, and you wonder if just maybe she decided to eat one. And then spend the rest of the morning googling about babies who eat Excedrin.).
I have no idea how it happened. And my kid is definitely not an angel. God, anything but. Just with respect to child proofing, we’ve never had to be that concerned. I’m not sure how we got this lucky. If anything, I’d say G and I are more permissive than not. Pills? Sure, why not, take this bottle, it’s bigger. Wanna go play in the cupboard? Here, may as well put this away while you’re over there. The dresser? Sure, just watch your fingers. And the thing is, I'm not saying all this to brag. I think, mostly, I'm just scared. Because now that we've had it good, we're about to have another. And I'm terrified that our house and all the little D's toys will be a million death traps for a wild-and-crazy #2. What do you think, anyone care to bet on this with me?
Usually the response when I say such things is a little bit of awe. So lately, I’ve been pausing to think of how lucky we’ve gotten with our little one. I almost have to do this because there seems to be so much screaming all the time these days. And I need to think of something/ANYTHING to calm myself down.
So ya, our claim to fame is that we’ve never baby proofed. For a few weeks, back when she was less than a year old, the little D started a practice where she’d crawl over to sockets while I was in the shower and couldn’t get to her. It entailed a few soapy exits on my part, but it didn’t really last. I waited for it to get worse, but it never did. These days, I still shower with her in the bathroom. I set a few toys on the floor and she either plays with them or entertains herself playing peek a boo with me from around the corner of the bathroom. The moment the shower turns off, she’ll ask me, “all done?” and then take off. It’s bizarre. She can take off any time she wants. I leave the door open. In the beginning, I’d close of all the bedroom doors and put the dog gate up in the hallway so she didn’t have far to wander. But I’ve realized that she doesn’t really want to go anywhere. A few times she opened the cupboard but realized there was nothing exciting in there for her to play with.
When we visited my father-in-law a while back, he was impressed that she made no move for the big bowl of water that was set out for the dogs. I wasn’t surprised. For a while, when she was first learning to crawl, she liked playing in the dog water. It was disgusting and she’d be covered. I couldn’t help it, I laughed every time she did it. Finally, I managed to stop and mostly ignored her(other than to change her every time she did it). It was a quick phase that she outgrew before we knew it. Clearly, we didn't do much to try to break her of the habit. These days, she seems to know that it’s off limits. Early on, I think she realized that it was for the dogs. What’s funny about it is that if G were to take the exact same bowl, clean it out and fill it up with water for her to play with, she’d go to town.
Speaking of dogs, she’s never tortured ours. Maybe their size puts her off a little, but she has no problem telling Tucker to “beep beep” or chasing Mia with her bike. Or kicking them off their beds. Or yelling for them to come "here." So I don’t think it’s fear necessarily. She pets gently. She’s never tried to climb on Mia, although we’ve put her on Mia’s back plenty of times. And she usually waits patiently for them to move when they’re in her way. Well, or cries at me, but doesn't get too pushy with them.
She hates diaper changes but will help by lifting up her butt. She’s never tried to roll off the table. If I’m changing on the floor, she’ll wait patiently until I tell her I’m done and that she can go. Even in the midst of a screaming fit, she’ll cooperate (for example, she might not like you putting her pants on, but she’ll hold her legs out while tantrum-ing). She respects the edge of the bed and has never tried to fly off it. I think both G and I have even dozed off while she played quietly between us.
We buy toys that caution against small parts and choking hazards. Even as a tiny baby, I can’t remember her really trying to eat anything she wasn’t supposed to. I let her play with lima beans and rice kernels. G lets her play with his wedding ring. G fed her a cherry a while back and she ate the fruit but spit out the pit. I often set her on the kitchen counter while I’m cooking, and let her stir. If she sees stray pieces of dog food on the ground, she’ll put it in the dog bowl. She can open any cupboard she wants. We never bothered putting away our medicine or cleaning supplies. In fact, for a while, we let her play with the Excedrin bottle (I wouldn’t recommend that though, just FYI. Because there will inevitably be a time when she manages to open the bottle and pills will go flying all over the room, and you wonder if just maybe she decided to eat one. And then spend the rest of the morning googling about babies who eat Excedrin.).
I have no idea how it happened. And my kid is definitely not an angel. God, anything but. Just with respect to child proofing, we’ve never had to be that concerned. I’m not sure how we got this lucky. If anything, I’d say G and I are more permissive than not. Pills? Sure, why not, take this bottle, it’s bigger. Wanna go play in the cupboard? Here, may as well put this away while you’re over there. The dresser? Sure, just watch your fingers. And the thing is, I'm not saying all this to brag. I think, mostly, I'm just scared. Because now that we've had it good, we're about to have another. And I'm terrified that our house and all the little D's toys will be a million death traps for a wild-and-crazy #2. What do you think, anyone care to bet on this with me?
You're doomed.
ReplyDeleteAlso, congratulations!!
ReplyDelete