February 18th, 2006

down with baby gates

Here’s a question I have: why do baby gates exist?

When my parents brought me home, we brought my two cats with us. It was a stipulation of mine. I couldn’t board them for an indefinite period of time, Izzie gets very freaked out when I’m not around and honestly, I wouldn’t feel right about leaving them with anyone. However, four cats? Insane. Especially considering two are 17 and two are three. Two are energetic and nosey and inquisitive and two only like to sleep and eat. There is hissing and growling and ridiculous posturing, so we tend to keep the cats separate unless we’re all out there, prepared to jump between them.

So my dad put up baby gates. I’m in the guest room downstairs, which is attached by a hallway to a laundry room and a bathroom. Right outside the hallway is the den and the kitchen, so the gates were set up at the juncture of the hallway and the den. I say “gates” because I was afraid that my cats would jump the one gate and get out, so my dad rigged up two, one on top of the other. It worked, but it really made for a hassle when any of us were trying to move in and out. My mom hit her head once, twice the top gate fell and then I knocked the top gate off the wall… so now we only have the one gate. It’s still very annoying though. You don’t realize how easy you move between rooms until you are forced to stop, open a gate, walk through and close a gate.

(My two have figured out that they can jump the one gate, and they do… but only when I’ve left them to go into the kitchen or upstairs to the bath.)

Anyway, my mom and I were talking and I said, “When I have kids, they’re just going to know that they can’t be in a certain room. No baby gates for me—I’d go nuts.”

Laughing, my mom replied, “Oh really? You’re just going to train them while they’re babies that they can’t play in the room with the knives in the drawer?”

“Yes. My kids will be brilliant and know that they aren’t supposed to… oh man, I’ve lost my mind.”

Laughter ensued all around.

When the Man called, I told him that eventually… and it might not be with him, so don’t everybody all freak out or read anything into this… I want to have kids. It’s a definite for me. Poor guy, he didn’t know what hit him.

I think I freaked him out… ::snicker::