Maintaining Your Home When Guests With Small Kids Visit

Here’s what you can do to make your home child proof

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Show Not, Break Not
Since the most dangerous things are the breakables—which will cause you the pain of having lost them and also the child if he or she happens to step on something sharp—make sure they are the first ones that are kept out of reach. All your porcelain, bone china, glass items and everything else that comes in the precious breakables category needs to go. Choose the room in which you will receive your guests and within that room, put all the breakables up high, out of sight or in another room. Removing temptation is the most important step.

Doors Wide Shut
Keep the doors of all the rooms where you do not want the children to enter, closed and even locked. The very act creates barriers, which help to enforce them on the children by telling them politely but firmly not to enter where they must not enter. In case you discover them trying to open any of these doors, you will be entirely justified in informing their parents about the matter and expecting them to take appropriate action. You are entitled to tell them gently but firmly that you would appreciate it if the children made use of those parts in the house that are open to them rather than opening closed doors.

DVD Alert
You must put away all the CDs and DVDs lying around the house and especially in the room that you intend to host your guests in. Stuffs like them are easy to break and children of all ages easily get attracted to them. If you have DVDs with cartoons and children’s film and you do not mind the children sitting in the TV area, make them available by having them pre-loaded in your DVD player. The children can of course look at the covers and choose which one they would like to see. This is another excellent way of keeping them occupied and preventing them from entering those parts of the house that are off limits.

Eat Safe, Eat Away
Make sure that eating anything—from snacks to lunch to dinner—should be done at places that are easy to clean and will not be affected by stains. If this means leaving the living room to go to the dining room for snacks and afternoon tea, then you have every right to enforce it since the house belongs to you and you will be cleaning it in case the place gets dirty. Another option that you could resort to is to set up a children's corner in your living room and keep it covered by a blanket to create a boundary.

Parents Are Responsible For Kids
It is ultimately your duty to ensure that your guests do not become complacent when they see that you are taking an active interest in taking care of their children. Often, parents become so relieved to find out that someone else is keeping a watch on their kids that they forget to keep an eye out for the kids themselves. In such cases, you must gently remind them that you aren't very experienced with kids and that your house is not very child-proofed. Also, add that it would be appreciated if the parents could take care in keeping an eye out for possible dangers to their kids around the house.