Spinoff on Michele31's baby proof postg....

I am asking this question here, because Mom's and moms to be wil have the best input.

I have a couple who won't come over our home for dinner. They said to come to them, because our apartment is not baby proof, and they won't come without their kids!

We always go to them, now I am offended thet will never come to our house

I feel I have nothing where their 2 children, ages 3 & 5 will get hurt on...and if you take your child somewhere, don't you watch them?
edited to say...What do I say to them?And I am sorry if this post was too similar to Michele's.

this drives me NUTS. my SIL did this. I mean - come on - you bring your kid, you watch your kid. what am I supposed to do - have bumpers on my tables because you can't keep your kid in check? I can understand a grandparent having safe rooms...but random friends. It's not fair. I find that really annoying. I mean - if you and your husband were going to watch them for an evening, I would expect her to bring over the gates, the bumpers for the furniture, etc. But for them to join you at your home for dinner? Why can't they bring a playpen if they anticipate not watching their children?

That just takes the cake - takes it TOO FAR. Any child is fine at that age on a couch in front of a video with no small things to eat , swallow, etc. I am sure your house is not littered with shards of glass.

Your friends are NO offense nuts! Perhaps if you purchase a plastic bubble they will feel better. Children cannot be placed on nerf their whole life.

It is my responsiblity to make sure my children do not ruin your house. Yes, you need to put knives and other very dangerous things out of reach but you should not have to make sure do anything really more than that.

My parents have a family friend who gave their 2 year old a choclate bar in my parent's den (my stepmom was in the kitchen finishing dinner). A few minutes later there was melting choclate on the sofa, bannister, rug..you name it! Now, what the heck is that about...these are the same parents whose child drew all over furniture with a sharpee in my parent's home!

We have several friends with children and they don't have a problem coming over.
They just have to watch them and make sure they don't get into trouble like they would no matter where they were.

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Posted by michele31
My parents have a family friend who gave their 2 year old a choclate bar in my parent's den (my stepmom was in the kitchen finishing dinner). A few minutes later there was melting choclate on the sofa, bannister, rug..you name it! Now, what the heck is that about...these are the same parents whose child drew all over furniture with a sharpee in my parent's home!

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That is INSANE! This just proves that some parents do not WANT to have follow their kids around at someone else's house.

If friends of ours refused to come to our house b/c it wasn't babyproofed, I think I'd be offended too. And, at 3 & 5 - they are big enough to know a little better, IMO.

Claud- your house is baby proofed so I guess I will be able to visit you with the baby..


We also have friends who do not allow their child on ceramic tile so if your house has ceramic tile and no gates they will come over. They are afraid their 2 year old might fall down...insane..

I will say that I can totally sympathize and understand the ceramic tile fear - I try to minimize the amount of time Paul 'plays' on the tile floor - mostly b/c it is a VERY HARD and unforgiving surface and can do alot of hurtful damage to his skull, teeth, etc. if he were to take a dive.

But, I don't avoid people's houses if they have tile...that's a little extreme.

yikes...we were thinking about tiling our whole condo...

do you guys think this is a bad idea? its probable that we will be here when our child is of walking age... we do plan on area rugs...

Erica - how are you? I don't think the tile is a bad idea....just be prepared that it will present some logisticall problems when a baby is learning to stand/walk. They fall very easily during that time, and it can be difficult to 'catch' them sometimes.

My IL's have all tile in their house, and when we went for a visit, my MIL had set up a bunch of interlocking play mats, so that Paul would have a 'soft' area to play on. This is a nice option for houses with lots of tile.

claud...I'm doing good...wind has shifted in our favor (too bad not is other's favor)


thanks for the idea...I can feel good about putting tile down...alhtough I'm still going back and forth btwn hardwood and tile

we have mostly hardwood. we are wall to wall carpeting baby's room only. We also have a tiled kitchen. I like those tiles Claud - for when you are spending time in one of the hard tiled areas or going maybe to grandma's house, etc. It also makes for a 'play area' for the child that is 'theirs'.

But let's face it. I mean we all fell and got hurt when we were little. It's gonna happen at some point....

I agree that we all fell, and our babies are going to as well. If I enjoy someone's company I will DEFINITELY visit their home, and I wouldn't dream of not watching my baby like a hawk!

My cousin won't come to my house because my pool isn't fenced.

I got that sort of garbage from my friend as well....

She was 'mad' because I had a bad reaction when she brought her toddler to my literally new home and she and her husband let their son smash his hands in the dip and then smear them on my freshly painted walls and she didn't like the look of horror I had on my face when her husband proceeded to let Jr. jump on my glass coffee table (he held his hands as he jumped on it)!! I never hear the end of how my house isn't 'child proof' and how she can't bring her (now multiple) children there because I don't want children in my 'perfect home'. No, I don't have a problem with kids in my house. Actually I have a room in the back that they can draw on the walls for all I care (its' filled with toys, is gated, etc.). What I do expect is for your little darlings to not act like ANIMALS in my home. I don't think I'm asking too much. She's been giving me all sorts of crap about how we are going to have mental breakdowns, because of all the 'childproofing' we'll have to do. No, our kids will know better to behave appropriately in both their home and wherever we may be visiting.

We all fell when we were little - that's true. But, I know my grandparent's house (or our house for that matter) was not full of ceramic tile. Falling on linoleum with a plywood subfloor is ALOT different than falling on tile/concrete.

Just this weekend - at Lukie's party, Paul and John Anthony both took dives on the contrete - and both ended up with bumps on their heads It's bound to happen, but when they are young toddlers, they don't have the instinct or reflex to always put their hands out in front of them when they fall. That means their face is the first thing to impact the concrete! (give me strength!)

What parent allows their child to jump on and off a GLASS coffee table? I have never heard of such a thing. Morons!!

Aw! JA & Paul That evil Massapequa Park concrete has given Lukie a lump or two as well, but why does it have to strike out at his guests??

Liz Yep, right on their faces. But JA has been falling for the past month at least so he's used to just crying and moving right along

Jennbaby, Id be a little annoyed too. Especially because it seems like you TRULY want them over,andyoure not just thinking 'sure, lets make a mess at YOUR house not mine' (Which ALOT Of people would think and have no second thoughts about that). So your being so thoughtful and her saying that is a bit much.

Her kids are DEFINATELY old enough to understand what not to touch and what not to knock over. If they were younger (2 and infant) Id say maybe it IS too much for her to watch both and enjoy herself too. But I dont think people should have to childproof their homes. I think parents should teach children etiquette about visiting the homes of others. Period!

We had a friend who as a child, would open our fridge as she pleased! My siblings and I would look at eachother like and my mom never said anything... she felt awkward being the one to say something...

My mom has a cute story, to show her 'teach your kids etiquette at other peoples homes' and how well she did at teaching us.
We were at our great-aunts house. the 4 of us were probably ages 6,3,2? (or so). and she had WHITE carpeting and she gave us something to eat. and we wanted to eat on the floor So my mom told her to please get towels or SOMETHING to cover the gorgeous white carpeting while we ate. She was adamant about covering the carpeting and nervous just thinking about us making a mess. Well my aunt goes 'no, no, I know your kids'... and sure enough we ate everything without one crumb going on the floor. and she proudly tells us how our aunt had tons of statues and delicate stuff and nothing was ever even touched by us...

Im sure we were wacko regular kids on the playground, but my mom gave us 'the look' if we even THOUGHT about touching something at someone's house..

One of our other great aunts, would always have fresh baked cookies for us when we got there. and my mom ALWAYS told us to ask for water if she offered something to drink (she felt terrible that there were 4 of us, and after giving 4 kids a glass of milk (or 2!) this poor old woman would be running out of milk every time we came over!) Well she caught on to my moms game and gave us milk every time water and cookieS??