BAGD and I have always believed in giving our kids some personal freedom, but enforcing boundaries. Sometimes the boundaries are well-known, but sometimes they are hidden. Kind of like underground fencing for dogs. Only when the kids exceed those boundaries do they find out they exist. As strange as that sounds, we do it because we want our kids to find their own way in life, make their own choices and decisions, but still be safe. Our biggest fear right now: them leaving the house alone. Geetle knows not to go outside alone. Pookie does not yet understand. Just today he was ready to walk to the bowling alley alone when we told him we were not going. Even Geetle could be convinced that its OK to go outside alone if there is a good reason, like a bunny on the lawn. So, we stack the deck in our favor. Our latest:

First, we bought the white do-dad you see at the top of the door frame. Its an alarm that sounds when the door is opened. We thought it was a good idea, since the kids are no longer locked in their bedroom at night. (they were never really “locked in”…see my post on the subject). But we often forgot to turn it on. We also often forgot to turn it off and scared the bageebazeses out ourselves when we went out one door and in the other.

We decided to go old school, which is usually best in life. We installed two of these ordinary chain locks, one on the front door and one on the door to the garage. Now, we do not worry that the kids seem to be getting out of bed over an hour before us in the morning. We also feel safe going to the basement computer room after we put them to bed. Our house is safe. Sure, there are things the kids could do to get in trouble inside the house, but that was never our #1 worry.

I thought we were pretty cool for thinking of this idea, so I told my MOM about it. She said “Oh yeah, we did that when you were little too.” How come they never mention this in the parenting magazines? I read all about Stove guards, bumper pads for your coffee table, bi-fold door locks to avoid pinched fingers. How about an article on the number one thing you can do to keep your toddler/preschooler safe, keep them from going outside alone.

As a side bar, BAGD assures me that in the event of an emergency, any one with a good strong shoulder could ram our door open from the outside or pull it open from the inside. Its only attached with 2 short screws into the drywall. Plus fire departments and police officers could just cut the chain.