Baby Proofing, and Win Le Creuset with AllBarStools.com
I’m not big on baby proofing. I was with our first; we locked our toilet seats, installed gates at the top of our stairs and padded coffee table corners, as I felt utterly responsible for his safety. And guilty whenever he got hurt. (Which he did, stitched up three times, cracking his head open at our doctor’s office, nonetheless.)
But I can’t control our 1-year-old’s environment, as I did his, thanks to her two older brothers who leave gates open and small Lego’s mixed in with Cheerios. And now with both her crib and Amby Baby on recall, I realize much of baby proofing is an illusion, a tool to soothe my anxiety, rather than protect her. My job as a parent isn’t to build a fortress around her; it’s to teach her how to take risks, and let her learn from her consequences. And how can I do that if I don’t trust my own judgement? And let her develop hers?
We still remove obvious hazards. And we think our counter stools are out of the acceptable risk category, in with the hazards. They’re higher than most, backless and spin. Not a good combination when you’ve got kids. So we’re in the market for new ones, and I’ve recently discovered a new resource, Allbarstools.com*. They unconditionally guarantee your satisfaction with their products. Here’s what I’m lusting after:
How do you tell the difference between a risk and a hazard? Leave your answer below, and one winner randomly drawn by Random.org will receive a Le Creuset 9″ Square Baking Dish with Bonus 5″ Baking Dish in Cherry, pictured below, courtesy of AllBarStools.com and its sister site, Cookware.com.
*Entries must be received by midnight on Friday, February 26th. Winner must live in United States.
FTC Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by AllBarStools.com.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Kate:
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:49 am
Vigilance is difficult, as we just can’t be aware all the time. I think I lucked out in terms of my own child as he never seemed to be on a collision course with danger. He did stick a fork in a socket when he was 4, and the shock was enough to make him realize what a mistake it was. All I had to do was ask him if he was all right, and then ask him if he planned to do it again. He vehemently shook his head. Lesson learned. All on his own.
Part of parenting, and I believe the hardest part of it, is to allow our children to fall, to bonk their heads, to slip on their behinds and to trip over obstacles instead of protecting their every move. That’s how they learn and begin to understand their world and how it can be hazardous at times. That’s what life is all about. We protect them from the big things, like keeping them from running into the street and through parking lots, or maybe sticking a fork in a socket. But sometimes the best baby-proofing we need to do is simply decide that they will fall down, and sometimes it will involve an ER visit, and that we need to just let them learn that life isn’t always so gracious.
Amy Boland:
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:49 am
For babyproofing, I spray only as a last resort. It’s a good idea to make sure, in the fall, that any cracks in the foundation are sealed up. Keep leaves and other debris away from the foundation, and remove spent vegetation after the growing season. This keeps my home relatively free of babies.
Pamela:
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:14 am
A risk could have either a very positive or very negative outcome. A hazard can only have a bad result. So I say prioritize getting those hazards baby-proofed then relax and use your parenting common sense for the rest.
Maria:
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:22 am
Great post. We don’t have kids yet, but when we do our house will have to be baby proofed big time.
Erin:
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:31 am
Make sure your new barstools don’t tip over with kids pulling up on them too!
Risks are often good things, you don’t get anywhere in life without taking risks. Hazzards are just plain dangerous, and probably will not have a good outcome.
Erin:
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:32 am
oops, I mis-spelled hazard!
Recovering Procrastinator:
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:35 am
I’d rather win that sweet bar stool as we also have spinny ones that our kids love to ram into the counter while spinning and have tipped over many times.
We are not big babyproofers either. A baby gate, outlet plugs and bad things (knives, medicine) out of reach is about all we’ve ever done and we’ve never had too serious of an incident.
Now that Connor is 3, I am in the market for babyproofing products just to keep him from making messes. He likes to take food from the pantry and fridge when nobody is looking and dump it all over the floor. Grace never did this. Ah, boys.
Allison:
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:51 am
Everyone who has kids needs a bar and proper bar accessories.
rebecca:
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:40 pm
oh i agree on child proofing lol , great giveaway
Liz:
February 23rd, 2010 at 3:09 pm
We are just figuring out childproofing now and I’m torn about it. On the one hand I’d like to wrap everything in bubble wrap, on the other I want to give him some independence and guide in through dangerous stuff. And then part of me is just lazy too.
I don’t know yet I guess, we’ll see where we end up.
Christine @ Fresh Local and Best:
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:25 pm
In my view, a risk is one time gamble, while a hazard is a situation structured to repeat risk.
Michele:
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I’d say risk can be calculated and hazards are just spikes sticking out of the ground. :/
Michele:
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Oh, and nothing against allbarstools.com, but for barstools, you really should at least look at Peter’s Billiards in Mpls.
marla {Family Fresh Cooking}:
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:21 pm
That is a tough one to answer. Let’s see…
A risk is sending my 6 year old to ski school and praying that she will have a great day and not get injured. Hoping that she will listen to rules and not get run over by another skier.
Hazards happen when you least expect it! She skied fine for weeks and then got hit in the face with an empty swing and ended up in the ER with 15 stitches. You just never know!
Each day is a blessing
suzi:
February 24th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I agree, Peter’s Billiards is awesome.
We just bought all brand new barstools for our kitchen island that actually are matching chairs to our new dining room table, which is also counter height. Anyway, we originally had iron barstools with swivel chairs and the girls would always bang into each other and drove us nuts. Now, we have wood chairs and we love them. Good luck with babyproofing–we are finally past that. 
Kate NG Sommers:
February 24th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Seeing as I don’t have kids, it’s hard to know how to baby/child proof our house. Our 19 month old niece came over the other day with no problems, but mom and dad did a good job of keeping and eye on her, and she stayed out of the kitchen… we’ll be there soon enough though!
Crystal:
February 24th, 2010 at 9:27 am
A risk vs. a hazard…a risk is something you take/do and an hazard is something that just is. I’ll stop there before I go all professor on you
Melanie:
February 24th, 2010 at 9:40 am
Risk can have a positive outcome, like when you invest your moolah. Hazard is always dangerous. Like when you invest your moolah in this economy. Lol.
M:
February 24th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Hmmm…babyproofing seems to be about establishing your OWN comfort level, not the child’s safety. One thing I have done is purchased a lockable box for Grandma and Grandpa’s medications when they visit. I keep it in the guest room and they stash anything they might have that is a HAZARD. In my opinion, blood pressure medication might fall into the RISK category.
Liz:
February 24th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
A risk is something I’m sometimes willing to take and a hazard is something I try very hard avoid, or work to make less dangerous. I’m making and effort to let my kids take more risks, since I’m risk-averse myself!
Matt T.:
February 24th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I’m ok with leaving something as a risk. If it goes negative, we’ll be able to live with it, as it probably wouldn’t/didn’t cause much harm. Should I have left those heavy books on the coffee table or lower on a bookshelf? Probably not, but a bruised foot might be a learning experience.
A hazard is flat-out irresponsible. If it goes negative, severe harm will probably occur and others should rightly question our parenting. We used to have our knives on a lower shelf. Leaving them there would have been a hazard, and I would hope others in our house would have said something to us (note: knives are not on a shelf and sit back well away from the edge of the counter).
Babyproofing is pretty much impossible, as there will always be one more thing that could be done. We’re managing risk until the kids are 18 and on their own – then they’re off to the hazard of college.
Dawn (KitchenTravels):
February 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
I think it’s natural to struggle with these issues. We have three kids, and no matter how careful we are, there is just no way to keep children 100% “safe” 100% of the time. To me, a hazard is an obvious danger that can (hopefully) be avoided. A risk could go either way. With those, you just have to be at the ready in case things go south!
In the end, just do your best. The fact that you’re thinking about it shows you are a good mom – so trust yourself.
Linda:
February 25th, 2010 at 8:54 am
I’d say a risk is something you’ve calculated, and feel that you can avoid by some method (supervision, assistance, etc.). A hazard is something that is more dangerous even when care is being taken.
Missy @ The Marketing Mama:
February 25th, 2010 at 9:43 am
Hmmmm… interesting. Those bar stools are cute! To me a hazaard means that an injury will likely occur. As in, 95%! A risk is maybe, um, 50%.
Cindy @ The Flipping Couple:
February 25th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Well, I don’t have kids, but I do have 2 furbabies (dog and a rabbit) and we have to do some safety proofing for them too. To me, a risk is something that I can monitor (like putting my plate within reach of the dog while I’m in the room) while a hazard is something I can’t monitor (leaving my plate of food within reach of the dog when I’m NOT in the room). Obviously eating whatever is on my plate isn’t going to be truly hazardous (like falling off a bar stool would be!) but it was the example that came to mind. ; )
sippitysup:
February 25th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I am of the mind, high risk high reward. Raise your kids with acceptable risk and they grow up fearless. Protect them from all risk and the harm you do is far worse than stitches or a bonk on the head.
Hazards, however are different. Exposing your children to hazards is for fools. GREG
Paula - bell'alimento:
February 25th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
In my opinion…A risk is a possibility of being harmed and a hazard is a stronger chance of being harmed!
Fuji Mama:
February 25th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
A risk v. a hazard? So many decisions we make have risks…one of the biggest risks we take is bringing a child into this world. But with risks come consequences AND rewards. Hazards just bring to mine negative outcomes. When it comes to kids and babyproofing, one tip I learned from a friend was to get down on my hands and knees and take things in from a “baby’s view” and start working from there.
Jess:
February 26th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Risk vs. hazard. Hmm…
A hazard is something that’s dangerous in and of itself – broken glass on the floor, ice on the sidewalk, my husband’s toenails.
Risk, on the other hand, involves choice. You can choose to take risks with hazardous things – walking on the ice instead of going around it, riding your bike the wrong way down the street while not wearing a helmet, etc. Sometimes taking a risk is worth the possibility of injury, sometimes it isn’t.
kitchenMage:
February 26th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Lemme see:
Teach your child to eat responsibly by cooking with them, reading labels at the store, etc. Later in life, they will run a lower risk of eating food with common health hazards like high salt and fat.
It’s a different kind of baby-proofing, but it’s an important one.
Kathy - Panini Happy:
February 26th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
In the context of keeping kids safe, a risk is something that *might* result in harm, a hazard *will* result in harm.
Dina:
February 26th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Try overstock.com. I got our new non-spinning stools from overstock after comparing to allbarstools and other sites. Overstock had the best price and free delivery–they typically price them by the pair.
As for my attempt at definition–
A hazard is one of many road blocks on the path of life: a risk is the action you take to overcome the hazard and so you can continue your journey.
Kris:
February 26th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
When it comes to kids it’s sometimes hard to know. But a hazard is something you know is dangerous ( pot of boiling water, fire, etc) that you want to protect them from. A risk is something that could be hazardous, but If acted upon sensibly shouldn’t be – like navigating stairs, getting out of bed by themselves, opening and closing doors without pinching fingers.
I remember when my nephew came to visit when he was 5. The kids were playing on our patio/deck -with me. It never occurred to me to make the railing off limits until I saw my nephew walking across it like he was Spiderman on a balance beam- a 20′ drop! I nearly had a heart attack.
Hazard = danger/do not touch
Risk = caution my friend
-Kris