Today, for the first time ever (I think), I actually
referred to Ethan as a toddler. Before today, I've considered him to still be a
baby. On occasion, I've referred to him as "the boy" or
"Bethany's son" but both of those names only forestalled the
inevitable. My son is a toddler.
Unfortunately, Ethan officially being a toddler (in my mind)
comes with a price. As anyone who has ever interacted with a toddler knows,
they are a lot of work. Their rampant curiosity is the cause of most of that.
It really doesn't matter how often you say "Don't do that,"
"No," or "Ethan, stop!" because ultimately he's going to do
exactly what he wants to do. Lately, as I've alluded to, Ethan's number one
desire in life is to get into mischief.
For one thing, Ethan has developed a fascination with any
and all electronic devices. If I had to pick his favorite at the current
moment, it would be his sound machine. As we give him a decent amount of free
reign to explore the house, it's totally within reason to expect he would spend
some in his bedroom. Although, as his bedroom is less nursery and more guest
bedroom with a crib in it, there's really not much of interest in there for a
toddler. That is, until he discovered the sound machine.
Oddly enough, that very sound machine has sat on the ground next
to his laundry basket for close to 15 months. Until recently though, Ethan
really hasn't given it much thought. However, with his newfound penchant for
exploration, it was only a matter of time until he really began paying
attention to it.
It started simply enough with Ethan taking note of us
turning the sound machine on prior to his naps followed by us shutting it off
after his naps. Not only did we shut it off but we also unplugged it since the
unit is notoriously glitchy. Also I should note that after the house fire
episode of This is Us, we are a little
leery of glitchy devices. After all, Jack would still be alive if not for that
stupid Crock-Pot!
 |
| Don't take the Crock-Pot, Jack!!! |
 |
| I told you not to take the Crock-Pot, Jack!!! |
Anyway, whenever Ethan wanders into his room now, he makes a
beeline straight for the sound machine. If Bethany and/or I left it running,
then Ethan now takes it upon himself to shut the sound machine off himself and
unplug it for good measure. Hardly anything to worry about if I do say so
myself. However, it's another action that we find more concerning as Ethan has
also taken it upon himself to (try to) plug in his sound machine at random
times during the day.
Obviously, I can't keep an eye on Ethan every single moment
of every day and like allowing him to have a little bit of freedom. However,
when I hear the sound machine turn on out of nowhere, I know there is immediate
cause for concern. That's especially true when one looks at the telltale marks
all over our wall from where Ethan tried in vain to plug in the sound machine
and instead just scratched up the wall.
While he's been safe up to this point, Bethany and I
wouldn't be doing our job as parents if we allowed a potentially unsafe
scenario to continue playing out. As a result, we just moved the sound machine
on top of a bookshelf next to the full-size bed in Ethan's room. The only
downside is that Ethan still has easy access to the unit. All he has to do is
crawl onto the bed and walk across it to the bookshelf. On a positive note
though, all he can do is turn it on now since the plug is obscured from his
sight.
On the flip side, it will be interesting to see how long it
takes Ethan to topple the bookshelf in an attempt to find the plug. The kid is
so stinking smart that I give it about a week. Two tops. Then we'll have a fun
little mess to clean up. #DaddyWrite
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