When I was pregnant with my son, I asked my parents whether they'd babyproofed for me, already pretty certain what the answer would be, because they did things like put me in a backpack and then drive around New York City on their motorcycles. And sure enough: "No," they said, "Why would we do that? We just told you not to touch things. So you didn't."*

Why has no one ever thought of this before?! You just tell a child not to do something, and then they simply listen to you! GENIUS.

Armed with this obviously foolproof approach, I set about doing the exact same thing with my own child, theorizing that if I let our home remain fairly adult-y, he'd be better-equipped to handle himself in other people's non-child-proofed homes, in public spaces, etc. I did the basics, of course, but I left our table edges uncovered, only locked up cabinets with actual chemicals in them, and never purchased one of those seat-lock thingies that make your toilet impossible for anyone - adults included - to open.