With my first four children, I never child-proofed anything.
I prided myself (and we all know pride is a sin) with the fact that I house-proofed my babies instead of child-proofing my house.
But that was BEFORE.
Before I had three toddlers, all the same age.
It's not that they are unusually naughty.
And it's not that I am not vigilant at teaching, training, and watching them.
Fact is, there are just more of them than there are of me!
Contrary to what my Momma always said, mothers do NOT have eyes in the back of their heads.
I just cannot always catch my littlest ones before their toddler curiousity gets the better of them.
This week was the final straw.
Gabbey and Lyssie flushed EVERY toothbrush in the kid's bathroom---AND the toothpaste!!!---down the toilet. Oh, and did I mention the toilet had already been used?
The toothpaste didn't go down. Lucky me, I got to fish it out of the used toilet.
Three of the toothbrushes got plunged back out (at 2 am, by Mommy again) after one of the children had an upset tummy, used the toilet, and then called for me because it wouldn't flush. TEN minutes of plunging later (at 2 am!) three of the kiddie toothbrushes reappeared.
I'll let you use your imagination as to who fished them out of the USED toilet again.
(ME)
So, the line has been drawn in the sand.
And I surrendered.
Yep, after 11 years of parenting and 7 children, we bought our first child-proofing gear today.
Eight of those little doornob things that go around the doornob so the babies can't open the doors. (How's that for a description?)
We came home, installed them to the pantry, BOTH bathrooms, my closet, and the girl's bedroom.
Brent and I experienced great delight when a few minutes later Ethan tried to open the pantry door. (and raid my chocolate chip stash, no doubt)
"Hmmm." he said thoughtfully, while trying to open the door.
"Guess that won't work anymore!" he muttered as he walked away.
Victory is sweet in the Bergey house tonight.
And all our children have brand new toothbrushes, too. :)
in an attempt to NOT spend my valuable after school is done hour putting the house back together i created a "playroom" with short walls this week. ahhhhhh. can you see the peace it gave my house. i sit next to it or in it when possible and the kids can make as big a mess as they like and the school papers and knives stay safe, and yes. this has been an issue.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be invited to your blog, coloradomom, and see pics of this. I've been wanting to do something like this for my daycare so there would be areas for certain toys.
ReplyDeleteHAHA! I laughed so hard at this....though I'm sure I wouldn't have laughed if it had been me...until later, that is!
ReplyDeleteThese are the memory-makers! :)
We installed the wrap around things on the cabinets, and my 2 year old, reached down, pulled it apart, got out the dishwasher soap, opened it and filled up the dishwasher soap thing, then put it back in the cabinet and handed me the child safety lock. Mostly she leaves the child safety things alone, but sometimes I think what???
ReplyDeleteHi, How do I ask this without you thinking I am in any way judging you? I do not mean to offend you with my questions. I read your blog all the time...it is a favorite and I truly admire you. As I have been reading the past few posts I have wondered what state you live in. The reason I ask is because the home study inspection was for us was very rigorous. We were given a 30 page state manual to COMPLY with. One was the number of children that shared a bedroom. I think that you could only have 2 girls or 2 boys in a room. There was details on room sizes, etc. You state you have a small house and I can't see how you got past that part of the inspection. Then we had to have the ENTIRE HOUSE with no kids just 2 adults baby proofed BEFORE we had an approved home study. I am talking locks in the cabinets, pool secure with fence, guns in a gun cabinet, plug protectors, etc. Didn't you have to do that where you are at? Again I am SURE YOU ARE GOOD PARENTS. I am just curious about how the home inspections differ from state to state. Hope you understand my question.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteYour questions do not offend me! :)
Every state has different requirements, as does each agency and Social Worker. Our SW would approve us for 10 kids in our current house, LOL....not that we're going for that right now. :)
We were experienced parents and our SW did discuss baby-proofing before we brought Gabbey home. I had a fully-gated play area in my kitchen for when I didn't have Gabbey right next to me. I haven't needed the gated area since my toddlers are older, but as you read in the above post, I HAVE decided to baby-proof some things for ease of mind. We don't have dangerous things at kid-level, just "messy" things (books, toys, videos, TOOTHBRUSHES (which are now moved up higher so they don't get flushed, lol).
Hope that answers your question. We definitely had an approved homestudy before bringing home any of our girls. Just keep in mind that each state's requirements vary.
Meghan, if you're reading this, feel free to chime in! :)
Selina
This is so funny when it's someone else doing the fishing out, haha! The joys of motherhood!
ReplyDeleteThis is the mom of 11 ! who's daughter came and said "Mom read this blog it sounds way to familiar!!" Haha, I really enjoyed this post. After we had identical twin boys #6 and #7, all my perfect parenting pride went out the door and I had to revert to many new ideas! I haven't looked back and wouldn't have my life any other way. My current 2 year old is busy enough, I can only imagine if there were two or three of her! She is brilliant though and I am enjoying her to bits.
ReplyDeleteThat's too funny!
ReplyDelete