As I have been working from home with my kiddos over the last couple of months, I have seen my sweet little baby boy turning into a daredevil toddler right before my eyes. This is largely thanks to his big sister, who has been showing him a variety of cool tricks that she would never have dared do at his age. He really embodies the stereotype of the second child being more daring than the first.
Liam will be 2 in August, but he tries his hardest to keep up with his 5-year-old sister, Rose. So far during the lockdown, she has taught him the following:
- Sliding down the stairs on his belly
- Climbing on the dining room table
- Jumping off the couch (that one has ended in tears several times)
- Climbing onto our broken ride-on lawnmower in the backyard
- SO MANY obstacle courses of varying danger levels
We have tried our best to mitigate the damage he can do to himself, but it’s hard to keep a close eye on him while I’m working full-time from the living room and my hubby is going into his office every day. A couple of times I have walked into the dining room to find Liam standing on the table and playing with the chandelier. Typically, if you see Rose bouncing on the couch or trying to jump down some steps, you can almost guarantee Liam will be right there next to her, trying to copy her so he can be just like his hero. As an only child, I never experienced this kind of adoration and I love seeing it… but I also really don’t want either kid to injure themselves and have to go to the ER right now.
At first, I was diligent about putting up baby gates and fences to keep him contained where I could see him. But if Rose was in a different part of the house, he would stand there and cry until he was reunited with her. As you can imagine, it’s hard to get much work done that way. And so now, 10 weeks in, he pretty much has free reign of the house (except upstairs… I definitely make sure the stair gate is closed when I can’t watch him). We make sure all sharp objects are put away and are more conscious about picking up small toys (or keeping them shut in Rose’s room) so he’s not tempted to put them in his mouth.
Since he’s not even 2 yet, I can only imagine he will get more and more daring from here on out. And so I will continue doing what I can to keep him safe while trying not to wrap him in cotton wool and hope we make it through the toddler stage safely!
Anyone have any tips on how to keep your daring second child toddler safe?
