i had my very young son take a thick piece of oak and try to pound
a nail thru it- or in general,try to make a dent in it..
then i put a 12 ga slug thru it and had him study on it.

In my previous career, I have had occasion to mace several people. Most of the time it gave me a (very) small window of opportunity with which to react and make decisions. However, you have to be prepared that when your attacker comes back at you, they're probably gonna be a hell of a lot harder to handle.

If wasp spray isn't as effective as mace carried by law enforcement officers, it probably won't do much but provide you with a few seconds of time, but sometimes those seconds mean the difference between life and death.

Overall, it certainly is better than nothing. People should be concerned about having the guns in the house. In my area just in the past few months, there's been a couple of toddlers who accidentally killed themselves after finding guns in their homes.

A locked gun in a safe isn't gonna do you much good if you walk in your bedroom and discover someone has come through your bedroom window and is staring you in the face. Although,as expressed here by some other members, ultimately a gun is the most effective protection, as long as you can find a way to keep it out of reach of kids.

Otherwise, I say anything from wasp spray to hair spray to mace...whatever buys you time...just make sure you have SOMETHING nearby at all times in case you have to defend yourself.

Simple as it is, hang your firearm from a nail where your child can't possibly get to it.

If you must use a spray, forget bee killers, go to an auto parts store and get some brakeclean. Nasty stuff, I've had it in my eyes and never want to endure that again.