The same goes for kids books. If I couldn’t stand reading them I wouldn’t buy them. Actually buying good children’s books is a huge deal for a long time. Toddlers are constantly bringing you a book to read to them. It can’t hurt to show them a love of reading early. How would they feel if everytime they brought you a book you first groaned and then grudgingly read them a story?

Once your little one is big enough to run around, devote a lot of time and effort to baby-proofing the baby’s room. Get rid of the rocker, anchor the furniture to the wall, and don’t keep anything in there that’s off-limits. That gives your tiny one a place to play that’s all their own, and makes the limits you place on the kitchen, living room and other spaces more tolerable.

We spent about two months reinforcing the “no” zones in our new house (we moved when the baby was 10 months old, before he could walk but definitely not before he could crawl), and now he knows where he can and can’t go and just about never gets into the “no” areas (near the fireplace, near the book-filled shelves, etc.).

Of course, we do have baby gates around stairs. Some “no’s” are just too big to take chances!

I personally did not change a thing in my house. Of course, I didn’t have any designer fabrics, furniture or crystal and china.

I did teach my two children to only eat in the kitchen, to respect mine and their dad’s belongings. They didn’t have any of those gigantic toys kids have now a days. Now kitchens, big ride on trucks, play tables….nope, none of that. We had games, crayons, coloring books, puzzles, small cars and trucks, some dolls, etc. They were taught to play with one thing at a time and to put it away after.
When my children were young, I was always in the room with them.
I also did not use baby gates, safety latches, play pens or any other restricting devises. Mainly because I was always with them either playing with them or watching over them.