Yeah, I'm going to need to do that too. I feel bad about it, in a way, because I was able to give Iris so much more freedom and just wander along following her unless she was starting to get into trouble. Lately though, Neil and Zinnia have gotten big and squirmy enough that I can't pick both of them up at the same time if they don't want to be picked up. I always keep the Ergo strapped on when I've got them both at the playground or whatever, and I can get one up on my back in about 30 seconds.
With two extremely active boys, the leashes didn't really work. If I'd had even one that merely sauntered along, it might have been okay. Instead, they sprinted away from me as soon as their feet hit the ground, usually in opposite directions. Or, they'd sit down and refuse to walk. In a store, one would climb under a clothes rack while the other tried to yank my arm off. I SO wanted the leashes to be helpful, but they just weren't. That was the age when I left nearly every outing with one boy under each arm while all the moms of singletons sat around saying, "oh, honey, don't do that" to a kid that actually listened and did what she said.
Hell, even just ONE toddler is hard to keep an eye on 24/7. Yesterday, R wandered into the kitchen. Things were quiet... TOO quiet (you know that feeling, lol) I walk in - she's covered in a dry packet of jello pudding (which was on the second to highest shelf, mind you). Serious mom fail, lol. But, my god, it could have been anything. And this woman was there WITH HER NANNY - TWO pairs of adult eyes! It's so hard to keep your eyes on children - even when adults are everywhere. This poor family, though. :( I can't even imagine. It's so terrifying to think of these things happening under the most benign of circumstances. And it's not like you, as a parent, go "LALALA, I'm gonna piddle around over here, ignoring my children!" Meh. People and their judge-y-ness. I also just bought a backpack harness for R (she's still not wanting to walk on her own without holding on, but I figured we'll use it whenever she decides it's time).
Terrifying, and heartbreaking. (A few weeks ago I read an older sibling's account of her one-year-old baby sister wandering off and being found drowned in a few inches of water in a shallow duckpond. It's still giving me nightmares.)
Even with only one to watch, the backpack leash thing has made me feel much less terrified of W suddenly dropping my hand and darting into traffic / onto train tracks / etc. around here.... (Sometimes the grunt work of child supervision makes me think of the old characterization of war as boredom punctuated by terror. Luckily in childcare there's also the non-grunt "work" of talking with them/ playing with them/ paying attention to their perspective etc. to keep things fun.)
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I walk in - she's covered in a dry packet of jello pudding (which was on the second to highest shelf, mind you). Serious mom fail, lol. But, my god, it could have been anything. And this woman was there WITH HER NANNY - TWO pairs of adult eyes! It's so hard to keep your eyes on children - even when adults are everywhere.
This poor family, though. :( I can't even imagine. It's so terrifying to think of these things happening under the most benign of circumstances. And it's not like you, as a parent, go "LALALA, I'm gonna piddle around over here, ignoring my children!" Meh. People and their judge-y-ness.
I also just bought a backpack harness for R (she's still not wanting to walk on her own without holding on, but I figured we'll use it whenever she decides it's time).
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Even with only one to watch, the backpack leash thing has made me feel much less terrified of W suddenly dropping my hand and darting into traffic / onto train tracks / etc. around here.... (Sometimes the grunt work of child supervision makes me think of the old characterization of war as boredom punctuated by terror. Luckily in childcare there's also the non-grunt "work" of talking with them/ playing with them/ paying attention to their perspective etc. to keep things fun.)
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