What a photo can and can't show

Goosery looks in each photo for things that matter because of what they are and where they sit. An uncovered outlet near the floor is one. So are a cord hanging off a side table, a dresser tall enough to come down and a tablecloth within grabbing range.

Each one goes on your to-do list, under the room it’s in.

Six things always go on your to-do list as things to check by hand, once your baby reaches the stage where they matter, because the answer isn’t in the photo.

Water heater temperature. A photo shows the dial, and a dial is a setting, not a measurement. Many are marked in words instead of degrees. The heater usually sits in a closet you didn’t photograph.

Button batteries. They sit inside remotes, kitchen scales, key fobs and musical cards, with spares in drawers. A closed battery cover looks the same screwed shut or loose, and the screw is on the underside.

Whether the furniture is anchored. A photo shows you a dresser is tall. It can’t show whether a strap is behind it, or what the screws went into.

Where the medicine is. A photo of a high shelf usually leaves out the floor, so it can’t show how high the shelf sits. Medicine also lives in handbags, drawers and cabinets, and a chair pulled over to the counter changes what a climbing toddler can reach.

Window guards. A photo shows the guard in the window. It can’t show how much force the guard holds before it gives.

Cords behind furniture. They’re behind the couch or the dresser, out of sight. Where one peeks out, it’s thin, dark and in shadow, and cords get moved from one day to the next.

Anything Goosery can’t find reliably in photos is marked to check by hand too.

Everything goes on one to-do list for your home. The most serious items come first, under “Do these first”, then the rest under “Then these”. Next come the other things to check by hand, and last, what you’ve done. Inside each group, items sit under the room they’re in, and checks for the whole home come last, under “Whole home”.

For the items to check by hand, go and look: behind the dresser, behind the couch, inside the battery covers, at the water heater. Mark each item done once you’ve dealt with it. It turns gray and moves to the done group.

A short list means only that nothing else turned up in those photos. Goosery never marks a room done, because a baby learning to stand reaches things this week that were out of range last week.

Every standard behind the plan is reviewed and signed by a practicing pediatrician. Read what that review covers.