Friday, June 11, 2010

Reel thoughts on baby proofing

Some days I am such a stay-at-home mother. Today,  I have started to clean half the rooms in my house but for one reason or another stopped half-way through and moved to something else. I have gotten distracted many times, walked outside to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and caught myself just staring through the video monitor at the cute bum raised in the air of my sleeping babe. I grit my teeth sometimes because I just couldn't love something more.
As, I picked up the den and started the daunting task of cleaning the kitchen The View started. I listened carefully as the topic of baby proofing came up. The old school moms chimed in that you can not prevent your child from falling down or they will not learn how to pick themselves back up. The younger moms discussed how they want to protect their children from everything. How with their first child, they baby proofed the house so well that no one could even get into cabinets and drawers. But, when the second child rolled around they decided that if they slam their hand in the drawer then that will teach them not to do it again.
I laughed to myself because I am on baby number one am a very laid back parent. The majority of the baby proofing in my house occurs simply because I am sick of running to the next room to retrieve my child or sick of my entire kitchen getting dumped on the floor in 2.5 seconds. I do have a boy, but when he falls down I do not freak out. I make sure he is OK, give him some love and we move on. He is tough but we are calm and he is a child. I fully expect for him to get hurt,  a bone may even get broken one day but to me that is life. I can not prevent the hurts, no matter how hard I try... someday someone or something will get past me and that walking piece of my heart will be hurt. All I can do is make sure that I am there to help pick up the pieces, heal the hurt with my "boo boo" bunny and hope that a lesson can be learned.
It is just my intuition to be this way. What is your intuition telling you? Is your house completely proofed or you playing it by ear too?

No comments: