Catz,
Aiyoh, poor Beth. Hope she's better now. Don't be too hard on yourself. And babies heal really fast. Yup. No babies in kitchen! Past 2 days, Ben has been daring me again... coming into the kitchen. So it's whack whack and out you go for him. Better pain from whacking than from accidents, yah?
I tried a safety gate for the kitchen during Sarah's time, but it was soooo lehcheh, I removed it quite quickly. I found it easier to condition her not to come in than to use the gate to keep her out. And with that conditioning, I found that wherever she went, she would not step into the kitchen, even at my MIL's and my mom's places, as well as other people's homes. So it was good.
So strange, Timo walked toe in due to the shoes. Ben is fine with his first pair of Bubblegummers we bought for CNY. He loves them and walks well in them.
sunsweet,
Don't know this Irene Chua. Is she at TPS?