Child-Proof, Schmild-Proof

I hate child-proofing devices. Hate them. When Alison was a baby she began opening and closing all the cabinets within reach. We were concerned that her fingers would get pinched (and we were sick of picking up pots and pans all the time), so we invested in some child locks for the cabinets:After Nathan installed the first one, we tested it out. Success! Both he and I had a hard time opening the cabinets! We assumed that we would quickly learn how to maneuver these new locks; after all, we were trying to protect our child. Nathan spent quite a while drilling and screwing in all of the safety locks, and as he finished up the final lock, we discovered that Alison had already discovered how to open the first cabinet. She had outsmarted the locks.

I remember visiting my sister's house and seeing that there was a lock on the refrigerator, thus preventing her 7 children from having complete access to the goods in the fridge. I was quite impressed with the device and noted that one day I would need one of those. The next time I visited her I saw that it had torn in half and was no longer serving its purpose.

So, I hate child-proof devices, and it's been years since I've purchased any child-proof anything. But, now I have Max. He's a very sweet, charismatic, handsome young boy whose smile melts me. He can pretty much get away with anything (e.g. painting his face with mascara, spilling my foundation all over his shirt, ripping Nathan's desk-top scrapbook calendar--Nathan doesn't know about this yet, losing my keys at the Outlet Mall and stranding us for 20 minutes...you get the point...and that was just today). Well, Max has full access to my double pantry and my side-by-side refrigerator, so he gets into cereal, popsicles, crackers, cheese, anything he wants all the time. It drives me crazy, so I decided to give the child-proof devices another shot. So I went and purchased these babies.

It promised to keep my children from getting into the pantry and refrigerator all the time. I was excited. So, I put these locks on and waited for it to be tested. Shortly thereafter Kaitlyn asked if she could have a snack, and I told her to wait until Alison got home and then they could have their snack together. I smiled at myself as she walked away, because I knew she wouldn't be able to get the snack without me...she would have to be obedient!

A couple of minutes later Kaitlyn walked in the room and said, "Mom, I can show you how to open these locks. And I got some peanut butter crackers." Nice. See why I hate child-proofing? And, if you're wondering if they've worked for Max, the short answer is: NO.

*note her outfit...there is more than 1 way to wear a skirt