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I have a 3yo who is in a boundary-testing phase. I have narrowed down the boundaries to the ones I really want to enforce--stay inside the day care area; don't play with the gates; don't touch the babies. Unfortunately, I don't have any way of actually enforcing these boundaries, since she's old enough to scale/bust down anything she puts her mind to and won't stay any place I put her.
I need advice from the folks who have their kids trained not to touch. This kid is old enough to understand that the biggest problem she can create is the one created by breaking the rules, so she'll get her knickers in a twist over something like no seconds on milk when she didn't eat anything else, then walk over to the gate, make eye contact with me, and mutter "touch" while she pokes it. :
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She does the same at home, according to her mom. It started a few weeks ago. Mainly I'm concerned over safety re: staying inside the gates and not hurting the other kids. All of my kids are up and walking but she's the oldest and she wants to be "helpful" by, for instance, picking up a crying toddler or putting shoes onto the other kids. I have one who's going through a phase where he'll put an elbow into the face of anybody who strays into his reach, so I'm already keeping the group split up and I'm out of gates.
Anyway, she just opens them and then gasps in shock when she realizes I was watching the whole time. 
But I'm at a loss for a way to modify the environment or otherwise make it harder for her to break these core rules. She'll wail and apologize if I remove privileges afterward, but in the moment, I can't think of a way to get her off the gates/other kids short of duct taping her to the ceiling, and while prison sounds restful, I'm seeking legal problem-solving advice. 
I need advice from the folks who have their kids trained not to touch. This kid is old enough to understand that the biggest problem she can create is the one created by breaking the rules, so she'll get her knickers in a twist over something like no seconds on milk when she didn't eat anything else, then walk over to the gate, make eye contact with me, and mutter "touch" while she pokes it. :
:She does the same at home, according to her mom. It started a few weeks ago. Mainly I'm concerned over safety re: staying inside the gates and not hurting the other kids. All of my kids are up and walking but she's the oldest and she wants to be "helpful" by, for instance, picking up a crying toddler or putting shoes onto the other kids. I have one who's going through a phase where he'll put an elbow into the face of anybody who strays into his reach, so I'm already keeping the group split up and I'm out of gates.
Anyway, she just opens them and then gasps in shock when she realizes I was watching the whole time. But I'm at a loss for a way to modify the environment or otherwise make it harder for her to break these core rules. She'll wail and apologize if I remove privileges afterward, but in the moment, I can't think of a way to get her off the gates/other kids short of duct taping her to the ceiling, and while prison sounds restful, I'm seeking legal problem-solving advice.
Any recommendations for wrangling this kiddo?
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