Earlier this week I brought the kids over to Jeff's grandparents' house for dinner. I spent so much time making sure that Charlie did not toddle over the garden wall and down the cliff that I completely ignored Summer, who experienced one of those sudden, inexplicable failures of balance and fell over onto the brick patio. Jeff's grandmother mentioned that her babies spent lots of time in playpens. I never had to put Summer in a playpen. But Charlie's into everything. His main mission is to wedge himself between his dresser and book case so he can dismantle his nightlight and unplug his fan, with the ultimate goal, of course, of electrocuting himself. It's exhausting just being in the house with him.
Today, I knew just what happened as soon as I heard the crash. Charlie opened the bottom of the china cabinet, selected a Waterford goblet, and dropped it on the floor. I stuck him in the high chair so I could sweep up the chunks and made a mental note to remove all breakables from that cabinet once Charlie went to bed. It only has one knob on the outside so I can't use one of those doohickeys to keep it closed, and I don't want to screw anything into it because it's too pretty--curved solid cherry.
We didn't make it to bedtime. He did it again. This time there were lots of teeny tiny shards. I dragged the Pack-n-Play out of my wayback and set it up in the living room so I could vacuum. I think Charlie's going to be seeing a lot more of the inside of that Pack-n-Play.
Whenever Charlie does something death-defying or naughty, I always feel pride mixed with the frustration or panic, but this a bit much. I'm upset because I let him break not just one but two glasses; because it will cost $160 plus tax and shipping to replace the glasses; and because the glasses were my parents' wedding crystal and my mother gave them to us for our wedding gift. I'm so sorry, Mom. Now I've taken all the good stuff out of that cabinet and I have no idea where to put it and the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow. 
I guess I'll tell her to ignore the kitchen table.
I filled the cabinet with toys, since Charlie's going to open it anyway and since we have heaps of plastic toys all over the place so it's nice to have another hiding spot for them. Maureen pointed out that this will mean more wear and tear on the cabinet. She's probably right. I should probably just leave it empty for a year or so and then quietly fill it back up. Just like my brain... and my resume... and my checking account...
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