Saturday, May 16, 2009

"Just the two of us, we can make it if we try..."



Two days left until court!

Who sang the title song, for 5 points?

Yesterday I spent my morning in a "Safe Babies" class. We went over all kinds of ways your child can kill itself. Yikes. I'm much more aware of the millions of things that can go wrong now.

Of course we went over the things that everyone knows, like how babies like to lick outlets and stick hard round pellets as far up their noses as possible. We also went over some things I would not have thought of and I'm going to share some of those with you today.

* Bath time: Obviously don't leave your child alone, but here are 2 interesting safety items that were not obvious to me. One, turn the "cold" tap off last so the faucet is not hot. Two, when you are checking the water temperature, move your hand back and forth through the water to check for hot spots.

* 911: You can use a land line to call 911 even if you don't have a land line active. I only have a cell, as many of us nowadays. 911 doesn't get an automatic address with cell phones. But if you have an old phone, you can plug it in to the socket and call 911. It's also good for when you have a babysitter, to have that added line to 911 just in case. This is handy and I might bring out my old phone just for emergencies. Oh wait, I just free cycled 4 old phones. Oops.

* Make sure electrical cords are out of baby's reach. They make lousy chew toys.

* Cook on back burners (you know, the clean burners?) and if you have to cook on front burners, turn handles to the back. Get knob protectors for stove knobs. (I already had these because my dog Boo turned on the gas one day when she was checking out the items on the stove.)

* Make sure kitchen cords, like to the toaster and Mr. Coffee, are not within reach. Those loops hanging off the counters are tempting and could result in a clonk on the head or a severe burn.

* Windows: Screens are made to keep bugs out, not to keep babies in. Only open windows 4 inches unless you want baby falling or climbing out. Roll up blind cords and hang them on hooks up high.

* Toys: The "3 and under" restriction on toys is not because your child is not smart enough to play with that toy. It's because somewhere on that toy there is a part that might be a choking hazard.

* If it can fit through a toilet paper roll, it's too small to play with. Choking hazard.

* Latex balloons, even fully inflated, are a choking hazard. Who knew?

* Toy chests should not have lids that seal shut. Kids like to hide in there, or make their younger siblings hide in there and sit on the lid. If you have a toy chest with a lid that seals shut, drill holes in the sides so at least the kid can breathe while his brother is sitting on top of him. The instructor suggested the best toy chests are laundry baskets. Portable, light, and full of holes already.


* Garbage cans: Try to get one that is tall and difficult to open (I already have $120.00 space age contraption that is completely impenetrable, due to my dog, Boo, who can open almost anything that smells like rotten food.)


There's a veterinarian in town who does a "Dogs and Babies" class that I'm thinking about taking. I'll post tips from there too.

Ok, contest for today: (5 points) What is the number one killer of children age 0- 14 in the U.S.?

(5 points) Out of the following plants, which is poisonous for infants to ingest? Christmas Cactus, Geranium, Forsythia or Daffodil?


Answers and points distributed at 8 pm to give everyone a chance to answer. good luck! We are getting close and may have a winner by the end of the day!

11 comments:

J-momma said...

bill withers and will smith.

motor vehicle accidents.

daffodil.

Sarah said...

That class scared the bejeezes out of me, I remember walking out thinking, "its a good thing they included CPR in this class I'll need it every five minutes!"

sko3 said...

Okay, that class would make me hyperventilate! You're doing a great thing by taking it. And I'm doing a great thing by not adopting an infant---the kid would absorb all my safety anxieties!

Two more days!!!!

Single PAP said...

i need to take a class like that. who offered it? a hospital?

ok, on to the contest that i won't win (unless you put something with 50 points tomorrow--hint, hint)

ok..
who sang the song? will smith (maybe not the original one, but you didn't specify! :))

#1 killer? no idea...choking?

daffodil?

Sha Zam- said...

Big Willy Style & son.

Anonymous said...

Originally: Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers. More recently: Will Smith (hottAY).

Number One killer: I'm not going cheat (as I did for one above) and look it up. I'm going to guess: car accidents. With drowning a close second?

Poisonous plant? I know Pointsettia is, at least for animals, but I don't know if that's what you mean by Christmas cactus. I'm going to guess Geranium because I remember getting them for my mom for Mother's Day every year and hearing, maybe, ironically, that they're poisonous? But you didn't limit us.
So what the heck: they're all poisonous, I'll guess.

danicuz

Anonymous said...

Here's a question. If your date is the 20th, why is this day 2 in the countdown? danicuz

Michelle J said...

THis post actually gave me a fond memory. When Shane was small he would remind me to turn my pot/pan handles inward. So scute and sweet to have that little voice cautioning me to protect him. He didn't seem to realize that if he was old enough to tell me it was a hazard he was likely old enough to know better than to grab the handles. :-)
And according to my google...traffic accidents are the number one killer of kids.

Michelle J said...

PS
I love trutles and I love the photo, but it makes me wonder-- how do they ever get anywhere?!!?!

Adopting1Soon said...

Grover Washingon sang the version I was thinking of, but I gave points for other versions. (Shannon, "Big Willy Style & son" is the name of Will Smith's album that has the song on it, but the question was who sings the song, not what album is it on, sorry!)

Danicuz, about the counter. I KNOW!! What a pain!! But I only found out once I got to aut 10 days out... it doesn't count the court day as a day. So it's like theocutdown to the day before court. Ugh. But maybe someone will have won by then and I can use that extra day to post the winner and the prize.

Car accidents are the number 1 killer of children ages 0-14 according to the safe babies class.

Daffodils are poisonous, the other plants listed are not (again, according to the safe babies class)

J-momma said...

ugh! i'm so close! i need one more question (preferably one that i know the answer to). and i need danicuz to go on vacation or something. ha, ha. hey, don't you have two prizes anyway?