Look What I Did to the Door

Five years ago my apartment was a bachelorette pad of sorts. I had minimal furniture, bare cabinets and music galore. So, with not so much as an inkling of a child in my very near future, all of my most treasured cassette tapes, CDs and vinyl inadvertantly became mainstay decorative pieces. Fast forward 17 months into this mommy thing and I can say that not much has changed, except for the food part. And why? Well, because I like it that way. And also, because I just can't get into childproofing my apartment. Don't get me wrong, all the emergency-type stuff has a safe home far away from Hayes's reach {no scissors, knives, plastic bags, wires or bite-size thingys at his level}. But cabinet doors and the toilet lid remain unlocked. My tables' sharp edges remain completely exposed. And my cassette tapes, CDs and vinyl are all there tempting Hayes into trouble every second of every day.

Sure, part of the reason I won't childproof is purely aesthetic. I'm mean, those extra locks and pads they sell to parents don't exactly blend into the decor. But more than that, I believe it's important for Hayes to learn what to touch and what not to. This, of course, requires a certain level of attention and energy on my part since my valuables and his safety must be looked after. {But that's parenting, right}?

So today, when Hayes stood at my bedroom door, locking and unlocking, and opening and closing it for the first time all the while repeating the word "door," a part of me thought, "hey! look at my little genius go!" And then I remembered there isn't a key to that door. And there is barely a hole in the knob to pick the lock. For a moment I thought I might actually be forced to buy one of those awkward-looking childproofing gadgets to keep Hayes from locking himself in. But I couldn't...I just couldn't. So here's my bright idea. No better than a silly-looking gadget, is it?...