Caleb-Proofing

One of the most daunting challenges of raising our son has been child-proofing. The only cabinet lock that existed in our house B.C. (before Caleb) was a latch on the doors under the sink where all of the dangerous chemicals live. Actually, I routinely enjoyed making fun of all of the child-proofing devices for everything from the oven to the toilet. I mean, who in the world would ever have the need to put a child-safety lock on an oven? Don't people WATCH their children anymore??? And then God blessed us with our little Caleb. I now know why ALL of those gadgets were invented -- to prevent children like my precious, mischievous son from seriously injuring himself.

Caleb's newly acquired skills are getting out of his crib, opening his door, and appearing in our bedroom whenever he so desires. So, naturally, I child-proofed his room from top to bottom, including door knob covers that would make it impossible for him to get out. It took less than a day for my little prodigy to figure out how to hang on the door knob with all of his weight and break the covers off. Since putting our son in a cage or tethering him to the bed (I admit these ideas have crossed my mind on several occasions) might warrant a call to CPS, we are now down to the "God commands you to obey your parents" motivator. As you may have guessed, it would be much easier on us just to strap him in his bed. But after several nights of struggling to lovingly, yet firmly, put our son in his subordinate place as "child", he has slowly begun to realize no matter how long and hard he fights it, he will lose this battle. He will never know; however, how close he is to winning sometimes.