Child #1 (6 or 7 years ago):
As soon as you detect any type of independent movement from the baby, you begin defense preparations. When he first moves his legs and arms around, after some extensive research, you purchase safety gates for the top and bottom entrances to the stairs. When he starts to roll over, you ensure that the gates are securely mounted in the proper locations. As the crawling starts, and even well into the early stages of walking, you constantly create a buffer zone near the gates, making sure he is never close enough to come into contact at all with the stairs.
Child #2 (a little more than 4 years ago):
You notice that the baby is crawling now. You can't find the gates you used to have installed. Instead, you move a few chairs away from the kitchen table to block off the general area of the stairs.
Child #3 (this past week):
The baby learns how to do the stairs by himself while you watch TV in the other room with your wife.
