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Last Updated: Apr 28th, 2010 - 22:06:40 |
Toddler-Proofing Your Home In The New Millennium
By Lisa Barker
Mar 20, 2009, 18:51
Gadgets a match for the baby of the new millenium?
My home looks like the typical baby-proofed home: guards on the
electrical outlets, covers on the doorknobs, latches on the cupboards, and gates
strategically set up to keep knee-high explorers safe. Which they don't. All
they do is make life more challenging for the adults in the household.
These gadgets are outdated and no match for the baby of the new
millennium. It only took two months before both toddlers understood how to get
around these impediments to their curiosity. (Even the kittens know how to take
out the little plastic pieces that plug into the outlet.)
Needless to
say, the gates are all looking haggard and bent and they are pretty much useless
due to little ones either running full speed into them to crash them down or
wearing them down by scaling them.
The dilemma? How to keep the little
ones out of rooms they don’t belong in. The solution? Animatronics.
No
kidding. I have one toddler that is scared to death of a dancing musical chicken
I have (it clucks to the ever-popular 'Chicken Dance' song) and another that is
terrified of the cute blue fuzzy monster made famous by Disney’s "Monsters
Inc."
So I have placed these motion sensory activated toys EXACTLY where
I don’t want the kids to tread. The results? Success!
Now I have both the
pleasure of warding off children and hearing their screams so I know exactly
where they are in the house. (In my childhood my mother and grandmother had eyes
behind their backs. Now, as a parent, I have dancing toys that look
possessed.)
“ROWWWWWWWRRRR!” says the blue monster. “EEEEEEEEEEEK!” says
my one-year-old.
“Get away from the computer!” I warn from across the
house.
“Pu-cock, PU-COCK!” pipes up the chicken. “Shrieeeeek!” screams my
three-year-old.
“Get out of the kitchen!” I call out from another
room.
So I've stocked up on animated toys…and now my home looks like an
exhibit at Disneyland. And the toddlers sit quietly with unblinking eyes and
severe facial tics…but let me point out that they are QUIET and not getting into
everything.
And all this I do, not for some sense of retribution (to pay
the little goobers back for constantly eking away at my own nerves)--oh, no! No,
not at all, no siree, Bob. I'm doing this for their safety. Yeah, that's it.
Heaven knows I love these little ones and wouldn't want a thing to
happen to them. Now pass me the remote. There's this talk show I want to catch
while somewhere down the hall a chicken dances and a monster growls....
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About
the Author(s) : Jelly Mom™ is written by Lisa Barker and syndicated through Parent To Parent™ and is available for newspapers, websites, e-zines and newsletters. Here's all the info you need to publish Jelly Mom™: http://www.jellymom.com/editors-pubinfo.php |
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