Under the law, an “attractive nuisance” is defined as “anything
on your premises that might attract children into danger or harm.” Common
examples of attractive nuisances include swimming pools, ponds, trampolines, and tree houses. But based on my personal experience, most homes
are chock-full of attractive nuisances, inside and out.
My children, like most, apparently have radar which helps
them find every attractive nuisance within reach (as well as many that are
not). Whenever they enter an unfamiliar room, they instinctively make a beeline
to the nearest electrical outlet, knife block, or breakable objet d’art in sight. In a familiar
room, they know all the best trouble they can get into and they find it as soon
as they can. If my kids are in the office and I leave the room for 30 seconds,
when I come back my daughter is invariably playing with a letter-opener shaped
like a sword and my husband’s checkbook. (The checkbook may not seem like a harmful
object, but believe me, if she scribbles on or rips up the last check, her life
will be in danger.) If they’re in the playroom and I leave to answer the phone,
when I return I’m sure to find one or the other of them attempting to climb up
the entertainment center containing hundreds of pounds of books and a
large-screen television. In the kitchen, I don’t even need to leave the room,
but just turn my back for a second, and two little hands are reaching for the
burner knobs on the stove or stretching toward the delicate wine glasses on the
sideboard.
Life itself, for a small child, is an attractive nuisance.
After all, to them, everything is attractive. Everything is
new, and interesting, and curiosity-inspiring. Unlike me, they don’t know
everything that’s in the junk drawer, nor what it is, nor what it’s for. So of
course they want to dig and explore and examine. They’re too short to see what’s
at the back of the counter, or on top of the fridge, or on a high shelf in the
bathroom closet. So they try to climb up there and take a peek using whatever
method they can find, be it stacking up toys or boxes, or scaling lower
shelves, or swinging like a monkey from a nearby piece of furniture.
And unfortunately, to them, many things are also dangerous.
A stove, when you know how to use it and you use it properly, is not dangerous.
Nor is a sharp knife, nor a pair of scissors, nor an electrical outlet. These
are all extremely useful, practical, even necessary items for modern life. But
in the hands of a small, ignorant, curious child, all these things change from
necessities to nuisances.
Katie discovering the
principles of elasticity via an attractive nuisance commonly called a bungee
cord.
Ryan can even make
paint an attractive nuisance, especially since it’s kept on top of the
refrigerator.
Hopefully, they will outgrow their ignorance before they
outgrow their curiosity, and hopefully before long the attractive nuisances
will become attractive learning experiences. But until then, I guess I’ll just
have to learn how to manage a couple of attractive nuisances of my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment