Parent Talk Today

Danger at the Dollar Store

We're all trying to stretch a buck these days, and dollar stores may seem like a good way to do it. But buyer beware when it comes to danger at the dollar store, says Consumer Reports in their latest video.

(Disclosure: In addition to being a freelance journalist, I'm also the social-media reporter for Consumer Reports. Follow me on Twitter at @creporter for CR's latest updates.)

What types of dollar-store products could be hazardous? Cigarette lighters that look like mini toy skateboards. Party whistles that can easily come apart and create choking hazards. And my personal favorite on CR's list: bubble-blowing liquid that comes in a bottle with what looks like a baby-bottle nipple on top. Nice.

Sure, you can save on many items that are perfectly safe. But keep a sharp eye out for items that could harm your family.

Checking Out The Babysitter

Today I'm excited to share with you a guest post from Adrienne Kallweit and Joanne Whitney of the babysitting-referral service Seeking Sitters. I don't know the difference between a background investigation and a background check. But Adrienne and Joanne can explain just how it all works. If you're looking to hire a nanny or babysitter, this is great stuff to know. Thanks, Adrienne and Joanne!

Is what is termed “Background Check” truly an “investigation” of a subject’s personal history? You will be surprised to know some facts about this misunderstood service that has become essential in providing personal character profiling on today’s job applicants.

When you read or hear that a company performs a “Background Check” on their contractors, employees or volunteer personnel, the consumer immediately feels a bit safer, a bit more at ease. But what you don’t know is that the information sold as a thorough background check can be grossly inadequate and inaccurate to the point of being outdated, missing, or just plain wrong! We come to trust the words “background checked” and assume that all background screening is performed professionally and thoroughly, perhaps in the manner of law enforcement agents. NOT SO! 

Heading to the Lake? Keep Kids Safe

Heading to the lake for one last weekend before school starts? Check out these tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics to keep kids safe:

• Children should wear life jackets at all times when on boats or near bodies of water.
• Make sure the life jacket is the right size for your child. The jacket should not be loose. It should always be worn as instructed with all straps belted.
• Blow-up water wings, toys, rafts and air mattresses should not be used as life jackets or life preservers.
• Adults should wear life jackets for their own protection, and to set a good example.
• Teens (and adults) should be warned of the dangers of boating when under the influence of alcohol, drugs and even some prescription medications.
• Never swim alone. Even good swimmers need buddies!
• A lifeguard (or another adult who knows about water rescue) needs to be watching children whenever they are in or near the water. Younger children should be closely supervised while in or near the water – use “touch supervision,” keeping no more than an arm’s length away. 
• Make sure your child knows never to dive into water except when permitted by an adult who knows the depth of the water and who has checked for underwater objects.
• Never let your child swim in canals or any fast-moving water.

Keep Kids Safe When Using Inflatable Slides, Jumpers

A post on the Consumer Reports Safety Blog, "Inflatable Accidents Are Up, Up and Away," caught my eye yesterday, and I wanted to share it with you. 

(Disclosure: I work part-time as the social-media reporter for Consumer Reports at @CReporter on Twitter. Actually, it's a job that comes in very handy for me as a parenting writer, because I learn about these issues from folks who really know how to test equipment and check on safety issues.)

Recently an 11-year-old boy flew 40 feet into the air, clinging to a poorly anchored inflatable slide that was caught by a gust of wind. Fast-thinking parents punctured the slide and brought it back to earth before the boy was injured.

But, as CR notes: "The newest numbers from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which were last updated in 2005, are sobering. The CPSC reported four fatalities in inflatable-related accidents from 2002 to 2005. In 2004, the most recent year for which we found complete data, inflatable rides, such as inflatable slides and bouncers, accounted for an estimated 4,900 injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the agency. That was up sharply from 1997, when the CPSC estimated only 1,300 such injuries -- a whopping 277 percent increase in just eight years (a time in which inflatables grew in popularity)."

My son has been bouncing in inflatable jumpers and sliding down inflatable slides since he was a preschooler. When he was little, I made sure he wasn't getting jumped on by the bigger kids, but I didn't realize the dangers in these structures being caught by a burst of wind or suddenly deflating.

Does this mean we need to stop using inflatable slides and jumpers? I don't think so. But should adults supervise their use and be available to prevent kid pile-ups and to make sure the structure is safe? Absolutely.

Once a Mom, Always a Mom

As parents, we're used to saying to our kids something along the lines of "Buckle your seat belt, honey. If it isn't buckled, we're not going anywhere." Right? I've said it to my son, and to his friends, countless times.

Well, I guess that line is pretty ingrained in my head.

My husband and I were car shopping on Saturday and we decided to take a test drive. I was driving and Randy took the passenger seat. The salesperson — a guy in his late twenties, I'm guessing — got in the back seat. I started the car and automatically turned around to make sure the back-seat occupant was buckled up — and he wasn't.

"Don't forget your seat belt," I said.

"Oh, I'm OK," said the sales guy. And he didn't buckle up.

Without even thinking about it, I said, nicely but firmly: "I'm a mom, and I don't drive a car unless everybody is buckled up."

He buckled up and off we went.

Yep. Once a mom, always a mom!

Teens and Texting: Watch Out For That Car!

It happened on the way to school this morning. I turned onto a side street and a girl, about 12 years old, stepped off the sidewalk and right in front of my car — without looking.

Thank goodness I was able to stop in time.

No big surprise: She was busy texting. Looking down at her iPhone. Completely oblivious to the fact that she was walking across a busy street.

Of course, you and I don't need a study to tell us this is a problem. But talk about a confirmation: A recent study looked at how cell-phone use distracts preteens while crossing the street. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham worked with children ages 10 and 11.

Distraction was created by cell-phone conversations with a research assistant. When distracted, the kids were less attentive to traffic, they left less time between themselves and the next oncoming vehicle and they were involved in more collisions and near misses. (Fortunately, this was all done in a virtual traffic setting!)

While cell phones can offer convenience and safety when used wisely, the study authors stress that pedestrians — especially children, who are likely to be more distracted than adults — should limit cell-phone use while crossing the street.

Seems like it might be time for yet another reminder to our kids about pedestrian safety. (Just don't call or text them on their cell phones to remind them.)

"But My Kid Doesn't LIKE Seat Belts..."

So sad. Read in the paper today that a lovely young girl, who had just turned 16, was killed in a car accident on the way to her prom.

Another teen was driving, and there were a number of others in the car. Most received minor injuries. But this girl, the only one in the SUV not wearing a seat belt, was ejected. And she died.

If you think you don't have to worry about this for a long time because you have young kids, think again. The habits you teach them today will go a long way toward keeping them safe when they're older.

Never drive without using your own seat belt. Insist that all passengers wear theirs. Every time. No exceptions.

I heard a mom say recently that her preschooler "doesn't like the seat belt, so what can I do?" Are you kidding me? Who is in charge here?

Do I sound a little cranky about this? You bet I am. There are things that can harm our kids that we worry about but don't have a lot of control over. But when it comes to seat-belt use, we're in charge.

Make sure they buckle up. Every time. Catch your teen driving without a seat belt? Yank her driving privileges for a time and tell her why. Show her this post. Tell her you love her.

The girl who died Saturday night? Her family said she wanted to work for the FBI after college. She wanted to help people. Now she's gone. But maybe her story can help another teen. If it reminds him or her to buckle up.

Experts Say Cell Phones Distract Preteen Pedestrians (Well, Duh.)

Thank goodness they did this study in a simulated pedestrian environment...

A new study has examined how cell-phone use distracts preteens while crossing the street. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham worked with children ages 10 and 11. 

Distraction was created by cell-phone conversation with a research assistant. When distracted, the kids were less attentive to traffic, left less time between themselves and the next oncoming vehicle and were involved in more collisions and near misses.

While cell phones offer convenience and safety to families, the study authors stress that pedestrians — especially children, who are likely to be more distracted than adults — should limit cell-phone use while crossing the street.

Seems like it might be time for yet another reminder to our kids about pedestrian safety. (Just don't call them on their cell phones to remind them...)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Kids: Look Both Ways, Put Down the Phone? (abcnews.go.com)
• For preteens, cellphones and traffic don't mix: study (cbc.ca)
• Kids and cell phones: A crosswalk hazard? (msnbc.msn.com)
• When Talking on the Phone May Endanger a Child (nytimes.com)

Guest Post: Cover Up! The Kids are Watching!

Thanks to Lynn Armitage, who blogs over at A Mad Mom, for this guest post. Lynn doesn't pull any punches here! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this post, especially if you have a young daughter. Thanks, Lynn!

Yesterday, I went into a young girls' clothing store called "Justice" to return a sweater that I had bought my daughter for Christmas that she was too afraid to tell me she hated and would never wear. The tags were still on it! (What is it about mothers turning into fashion failures after they have kids?)

I walked up to the register and standing behind it with a pretty little smile on her face was a 20-something gal looking perky -- and quite seductive in a top cut so low, I could almost see her areolas. I looked around to make sure I hadn't accidentally walked in to a Frederick's of Hollywood, and for a split second thought I should check the sign outside the store to see if it said, "Girls! Girls! Girls!"

I was flabbergasted that a clerk working in a store that sold clothes for young girls between 5 and 12 years old would be dressed like a stripper. Had she no common sense? Doesn't she realize that our young daughters are watching, and learning, from her generation of young women? If they see all these gals walking around baring their breasts like it's a mandatory dress code for that age group, they will think it's OK to dress that way, too; that sexy and slutty are "in," and modesty is SO uncool.

What are these salesclerks thinking when they get dressed for work? Do they think some really cute guy is going to walk in to a store for little girls, for no apparent reason, see them up at the counter showing their nipples and think, "You are SO hot! I want to whisk you away from this miserable minimum-wage existence to birth my babies!" (Picture Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman.") These stores aren't bars or nightclubs -- they are WORK places!

So I did what any Mad Mom would do: I asked for the manager. I told her that I was a mother of a tween -- a very impressionable tween -- and that I didn't appreciate shopping in a store for young girls where the salesclerks are dressed like hookers. I suggested that she tell all the Justice employees to cover up -- or at least wear cammies over all that cleavage. I told her it is highly inappropriate to dress like that around our innocent young daughters and that they had an obligation, working in a store like this, to be role models for our children.

In other words, I suggested she mandate a new dress code for her employees of "Less cleavage, more class."

And I'd like to encourage every mother out there who has a young daughter to follow suit. If you walk into a store that sells products aimed at your child, and the salesclerks look like prostitutes, PLEASE go up to the manager and let her know that you're not going to be shopping there any longer if her employees continue to dress like that because it's sending the wrong message to our children, who are oversexualized enough as it is.

If each of us can do this one little thing, we may be able to help our daughters hang on to their innocence a little bit longer.

Better yet, send a complaint to their customer service department. Maybe if they get hit with enough Mad-Mom e-mails, they might reconsider their employee dress code. Here's the link. (and a BIG thank you to Joe at Hey Joe for suggesting that we approach them digitally!

Is Your Kid Giving Out Too Much Info On Facebook?

Today I saw something on Facebook that parents should know about.

Some middle-school kids, who may not necessarily list where they live on their profiles, are joining Facebook groups with names like "Run Day at ______ Middle School Sucks." Or "Swim P.E. at ______ Middle School Sucks."

Should 12- and 13-year-old kids be on Facebook in the first place? Probably only with their parents' knowledge and supervision. Why? Because they don't always think about the logical consequences of their actions. (How do I know? I have a 12 year old!)

No child should be this easily identified online, especially when it comes to where they live and what school they go to. I looked at the profiles of some of these kids (many of which were public and not protected; another issue for kids this age), and I was amazed at how much personal information they gave out, either in their profiles or through the groups they joined.

If your kid is on Plurk, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or some other social-networking site, make sure you check out her profile, posts, tweets, etc. regularly.

If your child posts videos on YouTube, make sure he doesn't identify where he lives, where he goes to school, etc.

Talk with your child about being safe on the Web, and about Internet predators. We all watch the news and we all hear about kids being contacted by people who should not be targeting kids.

If you wouldn't want your 13-year-old daughter telling a 40-year-old male stranger where she attends 7th grade, then you'll want to make sure she isn't doing exactly that — without intending to — online.