As a mother of a 2 year old, I found out the hard way about what it means to have a “childproof office”.  At two, my daughter is at the height of curiosity; her little hands can find their way into the smallest of areas. To her, a computer keyboard resembles a piano, any piece of paper lying on the desk is fair game and needs a little red crayon,  even the garbage basket can become a little too tempting for my little munchkin to explore.  

It was becoming a growing concern, I came to realize very quickly (when I walked into my office to find her under my desk with my computer power cord wrapped around her arm shouting “pull, pull” as she was yanking it from the wall) that it was time to take childproofing a little more seriously.  

Now I do have childcare and for the most part my office is off limits, however in some cases having my daughter with me while I work is unavoidable and quite honestly often I enjoy the company.   After all one of the reason why I became a VA was to have more time with my family.

So I began the childproofing process, I read a few articles, did a little research and came up with my plan of action.

1. Create a distraction. I wanted to ensure she had plenty of things to keep her occupied besides the “shiny” stapler. I put together a box of toys that are only for the office. Since she doesn’t play in my office too much, these toys are a new discovery every time she’s there.

2. Just like Mom, her own keyboard. She loves my computer keyboard and quite honestly what child wouldn’t. It’s that alluring ”click, click” sound she find irrestible.  Instead of having her type away on mine and then having to figure out how to get rid of all those error messages, I found an old keyboard not in use and allow her to play with that. She loves it!

3. Outlet covers. Why are electrical outlets so attractive to a 2 year old? Well they are, at least to my 2 year old. I placed outlet covers on any outlet in my office that did not have something in it.

4. Get rid of the wire. For the most part my office is a wireless environment. However I can’t get rid of 100% of the wires. I neatly tied them up with cable ties and made them a little less noticeable. Out of sight, out of mind!

5. Lid the Garbage. I found a cheap little garbage with a lid on it. Not the most convenient for me when I have to throw something out, but worth the 2 extra seconds it takes to take the lid off in order to avoid my daughter picking out crumbled paper and chewing on it.

6. Put the paper away. I have to admit I do not run a totally paperless office (I’m working on it though) so I have managed to become a little more aware of the amount of paper I have in my office and what I’m using. I now try to file everything that isn’t “nailed” down. I have also been more “green” by reusing and recycle much more.

7. Little items, big problems. It’s amazing to me how even the littlest items can be so interesting to a 2 year old. Again, I’ve been more conscious of loose staples, elastics, tacks, paper clips and appropriately store them out of little hands reach. Desk drawers with childproof latches are great for this. If you lack drawer space, Tupperware containers make great storage for little items.

So as you can see my plan didn’t take too long to implement, the cost was very minimal, and all worth it to spend a little more time in the day with my little girl.  Of course, she was right about one thing, a little splash of red crayon can make a huge difference