Training My Daredevils

The day after the boys started crawling, I bought a baby gate to put in the hallway that leads from the living room to the kitchen. I was trying to cook and was a nervous wreck because they kept getting under foot. I kept picturing myself knocking the pot of boiling grease off the stove right onto them. Very few things really freak me out even as a mom, but them being in the kitchen while I cooked really freaked me out. But I took care of that problem:)

Now, I knew that once they started walking and pulling up on things that the baby gate would become a new challenge for them. Well, today was the day. They both decided to see how far up they could each get. Titus made it the farthest. He made it all the way to the top and was hanging halfway over before I realized what he was doing. Now, I have to add not climbing the baby gate and staying out of the kitchen to the list of things that we're training them not to do.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm referring to dogs when I say that I'm training them. But that's what I'm doing, and there's no other way to say it. They're beginning to learn that life is about actions and consequences, whether they're good or bad actions. If they climb the baby gate (a bad action), there will be a consequence to follow, one they won't like. However, if they listen and obey (a good action), there will be a different kind of consequence, one they will like. If I don't train them now, they'll find it harder to understand life. They'll have to learn everything the hard way: that a hot stove is a bad idea and that cleaning chemicals can be deadly.