That is one ugly fence
June 28, 2014
Our street is lined with quiet, well-maintained ranch-style homes. People take pride in their yards and their neighborhood.
Nobody on our street has said anything yet, but I have gotten some strange looks as people drive by.
A few friends have asked if we got a dog. Once they pointed it out, it does look like we installed a dog run in the front of our house.
We didn’t get a dog. I’d call it more of a toddler run.
The baby is an escape artist and an adventurer, which is a very scary combination.
We have access to our fully fenced back yard through our back door. For a while, it satisfied him to leave the back door open so he could come and go as he pleased.
But soon he wanted more. After tolerating several days of mind-numbing banging on the front door (despite the back door being open), I finally gave in. I sat with him on the front step, and for another week or so this worked out okay.
He played happily in the driveway or drove his trucks on the sidewalk.
Then he got bored again. He saw no reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to cross the street to splash in the puddles or head off to the Frog Ponds by himself.
The first time it happened I told him we could go for a walk but he had to wait until mommy put her shoes on.
I turned my back to grab the shoes that were five feet inside the door. By the time I returned he was already at the street.
The second time it happened, I hurried in to grab the phone.
And so a few weeks ago I ordered a round of toddler fencing and asked my husband to dig the baby gate out of storage.
My husband was not really on board with this sudden change to our landscaping.
It is a testament to his love for me that he zip-tied the fencing to stakes and installed an indoor baby gate on our front step.
I’m not sure the term “landscaping” really applies, since the term is generally applied to aesthetic improvements. There is nothing aesthetic about our new fence. It is purely practical.
The function of the fence is to keep the baby safe, and that is all.
Now the baby can make laps from the front door, down the sidewalk in front of our house, through the back gate, and into the back door, all without access to the street.
Baby gate manufacturers know that toddlers are very smart. So they make their gates difficult to open. For everyone, including parents hauling groceries from the car. And mailmen.
And so I’m sorry for the neighborhood eye sore and I’m sorry it’s now difficult to gain access into our house.
But it’s only temporary, and I think we’d all agree that an ugly fence is better than a lost or injured toddler.
I personally think it is an ingenious setup. But I understand others’ frustrations.
I suppose it was inevitable that now, instead of banging on the front door, the toddler hangs on the baby gate on the front step, demanding to be set free.
This article first appeared in the Lewistown News-Argus and the Sidney (Mont.) Herald on June 28, 2014.