MommyMoo: How to Spy on Your Children

I know this isn't a new idea. I'm sure if the CIA put some veteran parents in the field they'd have a fleet of the most resourceful, cunning spies. Spies that don't need to dress in black and dart from dark alley to dark alley. Rather, they would be spies that can waltz around in broad daylight, coo an embarrassing baby babble--and get the job done. And all this without their targets thinking they have the mental capacity to function in society.

So our child is only ten months, what on earth would we need to spy on her for? She's not dating boys, staying out late, or going to drinking parties. She's a baby for goodness sake. Don't be fooled you naive being. Babies are cunning. They can tell once you have put them down for a nap how close you are to the bedroom door. They can sense your presence and your ear smushed up against the wall. They know. They lay there until the winds change from your movement in the rest of the house. Then they make their move. It's playtime! Ginny begins jumping in the crib, playing with the curtains, throwing her stuffed animal out of the crib, walking the perimeter of her mattress. Say good-bye to nap time.

We had to put an end to this. This girl needed to nap. We got tired of walking into the room and lying her back down every few seconds. We needed some one-way glass--but we have no budget for such expenditures. We are no James Bond spies with shmancy gadgets galore. We are parents. We have to get crafty. So we have to go old-school. Old, old, old-school. We have a keyhole. My husband first discovered it. The keyhole is rather large and points directly at the crib. We have a perfect view. Now we can sit outside the door and say an ominous "Ginny....." and she will whimper and lay back down.

Jordan: Parental Spy Extraordinaire

Well, she didn't listen to our ominous voices for very long. Soon she started to ignore us. Now we just have to let her play herself to sleep, but we still peep in to see if she has indeed fallen asleep.