"You generally do not have to painstakingly childproof your home for someone else's child, especially if the child has not been invited and merely appears like an oddly-sticky Ghost of Christmas Future on your doorstep. If you do know a toddler is coming to an adult event (it sounds like you had some advance warning), simple common sense does suggest a five-minute dash to move breakables off grabbing-level and immobilize your Ball python."
"In your case, it was silly not to expect a toddler to make a beeline for your husband's Lego sets. They should be out of sight. If he has a less precious Lego collection, that could be made available for the child to play with instead."
A host invited neighbors for wine while her husband was away, and one guest unexpectedly brought a toddler. The child wandered unsupervised, created messes, damaged items, and the mother left without helping clean up. The host felt stressed and unappreciated. The advice columnist clarifies that hosts generally don't need to extensively childproof their homes for someone else's child, particularly if uninvited. However, when advance notice is provided that a toddler will attend, basic precautions like moving breakables and valuables to higher shelves are reasonable. The columnist emphasizes that the host's expectations were not unrealistic given the circumstances.
Read at Slate Magazine
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