The Baby Cage Integrity Has Been Compromised
We don’t actually keep the baby in a cage, of course. It’s a joke we make around people who won’t report us to family services. What she has is a very cool playpen that you can expand by adding additional plastic panels. Before we moved into the rental house, she spent most of her days in this enclosed space, with me blathering over and over, “Hang in there, we’ll have you in a huge room in a few months/weeks/days.”
The rental house has a 400 square foot bonus room (the latest new construction bullshit craze, along with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops) above the garage. This open space serves as the office and play area. Instead of confining the baby to the 29 square foot playpen, we use the panels as a divider between her and the rest of the fun stuff she’s not supposed to touch: power cords, TV, phone, fan, etc. This arrangement was going swimmingly until a few days ago. She figured out that she can move the panel away from the wall, and ta da! She’s in the No Baby Zone. It was sort of cute in a “aren’t you a genius???” kind of way until yesterday. Just because a baby does something once doesn’t mean they’ll give you a repeat performance. Unfortunately, this is only true of things you WANT them to do, like saying “hello” or drinking out of sippy cup without throwing it on the floor 50 times per meal.
What happened yesterday? She pulled the panel away from the wall several times. She knows where the design flaw is, and there’s no turning back. Our next challenge is to somehow secure the panel against the wall or go back to the 29 square feet of torture. Option B is not going to fly; she’s a toddling master now.
Ideas and suggestions are welcome.