Just set it and forget it!

By “it” I mean my child. This has become my newest parenting technique and a major nuisance to my wife. You see, our son has become quite the little individual and has no problem entertaining himself for decent lengths of time. His only major requirement is something he can use to pull himself up on. 

It used to be that someone had to be tending to Chandler at all times, either holding him or helping him as he rolled around the floor. But now, you can pretty much set him down and he’ll wander off and find something to play with. In the mean time we can complete those tasks that involve using two hands. 

I use this method all the time. I’ll put Chandler down in the midst of a sea of toys and quickly finish up a project while he searches for something dangerous to do. By the time he finds that power chord that he wants to tug on so that the heavy vase will come tumbling down on top of him, my mission is accomplished and I can quickly jump back in and prevent Chandler from destroying himself. 

My wife still hasn’t caught on to this new parenting trend. Whenever she’s holding him and needs to do something she’ll ask me to take him. My response is, “Just put him down.” She’ll protest, I’ll agree to hold him, and then as soon as she gives him to me I put him down. Problem solved. Now I can get back to my video game on my iPhone. 

I’m sure there are tons of “safety nuts” and “friends and family” out there who want me to be more careful with my son. But it’s not like I’m not keeping an eye on him. And I’m not setting him down right on the brink of disaster. I put him as far away as I can from potential danger which buys me just enough time to do something. Then I grab him right before he dies, and put him back where he started. So it’s kind of like a timed safety. 

Of course like most of my parenting methods, this one can be categorized under my excuse of “I’m training him.” I say that a lot in defense of my actions with Chandler. 

“I’m training him to keep himself entertained.”

“I’m training him to recover from a hit to the head.”

“I’m training him to drink Mt. Dew.” 

Just like my parents, I’m a coach at heart and I love “training” my child. But perhaps my wife is doing too good of a job seeing through some of my BS. Nevertheless I will continue in my ways and hopefully my persistence will “train” my wife to look the other way.