Keeping Your Collection Good: Parenting!

Just emerging from the highest risk zone now (youngest turned eight in January).

Really, the toddler years are likely the biggest issue. Anything really worth much should just be out of reach - either in a room the kid doesn't play in, behind bookshelf doors (I used Ikea Billy shelves with doors for a long time) or just up on higher shelves. Anything they manage to reach and play with is not a child behavioral failure, so just be prepared that they will get somewhere you didn't want them to, and remember that everything in your collection is nothing compared to your child and how you love them. ?

Well put, and I agree! However.... "please don't let anything happen to that out-of-print edition....!"

I have zip-ties on my glass-fronted book cases so they can't be opened. Other than that, anything of value / easily damaged is out of reach or in rooms the boy doesn't have access to.

Your children *are* going to bash things -- so the best thing you can do is have things that are very durable. Most of my furniture is recycled timber (primarily from Oxford University). When your table-tops are 3 inches thick and made from old timber with lots of existing patina, there is a limit to how much damage a toddler can do. That was pure luck that I like rustic furniture, mind -- not a matter of planning.

If you are repainting, use washable high quality paint. My boy isn't at the point where he is really scratching up walls, but the time will come. I'm also not bothering to replace any carpet. It is mid-life, but I'll just tear it all out and put wooden flooring in when he is a bit older.

I quite like the bookshelf doors idea. It was something I was considering once it's time to change our furniture arrangement. I've never owned a set from anyone - with doors, that is - I don't mean to sound over paranoid; however did you guys put any locks or anything on them, or are they tricky enough for a little one to open? )during the toddler years, was thinking of having those white locks on them, that usually go on the handles of kitchen cabinets)

Thanks for your all your feedback - I want to be a good parent, yet also keep my stuff in good order :)

Yes, I do recall using the "baby cabinet locks" on the bookshelf doors for a couple of years, it definitely helped.

Mostly, "out of sight, out of mind" is best, however you can manage that given your home layout and budget.

And as an aside, visitors/relatives who think "ooooh, that looks beautiful" and pick things up are just as problematic as toddlers, and harder to keep out of the collection. ? No system is perfect, expect some wear and tear (and keep books out of direct sunlight! That'll do more damage than a toddler ever could).

For sure :) And I've been consistently good with that, after discovering that some of my books turned from white to brown/yellow for the sun - they're still intact and fine structurally, but yes, even now my stuff is out of sunlight.

For the new arrangements, where I'm intending to put them shouldn't have much, if any, sun in the room itself; much less WHERE in the room the books will be kept the sun shouldn't reach.

Baby cabinet locks would work. For my books I have a bag of zipties on top of the book-cases that don't have locks (I have three, two don't have, one does). I just ziptie the little ring handles together. Means that no one could be tempted to open and have a browse + means that the books can't fall out and be damaged in an earthquake (assuming the house doesn't totally fail structurally -- which is quite possible/likely in mag 8+).

Remember to use some little bags of silica gel and to control the humidity in the bookcases. I keep the humidity not above 40 all year round (the house is timber framed and lined with sheet-rock, so I do this as a health measure more than anything). Dehumidifiers are pretty cheap to run and you just set them and leave if you plumb in a permanent drain.

Basically, don't let it get too hot, too cold, too moist or too bright and everything will be fine!

Oh, and remember there are some books that can't be exposed to any light (e.g. if you find an unfaded Inlkings that someone kept in a box, don't stick it on the shelf!).

I'll be getting a dehumidifier for that room :D Thinking of vinyl, laminate, engineered hardwood, or tile for the floor. Those are the types that would 'work' with the area. Maybe a rug, as well - one of those woven ones w/ a Silmarillion-esque pattern on it :P And I'm looking at, and liking, those Billy + Oxberg shelves....And I'll use those 'baby-proof, under the kitchen sink' cabinet clasp locks once he/she hits The Toddler Years.

My baby boy took his first unassisted (by human or furniture) steps this afternoon and is now officially a toddler. I expect all my stuff will be knackered by this time next week....

and remember that everything in your collection is nothing compared to your child and how you love them.

Urulókë is right here - this was already true of my cats (I'd burn every book I have willingly to get an extra year with my 19 yr old cat), and is doubly true of my boy. Books are fun to collect, but at the end of the day they are just "stuff".