"...just a BABY..."
My wife and I came to an understanding pretty quickly on that one:
Our oldest was crawling and pulling up, and was determined to pull up on the hearth in the den, where he could have been hurt if he fell on the corners of the bricks.
I went over the first time, picked him up, and looked him in the face, and said "NO".
He persisted. This time, I added a gentle swat on his bare leg.
He persisted. The third time, I made sure he felt the swat. He cried, whereupon my lovely bride went into ATTACK mode. "HE'S JUST A BABY! HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND!"
I looked calmly at the woman I loved and said, "We have a DOG in the backyard who understands 'NO'. Are you telling me THAT DOG is smarter than YOUR CHILD?" End of discussion.
By the way, that was the last time he ever tried to pull up on the bricks. (No, I refused to pad the hearth. We did cover the electrical outlets, though. There are too many, and that's a bit more difficult to teach.)
"We did cover the electrical outlets, though. There are too many, and that's a bit more difficult to teach."
Even when they should know better. My 13 year-old shoved an insulated paperclip into a light socket and shorted out his classroom.
But why can't Mr. Fork and Mr. Outlet be friends??? :-P