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the barrier comes down

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

The Boy now has the run of the house. We're not entirely ready to have him running into the kitchen whenever he likes, but we can no longer stop him so we've taken down the low barrier that separated the kitchen from the living room.

The funny thing is that he first learned to get around the barrier by opening the living room door, running out into the hallway, opening the door to the kitchen and then charging through the narrow space where the washer and dryer are into the kitchen.

This was no big deal, as we could easily head him off before he did something dangerous like grabbing the handle of a pot of boiling water.

But we realized that the barrier was futile—even dangerous—when The Boy began to climb over it and risk landing on his head. No sense in retaining such an 'obstacle'! So it's come down.

We've also removed the restraint on his high chair. He now sits on his chair like any child, free of a harness or barrier. He immediately learned how to climb up to the seat, and now sits happily eating or scribbling or working out a puzzle.

The baby is long gone, I'd say. At nineteen months we have a boy, for sure.