Circumventing the System

What happens when your children become old enough to outsmart the child safety devices? Your sanity loses a little something. No more quick trips upstairs to deal with the laundry or put on a clean shirt. Connor, at three, is quickly breaking down all of our defenses. He can open the main baby gate at the bottom of the stairs at will, and will start to climb until he's told that upstairs is where we go to take naps (you should see how quickly he turns back). He and his brothers had easily figured out the velcro on the big baby gate that used to enclose our toy area, so it has long since been relegated to the attic. He can open the sliding glass door lock, so we had to install a barrel lock on the top where he couldn't reach. And though he can't open the safety knobs on the other doors, he does know how to hit them hard enough to knock them entirely off - they are just plastic after all. We've reverted to reversing the locks on his bedroom door and his closet door. He can't reach the keys (not yet anyway). He's long been adept at pulling out cabinet drawers with safety locks on them, and managing to get his tiny fingers in far enough to pull out all the clothes in the drawers in his room. They've been empty for months and everything is locked safely away in the closet. His newest trick made me laugh out loud. Connor loves Chapstick, probably because Mommy buys the strawberry kind. The other day after a potty session, he proceeded to the bathroom vanity where he opened the top drawer as far as the safety lock would allow, stuck his skinny little hand all the way in and pulled out the Chapstick. He then put some on his lips, tasting some for good measure. Then he recapped it and put it back, closing the drawer behind him saying "All butter," which is his version of "All better" and proceeding to wash his hands as usual. It's the beginning of the end. His brothers can't be far behind.