and then what happened

For the two weeks Judd is at work, I take mental notes of the changes in our children and the routines we have had to tweak in order to keep up with them. “He can get out through the basement,” I will warn him, “so we have to make sure to keep the baby gates closed.” Or, “He can climb onto the table now so we have to keep the salt and pepper on the counter.” And then, “The cutting board is no longer a safe place to keep knives, or for that matter neither is the counter because he can pull a chair over and climb up.” Every new skill comes with a new adjustment, and Judd has to relearn every time he comes home. This time it is, “Don’t rely on the baby gates anymore. He just jumps up and down on the lever and shakes the gate until it opens.” Nice.