Toddler Woes

Each morning when I come downstairs, there is a ritual I go through before I can officially start my day. It goes something like this:

place toddler in high chair for containment purposes and give him a sippy cup of orange juice

check all cabinet locks to ensure toddler cannot open any doors, especially under the sink where he likes to scavenge through the trash

remove all items that toddler can reach from the table and counter

move kitchen chairs and barstools from their proper place and relocate to laundry room so toddler cannot push them around and climb up to access countertops, light switches, drawer contents, and, as he discovered yesterday, sharp knives

enable the lock on the fridge's water dispenser

push ottoman in front of entertainment center so toddler cannot open doors to push buttons or empty drawers

sweep family room for remotes, books, breakables - relocate to higher area like the mantle

check piano and move any music books to the top of the bookcase

shut and lock all doors upstairs and down, especially bathrooms and office

Once all this is done - and I've gotten quite good at doing it quickly - I can feed toddler and big sisters breakfast, then stand (chairs are gone, you see) and possibly eat a bowl of cereal. What I cannot do, though I want to, is crawl back in bed.