FeedWacky Wednesday: Being a Safety Nut: Germs, Germs, Germs and New Baby
June 23, 2010 in Books with Health Content, Elementary Educators, High School Teachers, Middle School Teachers, Personal Connections, Picture Book, Preschool to 1st grade teachers, Wacky Wednesday Tags: Child Safety, Evenflo, Germs, JuiceBox Jungle, Safety Nut, Washing hands
photo by aka Kath www.flickr.com
Before I get to the topic of today’s post, “Being a Safety Nut,” I wanted to announce the winner of Gogo’s Dream: Swaziland Discovered. And the winner is. . .LuAnn Morgan. Congratulations to LuAnn. Thank you to everyone who left a comment. You can still go to Monday’s or yesterday’s post and order a copy of the book. All profits go to help people in Swaziland, which is unfortunately number one in the world for people affected with HIV/AIDS, leaving thousands of orphans. I am deciding right now who on my Christmas list to give a copy of this beautiful book!
Now on to today’s post. . .:)
Evenflo has just released the Momentum 65 DLX Convertible Car Seat, with features that help make safety, installation and use as easy as possible for parents. Evenflo and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post, and talk about what child safety means to me and my family.
The great thing is I can talk about this from the perspective of having a 9-year-old stepson, and then from the perspective of getting ready to have a baby in December! First, my stepson–Logan. I think the thing I am the most “safety nuts” about is germs. Yes, I am constantly telling him to look both ways before he crosses in the parking lot of the mall or McDonald’s; yes, we still use a booster seat on long trips and don’t let him in the front seat–even though he is tall, tall, tall; and yes, I check on him at night to make sure the covers aren’t over his face–however, as kids get older, safety seems to be more in their control than ours except for germs. I’m not sure if it was because of the H1N1 scare this past year or just not wanting to be sick or what, but I’m now carrying hand sanitizer with me everywhere. I even embarrass my husband at church when after we pass the peace and shake hands, I get out my hand sanitizer (I try to do it sneakily) and squirt some into my hands and Logan’s. Any time Logan picks up something off the ground (which 9-year-old boys love to do)–I am telling him, “Go wash your hands.” Every time he comes out of the bathroom, “Did you wash your hands?” It’s to the point where he sometimes says to me: “I know, wash my hands.” I don’t want him to get sick. I want him to be safe and healthy and able to do the fun things we have planned. If that’s nutty, well, that’s me. 
Now with the baby: I can already tell that I’m going to be one of those parents that I used to secretly laugh at when I worked at a preschool. My baby is not using a blanket in his/her crib (we find out the sex in July)–she/he will use a sleep sack. My baby is going to use safe plastic or glass bottles. My baby will most likely eat organic baby food. Okay, and the list can go on and on. My husband says I shouldn’t read so much–ha–it puts all these ideas in my head. And my mom says, “Well, when you were a child, we didn’t even know about blah, blah, blah, and you turned out okay.” But now I know, and now I’m a “safety nut,” so. . .
How about you? Any safety stories or advice to share? (P.S. Here’s my favorite book for kids about germs–and how to get rid of them. It’s so cute–even the germs are adorable in it.)
June 23rd, 2010 at 9:19 am
Wow, I had no idea.
Mrs. Dill, what advice would you give to your readers about pets? I’ve heard a lot of “old wives” tales. Any of them true?
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:03 am
Hi Rick,
I guess you could say I am a safety nut when it comes to my pets, too. You know me so well. . .
Old wives tales are often true.
June 23rd, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Surprisingly, with twins, I was not a nut about germs. I’m still not. If you are at my house–don’t be surprised to hear someone shout “10 second rule!” (Which is basically the 5 second rule–that says if you grab it from the floor within 5 seconds it is still good–times 2 for twins) Now I do sweep and mop quite frequently as a result of their dependence on this rule!! Be very careful with the hand sanitizers–too much is NEVER a good thing whether it is antibacterial or the alcohol based ones. We generally only use that for instances where we’ve been at the park and it is time for a snack or at Disney…those handrails—now that is EWWWW!!! I can literally count on one hand how many times the kids have had the flu, colds, etc. and they are almost 10. Now safety is a totally separate issue. Jeff is still FAR worse than I am when it comes to safety. Although we did give up booster seats the day they came 8 and have never looked back…but both kids fit appropriately in our cars with the seatbelts. Good Luck with both of these–and I mean to Rick–not you Margo!!!
June 24th, 2010 at 8:34 am
I figure germs just help us become immune but we avoid flus and stomach bugs like.the.plague. I use hand sanitizer unshamedly and we don’t visit anyone unless they’re over the flu/dysentary for at least a week!
Safety is another issue altogether. My children know they should always be with us or an adult we approve of until age 18, preferably 21, unless they are babysitting and then we have other rules. And alone with a stranger, never. Physical safety is a huge issue these days. A woman asked my husband once to get something for her in a store while he was watching the baby for me. I had a bad feeling and abandoned my search for the perfect shower liner rushing back to the carriage to find him climbing up a shelf about 8 feet high. The woman booted when she saw me, who knows if she was a kidnapper? If so, the baby have been gone while hubby was trying to get down. They have clerks for that. It was a ruse of some kind.
Be paranoid, be very paranoid and after that, relax and enjoy your children!
June 29th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Janny and Karen, thanks for the tips and reminders. Janny–I was thinking the same thing at Disney or Six Flags or the Arch or any place like that!