Living in a Gated Community

Yes, it is true- we live in a Gated Community. And all of the snobbery and exclusiveness that goes with it? Well, we don't have any of that. See, our gated community is inside our house. Baby gates are a wonderful invention, keeping kids safe from things like open stairs, hot stoves, and Mom's books. We have several gates in our house and rely on them to help keep our little G safe.

When we first moved into this house, we were excited by the prospect of having a Great Room with the whole family in it. We placed a gate between this large room and the hallway that leads to the stairs, delineating this area as G-friendly. We put cabinet latches on all of the kitchen cabinets, an oven lock, knob guards, and heat shield on our stove, and a child-proof handle on our pantry door, all in the effort to make the Great Room as family-friendly as possible. G had his own ideas, though.

First he started by climbing the stools to the island and getting on there. So the stools moved into the front room. Then he started climbing the chairs around the table and getting up on the table. Any time we caught him up there he got busted for 'table dancing'. And then he figured out how to move chairs around the kitchen in order to climb onto the counters. I lost a very nice bowl during one of his escapades, another time he climbed into a sink full of dirty dishes and soapy water in order to have a bath (fully clothed, of course), and yet another time he emptied the fruit bowl of all it's contents, taking bites out of things as he went.

A few days ago I was working on dinner and had my food processor out. G came over to get involved in the action and pulled the base of the processor off the counter before I could stop him. That thing is HEAVY, and could do some serious damage if it fell on someone. Luckily, it hit the floor and tipped onto his leg, leaving a bruise but nothing worse. The stem of the food processor, however, broke upon hitting the tile and I have yet to get brave enough to test it and find out if it will still work.

Following this calamity, I ordered a new baby gate for the Great Room, one that will effectively cut it in half and keep G out of the kitchen entirely. He is not pleased to lose half of his play area, but it is just too dangerous to have him in the kitchen. I have to admit it is wonderful to open the dishwasher and not have him come running immediately to get into the knives or jump on the door or slam it shut when I turn my back to put a dish away. It's kind of nice to have the sacred kitchen space back.

I don't think I will be in a hurry to let him back into the kitchen any time soon.