no, it doesn't. not with kids' lightning reflexes. How bad was the disaster?

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Well, the last time this happened, it was a 3/4 full pudding cup, and we realized our error when she looked up (covered in pudding) and said "Sticky!"

This time it was a full box of elbow macaroni, but she has thus far been unable to get it open. Oh man she is tryin so hard tho.

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You got pics, right? I have pics of C where he painted his face with the chocolate spread that you use on crackers, as well as the baby-blue zinc oxide his father had left out at two-year old height.

The chocolate, unfortunately, looked like he'd painted his face with *something else*.

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Works with eight year olds too. "I should probably take that bungee cord away from him."

"HEY! Stop messing around with..."

THWAP

WAAAAAAH!

Damn, that's gonna leave a mark.

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(ya gotta watch out for bungee cords - they can really bite - i saw a seven year old kid with a trauma-induced cataract from a bungee accident)

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I joke about it, but I was freaking out when I saw him attach it to his little basketball hoop and then walk backwards. I didn't make it down there in time and freaked out even more when I saw it hit his face... was scared to death it had hit his eye.

While I was looking him over, I told my husband to take that stupid cord he'd left out and HIDE IT. What was it doing out in the first place? ARGH

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but they're cool stretchy things!!! think of the possibilities in a little kids' mind!

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If he was an evil genius, he would have attached the cord to his father's shirt and pulled backwards. Good thing I don't let him watch "Scrubs".

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Jake would have attached it to his bicycle. or wrapped it around the wagon. Or made something.

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yeah, we finally made a series of rules.

Is it hurting the kid? If no, let him/her play
Can it hurt the kid? If no, let him/her play
Can it irreversibly damage the house/kid/furniture/cat? If no, let him/her play.

Sometimes it isn't the spiffiest thing to let a kid do, but what the hey...

And today, Jake dismantled his bicycle, all the way down to removing the ring of ball-bearings from the axle. At least he learned how to clean the ball-bearings and regrease them and the axle before re-assembling it with a bit o'help.

My co-workers were aghast that I let Jake help me mow the lawn (he started at age four, and all he does is help me push the mower), I let both kids play with my shears, and that I bought the kids a sewing machine for christmas (but they're only five! they could hurt themselves!). Oh and the horrors - I let marissa use a HAMMER and NAILS!

but on the good side - they know the difference between a standard and phillips screwdriver, and also know how to appropriately use a pliers, adjustable wrench, box-end wrench, allen wrench, hammer, nails, and wire cutters.

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+10 parenting, please continue

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glitter glue IS washable.
kids bounce (mostly)
I'm not allowed to use velcro, hot glue, bungee cords, snaps, nails, staple guns, duct tape, or anything else in a similar light to restrain the kids :(
If you call stitches "string bandaids" kids understand it.

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I'd like to let our kid help mow the lawn, but since it's on a slope, I have a hard enough time doing it myself and I'd be afraid the thing would slip away from me and zzzzt uh uh no way. Wish we had a postage-stamp sized flat lawn like the people next door.

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I wish I could interest my son in pushing the mower, or tools, or taking things apart.

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I have that problem with my husband, too.

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Sometimes you'd have to be able to react & run with Spider-Man's speed to stop a disaster.

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Hell, that trick doesn't even work on me.

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I generally find that if I start moving when I first think this, I have a relatively good chance of actually doing it.

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Enh, if "disastrous" encompassed anything that was potentially dangerous, disfiguring, or destructive of expensive stuff, you wouldn't even be going through that analysis; you'd be taking it away instantly. If the worst that can happen is that you end up cleaning up a mess, it's not an unreasonable risk to take.

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Our most recent "oh look" incident was me saying to my hubby, who was holding the toddler, "Hubby, she has a knife!" He removed the knife (a serrated bread knife, the long kind) from her hands, paused, and then offered it back to her! Fortunately, he wasn't serious. More fortunately, she wasn't interested; it was shiny, but didn't blink, beep, boop, or do anything interesting.

Dirty knives are now stored in the sink; she hasn't figured out how to remove things from the sink yet. *twitch*

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Beware of the knives hiding in the sink! I cut the tendon in my left hand by reaching into a sink of dirty dishes unaware there was a knife in there. We keep the dirty knives in a tray beside the sink - kids can't reach but my hands are protected.

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I used to work in a deli; compared to those knives, my best knives are butter-knives. :) T'any rate, that taught me to never fill the whole sink with hot soapy water -- you never know what's lurking under the bubbles.

Oh -- before anyone calls Child Protective Services on me, my house is child-proofed, not husband-proofed. *wry grin*

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