[Mom to Hot Rod]

Thanks Taylor, great reminder. When we first got Hot Rod, we didn't even think about gating off any parts of the house and all of a sudden while I was in the other room I heard a thud and then a yelp. I ran out to the stair case only to see him getting up and running away. I could only think that he tried to climb the stairs and fell. Til this day, (he is 5 now) he's so scared to go up and down the stairs. I carry him up and I walk backwards down while he climbs down. Our stairs are very steep and the treads are narrow.

Maggie May has no fear of stairs and just runs up and down them. The other night while I was carrying Hot Rod down, she lost her footing and while she didn't fall (Thank God!) she did fall down 2 steps at a time managing to go down them on her feet. She did this from the middle of the stairs to the bottom. She never did fall but everytime she tried to catch herself, she would miss run out of tread to stand on and down she went. I couldn't do anything but watch because I had Hot Rod in one arm and I was holding the banister with my other and she was going down very quickly. She hesitates now but will go down behind me.

Hubby wants me to look into getting the stairs carpeted with stair threads. We have hardwood stairs so they are slippery.