Tuesday Temptations
Niall seems to be tempted by a lot of off-limits things these days... and I've been getting a little bit too relaxed lately with letting him roam around without my supervision. Bad combo.
At first, I tried to keep him strapped in the johnny jump up all day while I worked. When I realized that was cruel, I gated him into the room where I work and let him move around a little... but then he started pulling on the laptop cord, biting my leg, and getting bored with the tiny space. So, then I decided to let him crawl around in the family room. Big mistake.
It's just the room right next to me and it's all open (no doors between us), so I figured it would be fine if I baby-proofed it really well. I can still hear him and everything. So, I just put up a gate, took my keys and cell phone away, blocked off the stereo & DVD player, and checked the floor for anything I may not have noticed. Lay out a few toys and back to work. Well, not really, because this little explorer is not interested in baby toys. He's interested in adult toys. Anything in the room that is not meant to be played with- he will find it.
About 5 minutes later, I hear a loud shatter. As I sprint into the family room, I'm thinking "What could that possibly be? I checked everything!" (...followed by "Is Niall ok??")-- good thing I have my priorities straight ;)
There was Niall sitting on the floor with little shimmering specks of glass on his skin- not crying or anything; just a little shocked by the noise. I had no idea those mirror coffee table trays were breakable! I didn't even think it was real mirror in there. It was only $20 from Target; I thought the whole thing was plastic. Luckily, none of the large shards of broken mirror came out, but those little tiny pieces that you can barely see- those are the worst.
I wasn't even sure how to get them off of him without lodging them into his skin further- not to mention making sure I actually find all the hidden pieces. So I took a burp cloth and starting swatting his face, arms and legs to try to gently sweep them away. It would not have looked very good to a bystander. Poor Niall was looking at me, thinking "Why is mommy beating on me?" Well, it was a good try, the whole 'play by yourself' thing. But I think we'll stick to leg biting and laptop cord pulling.
When did you start letting your child play in a (somewhat) baby-proofed room by themselves?
At first, I tried to keep him strapped in the johnny jump up all day while I worked. When I realized that was cruel, I gated him into the room where I work and let him move around a little... but then he started pulling on the laptop cord, biting my leg, and getting bored with the tiny space. So, then I decided to let him crawl around in the family room. Big mistake.
It's just the room right next to me and it's all open (no doors between us), so I figured it would be fine if I baby-proofed it really well. I can still hear him and everything. So, I just put up a gate, took my keys and cell phone away, blocked off the stereo & DVD player, and checked the floor for anything I may not have noticed. Lay out a few toys and back to work. Well, not really, because this little explorer is not interested in baby toys. He's interested in adult toys. Anything in the room that is not meant to be played with- he will find it.
About 5 minutes later, I hear a loud shatter. As I sprint into the family room, I'm thinking "What could that possibly be? I checked everything!" (...followed by "Is Niall ok??")-- good thing I have my priorities straight ;)
There was Niall sitting on the floor with little shimmering specks of glass on his skin- not crying or anything; just a little shocked by the noise. I had no idea those mirror coffee table trays were breakable! I didn't even think it was real mirror in there. It was only $20 from Target; I thought the whole thing was plastic. Luckily, none of the large shards of broken mirror came out, but those little tiny pieces that you can barely see- those are the worst.
I wasn't even sure how to get them off of him without lodging them into his skin further- not to mention making sure I actually find all the hidden pieces. So I took a burp cloth and starting swatting his face, arms and legs to try to gently sweep them away. It would not have looked very good to a bystander. Poor Niall was looking at me, thinking "Why is mommy beating on me?" Well, it was a good try, the whole 'play by yourself' thing. But I think we'll stick to leg biting and laptop cord pulling.
When did you start letting your child play in a (somewhat) baby-proofed room by themselves?
Oh no! I am just dreading when my daughter is on the move. She is so close. Yikes! At least he was ok.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am a new follower from Mom Blogs at MomDot. Hope you will come check me out too!
http://thechroniclesofahousewife.blogspot.com/
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThank goodness he was okay, Thanks for coming by and following. Im following you back.