The Safety Gate.

I am quickly coming to hate safety gates, drawer latches and everything baby-proof. My oldest daughter, although very active, has never been adventurous. Bring on baby #2 and I feel like all hell has broken loose. At least once a day I'm sweeping something small and un-edible out of her mouth, she aggressively climbs the stairs and twice in less than a week pinched her fingers in the same drawer. I know I now sound like a horribly inattentive mother (by the way she is napping right now, not climbing the stairs), but she is QUICK. Not a little fast, but blink-of-your-eye quick.

The moment that I realized I was in big trouble came last week. I put the baby down to wipe my older daughter's nose. In the time it took me to pull a tissue and wipe the baby had climbed three stairs and was STANDING mid-step, holding a book. What??? She isn't even 10 months and wouldn't dream of letting go of the coffee table to stand freely, but there she was in all her glory. The look of pleasure on her face when she saw me turn to look at her was pure spite. Yes, spite from a nine-month-old! My instinct was to yell her name, but I didn't want to shock her off the stairs. So with a quick lunge and grab she was returned to the relative, if temporary, safety of the floor. So up go the baby gates, latches, and more!

Now the real headache begins. At least 20 million times yesterday my older daughter wanted me to open the gate, close the gate, open the gate and close it again. My independent four-year-old is now more dependent than her younger sister. And, it's driving me crazy! I feel badly for her because all she wants to do is play, snack or go to the washroom as per usual, but she doesn't understand that I can't open the gate while feeding the baby or carrying a laundry basket. Her solution to the problem yesterday was to break through the gate (since it hasn't been screwed to the wall yet), and this created a whole new problem. Having watched her big sister wiggle her way past the gate, and under the table that was wedging the gate in place the baby decided to give it a try. Next thing I know she is under the table and making a break for the stairs. In a moment of exasperated, disbelieving weakness the image of a dog crate and one of those kid leashes flashed into my head. As quickly as it came it was gone, and now I have nothing but empathy and understand for mothers whose children are even busier than mine. But I'm left wondering, how do you even get a chance to go to the bathroom? And for all the new moms or moms-to-be: as excited as you are for your child to start crawling, walking and all those other great firsts, it honestly is so much easier to be a mom when they are stationery, and cuddly. ;-)