Hazardous Accomplishments

Infants are an amazing specimen of human beings. They go from "parasites" in their mother's uterus to (God willing) somewhat independent creatures that breathe on their own and begin to explore the world around them. Before you know it, they go from lumps on a log to moving, babbling beings. While this is wonderful, not only do you lose the precious, ever needy (let's face it, while it's nice to be needed) tiny infant and gain a truly independent toddler. The real problem we face, however, is keeping them safe. Two cases in point:

1. Last Thursday I left DD alone in the den, as we often do, while I went to put away my breakfast dishes in the kitchen. Upon my return, I found her sitting on the couch smiling at me, either as if nothing was wrong, or saying, "Look what I did, Mommy." Now, I know she's climbed up on the coffee table before, but usually she had something to step on, or my help.

2. The other night I left DD in the hallway with the doors and gate shut - this is the one truly "childproof" area in our house. I went to feed Cheshire, and upon my return found her halfway under the gate, then watched as she managed after a short struggle to crawl out to me.

How does a mother respond to these events? On the one hand, DD showed thinking and problem solving skills as well as ingenuity, and succeeded in both her goals. On the other hand, she did things she wasn't supposed to and put herself in a potentially hazardous situation. Not only that, but now I have to be extra careful to not leave her in either of these areas unsupervised for any time period, because she can get hurt. It's times like these when I can't decide if I want her to be 5 months old or 5 years old.