DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My friend has a three-year-old son and a nine-month-old daughter, who is just starting to pull herself up around the house. I have my own two-year-old, and long before he was walking, my boyfriend and I started childproofing our home and I think we did a pretty good job of it.
When my friend comes over with her kids for a playdate, she first does a safety inspection of my townhouse’s first floor, where we hang out. She is not at all shy about telling me everything we missed in our childproofing. Then she’ll say something like, “Why don’t we just stay right here, in the living room,” and it makes me feel like I am the world’s worst mom or something.
Am I overreacting, or is she? --- SAFE ENOUGH FOR MY OWN KID
DEAR SAFE ENOUGH FOR MY OWN KID: Since you feel like your friend isn’t comfortable with her kids in your home, maybe you should either stick to meeting at her place, or find other locations where the kids and the moms can get together and where you’re not in charge of making the area secure. If those suggestions don’t work, then when they come to your place, you should beat your friend to the punch and insist you all just stick to the pre-screened room of your choice.