Childproofing 2.0

Nora has been enjoying a continued love affair with a particular comb we have in the house. It looks like a caterpillar, and the matching brush looks like a ladybug. No matter where we seem to stow it, she can be found later wandering around with it in her hand bellowing, "B(r)ush!" In the photo at left (yes, she's standing on the sofa with a comb in her hand-- sigh) she combed her own hair right after her bath.

This Monday evening she had a near miss with the comb in question when she tottered and fell, striking the soft area right below her left eye and causing a small yet clearly visible bruise. She was a little shaken, but as you can see it did not lessen the ardor for the caterpillar comb. Minutes later she caught her little toe in the grate in the kitchen floor, and crumpled to the floor cradling her foot yelling, "I broke it! I broke it!" (not hardly, BTW) at the top of her lungs. It's very perplexing to feel concerned and amused simultaneously.

I suppose I should be thinking, "Wow, thank God! That could have been a lot worse." And, on some level, I am. But the louder, more persistent voice in my brain is still, two days later, saying, "Do you SEE how close that came to her eye?! Are you aware of how this could have turned out, or could turn out again in just a heartbeat? And do you know that a caterpillar comb is the LEAST of your childproofing concerns?"

Now virtually every item in my home is looking rather menacing to me, and I couldn't possibly think of nailing down every loose item in our house. When Fiona was little, we never did childproof anything. All we had to do was give her a look and give our heads the tiniest little shake. Fiona knew we did not want her in that area, and ceased exploration immediately. Then we could go on by describing what the item was and why it was dangerous. It was an exceedingly straight-forward method of childproofing, but it mostly involved carefully-chosen explanations.

Neither of us want a carbon copy of Fiona, of course, but it's as clear as the day is long that for many things we'll have to go back to the drawing board with Nora. She's a horse of a different color. Black and blue, and later on green and perhaps yellow...