Latch The Fridge?

As we all know, fridges can be dangerous. Kids who get inside a fridge can be stuck there. It's dark in there, and they may not be able to kick the door open when they want to get out. Bagel, in particular, was constantly getting into the fridge and leaving it open, so we thought it prudent and responsible to get a fridge latch to prevent him opening it. I shopped around and found a very nice one that had the option to disable the latch if, say, you were doing a lot of cooking and needed to open the fridge without operating the latch every time. It was sturdy and durable and was easily operable by an adult, but not by a child. It latched automatically when you closed the fridge, so that we could always be confident the fridge was secure and wouldn't have to rely on my notorious memory to remember to latch the fridge. We taught the older kids, who were more responsible, how to open it.

So yesterday we caught Sonshine (yes, 7 year old Sonshine) trying to climb up inside the fridge and shut the door. He's never done anything like this before yesterday. And like I said, he already knew how to open the fridge with the latch on it, and has known for over a year.

So when I confide in people (including relatives and the doctor) that we caught Sonshine trying to climb into the fridge and it scared the crap out of us, why is the near-universal reaction to this "what the hell were you thinking, having a latch on your fridge? He would have been stuck inside!" Because, you know, I'm supposed to be clairvoyant and be able to predict that Sonshine might, after seven years of not trying to climb onto the top shelf of the fridge, suddenly try it. And I'm supposed to have a magical fridge latch that appears only when kids are on the outside. This isn't just some yahoo off the street saying this. These are people who know me, who know that I'm trying my best to keep my kids safe. One person self-righteously said, "We have a fridge latch that doesn't lock automatically," as if a fridge latch that locks without having to constantly remember to lock it was self-evidently a death trap.

So, safety police, which is it? Should I latch my fridge to keep my kids out of it, or unlatch my fridge so my kids can get out of it once they're in?

More Parentnoia

Yet another story about a tragic incident, now criminalized For The Good Of The Children (tm).

Link via Instapundit, who calls it "The Criminalization Of Napping".

UPDATE: Evidently there's more to the story than that: the babysitter was drunk.

It's Not Paranoia If They Really Are Out To Get You

From the DDI Vantage (Early Intervention) newsletter:

Children fall and get hurt. Whether it is from learning how to walk, run and jump or tripping and falling on the ground, it is a fact of life. Some situations naturally leave more opportunities for children to get hurt. A few of those situations are:

• When parents are busy or absent.
• When children are not involved in planned activities.
• In the early morning or other times when they are sleepy or tired.
• During field trips in unfamiliar surroundings.
• When unsafe equipment is available.
• When potential poisons are not stored properly.

Here are four ways to prevent injuries:

• Create a safe place for children to play
• Use prevention strategies
• Prepare for emergencies
• Teach safety to children and parents
  

See, things like this are why I'm so paranoid that people are judging me and my parenting skills by my kids not being perfect. The mere fact that they would lump in not storing poisons and not supervising your child with innocuous things like sending your kid on field trips, or even things out of your control like it being early morning, and then make suggestions how to prevent these things, makes me scared that they're judging me for every little thing I fail to do, whether I can do it or not. And this isn't a parent newsletter written by ignorant people. This newsletter is written by early education specialists and social workers. People who have not only the power, but the duty to turn you in to the state if they think you're neglecting your kids. That someone like that would lump the time of day in with active neglect troubles me deeply.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to all the clock-makers to persuade them to take out early morning, for the Safety Of The Children.