I think that it is wonderful that there are so many baby proofing products on the market today. I don’t remember most of these products being available when my kids were babies/toddlers. I’m sure that if they had been available we would have used every single one of them! Our kids were into everything imagineable, and they wore us out chasing after them! That’s probably why our parents used playpens when we were little – so they wouldn’t have to chase us around!
But our kids absolutely would not tolerate playpens once they learned how to crawl. So we went the route of baby gates, outlet covers and child safety locks instead. It was a struggle, keeping the children away from so many things that could harm them. I know my wife misses the kids being little, but it is a big relief that we don’t have to chase them all over the house anymore! That is at least until we have grandchildren!