The visiting health visitor parted our home the other day with a warning: on no account EVER leave your toddler alone in the room with the baby while you are not there. It seems obvious but it is like one of those stories where a dog owner swears – I don’t understand it, Rover never bites, he’s just always so friendly – as the dog savages a small child to pieces. However, on the practical front, it is actually very hard trying to avoid popping into the other room or going to the loo while leaving the children alone in the other room. It is easy to forget that in child-time, things happen about 20 million parsecs faster than in adult time. We got a small taste of what a toddler can do when we watched Aimee wander up to Dylan’s carrycot and peered inside. Within a split second, she started rocking it very hard, to the point where if we had not intervened, it could have toppled from its stand. On another occasion, Cat was carrying Dylan but Aimee wanted something out of reach to her and when Cat said No, Aimee started slapping Dylan hard. A swift rebuke brought tears (while Dylan thankfully was ok). And this is all within our sight. Imagine if she was left alone? Of course Aimee is too young to know the consequences of her actions. And all Dylan cares is when his next meal is coming from.
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