We Tied the Furniture to the Walls

Finally.

This blog post popped up on my Facebook newsfeed a couple of weeks ago when a friend shared it: Be with me. Just for today.  It's long and heartbreakingly sad, so be warned.

It disturbed me like reading about the loss or injury of a child always does. This is exactly the kind of thing that gets stuck in my head and makes me hurt for other people. But it also gave me a swift kick in the pants, which is what the mom who wrote it intended.

I meant to anchor Luke's furniture to the walls when he became mobile. But I didn't. He started climbing almost as soon as he started walking, but I still didn't. Then he got older and more resourceful, dragging a chair or a stool to reach things he wanted, and I still didn't. I regularly remind myself not to put toys on top of his dresser so he doesn't have motivation to climb it, but I still had not strapped the dresser to the wall.

Ella has a bookcase in her room that scares me, but it wasn't anchored. I've seen her bump into it and things fall off the top, and but I still didn't anchor it. I figured she's old enough now that it's not a big deal anymore.

I thought most of their furniture was low enough that it wouldn't fall over, so we probably didn't need to bother with anchoring it. Even over the summer when we put a new, taller dresser in Luke's room and I thought, "We need to tie that to the wall," I didn't.

I don't know why. I just never got around to it.

Then I read that blog post. The little girl was three - exactly between Luke's and Ella's ages. The dresser that fell on her was tiny, much smaller than Luke's dresser and Ella's bookcase. They are often unattended in their bedrooms, as they should be. They don't need me hovering over them while they play, but I did feel like I needed to make their furniture safer.

Immediately I sent Dave a Crazy Mom text message: "Are you leaving early today? If you are, will you please stop at Lowe's or Target and get those straps that anchor kids' furniture to walls?" He called, of course, since I seemed to be randomly losing my mind and he didn't know what straps I was talking about.

As it turns out, I searched online and couldn't find any local stores that had furniture straps in stock so I had to order them. I picked these because they got good reviews on Amazon, including one where the parent came back to update the review after the kid tipped the dresser and the strap held it.

QuakeHOLD!

I had to wait a few days for shipping, but Dave installed them over the weekend. It didn't take him long, so I think it was pretty straightforward.

Now, my mind is more peaceful about their furniture. I know that accidents happen and you can't protect kids from everything. I know that. But I've also been told all my life that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I didn't want to walk over those particular good intentions through that particular hell, so we tied the furniture to the walls.