The Brookston Family Blog

Sarah's folks, without our knowledge or prior consent, bought Porter this new train set-up that includes lots of small pieces for Alice to choke on (hey they're grandparents spoiling their grandchildren, what are you gonna' do?). We put the boxes in the game closet, unopened, and tried telling Porter it was a toy he could only play with when Grandpa was here. Unfortunately, I don't think he got the message. He bugged us about it all that night before finally falling asleep. The first thing he did when he came downstairs in the morning was run to the closet and bug us to open it. The first thing he did when he got home from school was ... well, you get the picture. By mid-afternoon I was considering taking up binge drinking. Porter was driving me crazy and I was cursing my in-laws. Eventually, to maintain my sanity and reduce the possibility of toddlercide, I relented and came up with a sort of compromise. I put up a baby gate between the laundry room/den and the kitchen so Alice couldn't get in that room. Then I put a step stool on the other side so Porter could get in and out. In there are the new dangerous trains and he's happily playing with them while Alice is safely on the other side. It's not perfect, but hopefully he'll tire of the new trains soon.



Porter in his new playroom as Alice taunts him from the kitchen. Notice the fake smile on Porter. He's saying "cheese."