Baby Gate Theory

I have two baby gates set up in my house. One at the office door and one at my bedroom door. (There's just a lot of craziness going on in both of those rooms.) Tonight was our babysitting night (We are part of a babysitting co-op) and we had a full house. It was a lot of craziness, but good times nonetheless. The second to youngest in the group was little one year old Parker. Who, is just adorable. Can't get enough of that kid. I wish we could have him over every day. Today was the first time we've had him in several months. The last time he was here was when he was about Jimmy's age. It's cute to see him toddling around, but we noticed something interesting tonight. We watched him as he picked up some blocks, walked over to the baby gate and drop them over to the other side. We watched and laughed, because he isn't the first toddler we've seen do this. In fact, any time there is a toddler in the house, things get thrown over the gate. Jacob and Lizzie both did this when they were about that age, and the little girl I babysat in MO used to do it as well. (Of course, they would also frequently walk up to the gate and start shaking it as they screamed in anger for not being let in the room that was off limits. I call that baby gate rage, but that's for another post.) I've come up with a little bit of a theory for why toddlers do this. There comes a time when kids start wanting to be in control. This is usually about the time temper tantrums rear their ugly heads. And the baby gate is just one more thing to thwart their efforts to be in control. "What's this? Why is this stinking thing blocking my way. I didn't really want to go in that room, but now that I see I can't, I am determined to get in there some how. *shakes gate* Dang, it's not coming down. *Looks around, sees blocks or toys or really anything lying around* Hmmm, well, if I can't go in there, then by golly, I will get SOMETHING passed this gate. I will show them. Maybe I can't get in there, but my toys sure can!!" So there ya have it. It's all part of the power struggle. Their way of showing us who's REALLY in charge.