My Secret

Here it is:

I use a baby gate.

There, my secret's out. I have a little rule I developed when I was nannying children in my home. It was a rule that kept kids safe and happy while keeping the house manageable. I made sure the kids and I were on the same floor/section of the house at all times. To the next level, as a mom, you might find this helpful...

In the morning, I lock the baby gate, and we don't go downstairs 'till all beds are made, curtains opened, laundry put in my master closet, sippy cups by the stairs, me showered, boys dressed and toys put back in the toy bins. It takes about 30-45 minutes (twenty for the boys and the house, and 20+ for me, depending if I wash/blowdry my hair). It's usually from about 7 AM to 8 AM, at the very latest. Then, together we go downstairs.

At that point, we're hungry for breakfast. They like to go straight to the table. I start them with fruit, while I get other things ready (nuts, cereal/milk, dried fruit, granola type things). I usually don't do hot breakfast... but have always been sooo admirable of those that do.

Then at night, while Tim's getting them ready for bed, around 7:30-8:00PM, I head downstairs. I do the dishes, put things away. Then when I go upstairs for bed, I lock the baby gate behind me, ready for another fun day. Oh, one other thing.

I have upstairs and downstairs activities. All supervised activities (with glue, crayons, paint, scissors, spillable things) are for the downstairs (or the kitchen table portion of the house). And all upstairs toys are for independent playing... or rotated baskets (which have been in total disarray since the move-- but ideally you'd have one basket of Mr. Potato Head, one for StarWars, one for Legos etc).

They can pick any basket to play with, and I'll get it down for them. But I always keep a huge basket of GeoTracks Trains on the floor (it's one of their very most favorite things to play with), for easy access. So basically, I just lock the gate just before bed, and then late at night. Otherwise, Tanner is sneaking downstairs at the crack of dawn unloading the fridge.

Try this out, and let me know what you think.