As I’ve said previously, Elias has been very busy lately. We’ve never childproofed our house much. I remember when Silje was a little crawling baby, and I actually sat, pregnant with David, by the stairs in our old townhouse and repetitively taught her the word “no.” Some things were put out of danger, but we were determined to house proof our child, not childproof our house.
Ahh, the wisdom one has when they have one child.
Now I have 3 children, and I’m out of ideas. This house has such an overwhelming multitude of things to get into, and I’ve tried to teach Elias, and he does listen about 80% of the time which is good, but that 20% could really hurt him.
Such a sweet baby.
So now that I have 3 and a dog, I’m constantly pulled in all sorts of directions, and can’t keep up with Elias every moment of every day as I was when Silje was this age. Then yesterday, when I was trying to put things away, and started moving the pack n play back upstairs, I thought, “this is not just a portable crib.” There is play in the name, isn’t there?
So Elias spent some time yesterday, with me in the kitchen.
‘Cause I have work to do, and I’m sick of staring at these dishes.
At first he looked at me with terror like “I have to take a nap in the kitchen? I’m not even tired!” But then I plopped in some toys, and then he really got happy when I blasted some fun kids music. It was a party now! David thought it was so cool, and they spent a lot of the time touching each other’s hands through the mesh. 
Now, if only it was a novelty today. Time for a fresh batch of toys in there, I guess.
J and K Smith says
October 29, 2009 at 7:46 pmI remember you teaching Silje about the stairs and the screen door during my visit. How sad that this was the last time I was able to visit with you!
Candis Berge says
October 29, 2009 at 9:30 pmLots of children spent a fair amount of time in their “play pen” – a larger version of the pack n play. You probably did, in fact… I had one in 1977 as did most mom’s. Then there was a movement that said that was a bad thing to confine a child. Go figure – they were safe and happy and mom could do a few things without worrying!
Mom says
October 29, 2009 at 10:22 pmI can vouch for the fact that all you kids spent time playing in the play pen. It kept you alive! 🙂 When you were Elias’ age, you used to find my keys and try to get them to fit in the outlets (which immediately prompted me to child proof them). You would also find markers and crayons and quietly go over to the wall and start drawing.
I LOVED the playpen!