The Let-Will-Eat Gate

I don't know how many times I have posted about Lili's adventures dancing on our kitchen table and escaping downstairs to roam the lower half of the house while I am attempting to feed Will...but I'm sure it's been a lot! The kid truly has not had an uninterrupted feeding in months and no matter what I do to try and keep Lili's mischief under control, she is completely resistant to it. Recently we did get some fun locks to help with the garbage can and dishwasher issues, but the kitchen table and stairs were still a concern. Aside from putting all of the chairs on top of the kitchen table like a restaurant closing down for the night, I really have no solution for that. The top of the stairs however has been the testing ground for many gates. The one that seemed to work best is our current gate which essentially has a screen that "rolls up" to one side. It was awesome for awhile.......until Lili saw the dog squeeze her big ol' butt underneath it and sneak down the stairs. Of course this encouraged Lili to do the same......and so she did...........and still does...."escape". We have a very "odd" situation at the top of our stairs where we have banisters on both sides, with a living room straight ahead and a kitchen to the left. The walls are all uneven and there isn't a logical way to block the area off. A friend of mine recently told me about this adjustable gate by Summer that she also needed to install in her home, to keep her mischievous 9 month old contained....so we thought we would give it a shot. Right now we are "testing it out" and trying to figure out the best way to install it.

OPTION # 1: Secure it to one banister and then to the wall at the beginning of the hallway. This keeps the kitchen open, but blocks off the stairs. (See that clown picture down by the front door? Yeah...I'm afraid of clowns...........so Drew "left" it there for me one day and there it remained. The sad thing is that Drew's Grandma painted it and it's actually a very GOOD painting of a "friendly" clown. I think all clowns are evil, man-eating monsters like "IT" though, so even the friendliest of clowns freaks me out.)

OPTION # 2: Secure it to the living room wall and the opposite banister. This blocks off the stairs AND the kitchen. In my quest to Feed Will, this option seems like the best solution....however I do see Drew's point about the kitchen. Let's say one of us is home alone and cooking dinner. The kids really couldn't be allowed in the kitchen with us because they have a straight shot downstairs to the Forbidden Land. Drew's thought is that if we went with Option # 1, he could install some additional locks on certain cabinets and drawers and that should give me some relief. Of course my next question is...what about the kitchen table? I mean, it's all cute (and dangerous) for her to be dancing up there now, but in a few years....it's going to look trashy! I really don't want her thinking that dancing on tables and countertops is OK...