As you all probably know, I live in a house in which little kids roam freely during the day. This has led to many an interesting conversation, ridiculous amounts of fun playing with Legos, and some spectacular battles of wits. All in all, it's pretty fun having the munchkins around. However, it does come with a price. My house has been largely transformed in order to make things safer and all-around better for little kids. Doesn't sound like the sort of thing that'd draw a chuckle, does it? I was once that naive, too.
For starters, we had to prevent the kids from getting into drawers cabinets, so that they didn't hurt themselves or play with items that weren't toys (e.g., flour). The easiest solution was to put child-proof locks on just about everything, so that's what we did. When we got brand new china cabinet, though, my parents opted to simply not have any knobs on the drawers that were two feet or less off the ground. It saved some work, and it made it so that we didn't have to make the furniture any uglier to accommodate for little hands. It's slightly annoying, but I can handle opening drawers by the edges.
Notice, however, that I said we had child-proof locks on "just about" everything. There were a few drawers in the kitchen that the kids weren't tall enough to reach, and they rarely even attempted to see what was going on. So, we left those alone. Imagine my surprise when I came home one day, opened a drawer to grab something, and then hand it rebound to the closed position:
Me: "Um, since when have we had a child-proof lock on this drawer?"
Dad: "Oh yeah, about that. Had to install one today. Kids got taller and more curious."
Me: "Oh, okay."
Dad: "Incidentally, ALL of the drawers in the kitchen now have child-proof locks."
Apparently, the kids had used their new-found height to figure out which drawers were missing child-proof locks, through sheer trial and error. What choice did I have? I chuckled to myself, shook my head, and went about my business.
Still, my absolute favorite example of having to make adjustments around the house involves the refrigerator. We have the kind of refrigerator with two compartments, separated by a divider running vertically. Given that, the handles run from the top of the door to the bottom of the door; imagine an L shape sticking out from the door, and then extending all the way from the top to the bottom. It's not something you normally think much about, but because the handle runs all the way to the bottom of the fridge, a little kid can easily grab hold of it. Given the weight of the door, though, this isn't usually a problem. Usually.
I have personally witnessed a one year old grab the door handle, and then pull while leaning backwards with all of his weight. This generates just enough force to get the fridge door to open, but that's more than enough. Once the door is open, it is meant to be easy to swing, so very little force is required to then fully open the door. Unsurprisingly I have also personally witnessed a one year old try to rummage through a refrigerator, before I could stop him. This is not a good thing (that kid's mom tells me that at home, this kid and his brother pull the same trick, only they work together).
Okay, so you know that the kids are capable of opening the fridge door and getting into trouble. What can you do about it? You can't exactly weld the door shut. The door handles don't lend themselves to child-proof locks, either. You can't barricade the entrance to the fridge, since it's right next to a doorway leading in to the kitchen. What would you do?
My mom channeled her inner MacGyver, and solved the problem with a pair of pliers. She took the pliers, and put them over the top of the two door handles to the fridge, with the handles/grips straddling the two door handles. It's a little bit like running a stick through the handles of two doors that swing outward: you can't open the door short of breaking the stick. This is the same idea, since it binds the two door handles together until the pliers give out. In effect, it prevents you from opening the fridge door. I have to admit it, it was a clever idea.
Of course, I discovered this trick one day when I went to open the fridge door, and it wouldn't budge. Confused, I thought the door was stuck. I gave it a harder tug, but it didn't move. Realizing that something was keeping it closed, I started looking up and down at the handles. I spotted the pliers:
Me: "Um, how come there are pliers on the fridge door?"
Mom: "Oh yeah, the kids learned how to get in to the fridge." (this was before I watched one of them do it)
Me: "Oh, okay."
Mom: "Yeah, remember to put it back after you're done."
If the humor of the situation hadn't hit me yet, it did when I was reminded to put the pliers back. Man, it sure keeps things interesting having little kids running around my house.
For starters, we had to prevent the kids from getting into drawers cabinets, so that they didn't hurt themselves or play with items that weren't toys (e.g., flour). The easiest solution was to put child-proof locks on just about everything, so that's what we did. When we got brand new china cabinet, though, my parents opted to simply not have any knobs on the drawers that were two feet or less off the ground. It saved some work, and it made it so that we didn't have to make the furniture any uglier to accommodate for little hands. It's slightly annoying, but I can handle opening drawers by the edges.
Notice, however, that I said we had child-proof locks on "just about" everything. There were a few drawers in the kitchen that the kids weren't tall enough to reach, and they rarely even attempted to see what was going on. So, we left those alone. Imagine my surprise when I came home one day, opened a drawer to grab something, and then hand it rebound to the closed position:
Me: "Um, since when have we had a child-proof lock on this drawer?"
Dad: "Oh yeah, about that. Had to install one today. Kids got taller and more curious."
Me: "Oh, okay."
Dad: "Incidentally, ALL of the drawers in the kitchen now have child-proof locks."
Apparently, the kids had used their new-found height to figure out which drawers were missing child-proof locks, through sheer trial and error. What choice did I have? I chuckled to myself, shook my head, and went about my business.
Still, my absolute favorite example of having to make adjustments around the house involves the refrigerator. We have the kind of refrigerator with two compartments, separated by a divider running vertically. Given that, the handles run from the top of the door to the bottom of the door; imagine an L shape sticking out from the door, and then extending all the way from the top to the bottom. It's not something you normally think much about, but because the handle runs all the way to the bottom of the fridge, a little kid can easily grab hold of it. Given the weight of the door, though, this isn't usually a problem. Usually.
I have personally witnessed a one year old grab the door handle, and then pull while leaning backwards with all of his weight. This generates just enough force to get the fridge door to open, but that's more than enough. Once the door is open, it is meant to be easy to swing, so very little force is required to then fully open the door. Unsurprisingly I have also personally witnessed a one year old try to rummage through a refrigerator, before I could stop him. This is not a good thing (that kid's mom tells me that at home, this kid and his brother pull the same trick, only they work together).
Okay, so you know that the kids are capable of opening the fridge door and getting into trouble. What can you do about it? You can't exactly weld the door shut. The door handles don't lend themselves to child-proof locks, either. You can't barricade the entrance to the fridge, since it's right next to a doorway leading in to the kitchen. What would you do?
My mom channeled her inner MacGyver, and solved the problem with a pair of pliers. She took the pliers, and put them over the top of the two door handles to the fridge, with the handles/grips straddling the two door handles. It's a little bit like running a stick through the handles of two doors that swing outward: you can't open the door short of breaking the stick. This is the same idea, since it binds the two door handles together until the pliers give out. In effect, it prevents you from opening the fridge door. I have to admit it, it was a clever idea.
Of course, I discovered this trick one day when I went to open the fridge door, and it wouldn't budge. Confused, I thought the door was stuck. I gave it a harder tug, but it didn't move. Realizing that something was keeping it closed, I started looking up and down at the handles. I spotted the pliers:
Me: "Um, how come there are pliers on the fridge door?"
Mom: "Oh yeah, the kids learned how to get in to the fridge." (this was before I watched one of them do it)
Me: "Oh, okay."
Mom: "Yeah, remember to put it back after you're done."
If the humor of the situation hadn't hit me yet, it did when I was reminded to put the pliers back. Man, it sure keeps things interesting having little kids running around my house.
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