Kids on a Bungee Cord

A nearby mall has this fun activity for kids to do. They strap the kids into a safety harness. The safety harness is attached on each side to long bungee-like cords which are attached up high over a trampoline. The kids can jump on the trampoline and these bungee cords lift them up high. Even my four-year-old did it and she had a blast. I thought for sure she'd be scared but no her.

I won't have a trampoline because of all the injuries caused by them but this was a fun way for them to use a trampoline and go MUCH higher than the backyard trampoline. There was one girl jumping really high and then doing flips in the air on it!

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Smoke/Fire Alarm Safety Tips

A big worry of mine is a fire occurring in our home while we slept. With bedrooms on two levels, I worry that we couldn't get to all of the kids in time. With the electrical problems we had this past year, almost causing a fire, I am more neurotic about it than ever. I worry about how many smoke alarms is enough and where to place them. So I am looking over smoke alarm tips and thought I'd post a couple here.

• Smoke alarms should be on every level of your home, including the basement. (We've done this.)
• Smoke alarms should be placed outside of every separate sleeping area. (We have one in each bedroom plus one in the hall downstairs; one in each bedroom upstairs and one near the hall as well.)
• Don't install smoke alarms near windows, doors or ducts where a draft can interfere.
• Don't paint them (it can interfere with operation). If they don't match your decor, well, live with it.
• Smoke alarms can be interconnected on the house's electrical current so when one goes off in one part of the house, they all go off. What a great idea!!! If anybody in your house sleeps with their bedroom door closed, this is a must. I really like this idea. I wonder how much it costs to have an electrician do this.

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Things You Should Think About in January

It's January. That means it's time to renew the dog licenses before the end of the month for us. Don't forget to do it for your dogs too. I missed the deadline date last year and ended up paying $72 instead of $36 for them. That was just stupid of me.

What else should you do this month to get the New Year off to a safe and healthy start?

• Check your smoke detector batteries; change them if it's been awhile.
• Check your carbon monoxide detector batteries; change them if needed.
• Do you have everything organized that you are going to need for your taxes?
• Any birthdays this month you should remember? Get cards for them now, sign them and get the envelopes addressed and stamped so all you have to do is remember to mail them in time!
• Take inventory of your family's health. Have your kids had their well-checks within the past year or do they need to be scheduled? What about you? I'm sure there are appointments you've been putting off for yourself (I know I'm guilty of this too). There are probably appointments your spouse has been putting off too, especially if your spouse is like my husband and putting off some of the more "embarrassing" first-time appointments he should be taking care of after 40. Schedule those dental and eye appointments while you're thinking about it.
• Clean out your medicine cabinet. Throw out anything that has expired and replace things that are low or out (band-aids, fever medicine, cold medicine, etc.). How are your prescription meds? Take care of refills or ask your doctor for a new prescription if you need them.
• How are your kids doing in school mid-way through the year? If they need extra homework help, look into the school's tutoring program. Parent-teacher conferences should be within a month. If your child is having problems in school, start thinking about questions and resolutions to helping your child when you talk to the teacher(s) at conferences. If they are having severe problems, don't wait a month to talk to them. Talk to them now!

That's about all I can think of at the moment.

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Sexting - The New Danger for Kids

Is this the new "thing" with teens and texting? I've not heard of it before but as a parent of a pre-teen with a cell phone, this is something I am definitely interested in learning more about for prevention.

"Sexting" is more than just a flirty message sent via text/cell phone. Teens are sending erotic messages and pictures via texting. It is more private than talking on the phone and can be hidden from parents easier.

My pre-teen has a cell phone with texting capabilities but I monitor her useage. She has rules she must follow and I DO check her texts and call history regularly. I also check her contact list as she is only allowed to phone/text certain people (family and a few select friends). It's worked out well so far. We'll see what we get into as she becomes a teenager and starts whining about her privacy (that will be when I take away the phone we have given her the privilege of using:) The cell phone is not "hers" - it is a privilege given to her by us with the understanding that it can be taken away at any time.

For information on how to keep your children safe on this subject and others, check out Netsmartz.

This is not a sponsored post.

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Take 25 - Your Children's Safety

I was coming home from grocery shopping when a commercial came on the radio about the "Take 25" campaign. It was a reminder to take 25 minutes to talk to your kids about safety as summer approaches and kids will be out and about more. So take the time to talk to your kids about strangers, Internet safety, abduction, sexual exploitation and anything else you deem important to your child's safety.

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JCPenney Winnie the Pooh Deluxe Playset Recall

I just returned from a trip to JCPenney to return my six-year-old daughter's Winnie the Pooh Playset she received from us for her birthday. It was recalled due to a violation of the lead paint standard. It was manufactured in China.



Just take it back, hand them two garbage bags full of Winnie the Pooh "stuff" (we didn't have the box anymore) and they refund all my money. Easy right? She'd played with it quite a bit, along with our other kids, but had basically moved onto other toys by the time the recall notice was sent so it didn't break her heart to lose it. It was more irritating to me - wondering about the lead exposure to the children. Wondering why all of these recalls of children's toys because of violations in China. Wondering if lead was always there before but never noticed or considered a huge hazard (or just ignored) or wondering if China is messing with the U.S.

Here are two websites to check for recalls of many different products, not just toys:

Recall.gov
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

If you have one of these Winnie the Pooh Deluxe Playsets, click here for more information.

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Check Your Smoke Detectors...We had a scare yesterday!

This is a reminder to check your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors TODAY. Change the batteries. We have both on both levels with batteries but after the scare we had a little while ago, I thought I'd better send a reminder out to our friends and family. I think I am going to pick up a few more too to be extra safe.

We were gone yesterday afternoon for one of our daughter's basketball games. When we came home, my daughter tried to turn her cable box on to watch tv and it wouldn't turn on. I told her to unplug it, wait a minute, and plug it back in to reset it. She's back within 20 seconds, telling me there is something wet and black on her plug. I go look - the plate was black where it had been plugged in and the plug itself is very hot. I put my hand in front of the plate and feel heat radiating off of it like a heater. I feel the wall around it and it is HOT from the electrical outlet to about 6-8 inches of wall above it. Damn! I call our local fire department and explain what I see and feel. He says he is right down the road and will come take a look. I'm scared but trying not to show it with the kids because they're all worried, especially my oldest who gets anxiety ridden over everything.

He arrives within two minutes and sees/feels the same thing I did so he unscrews the plate and sees black wires, burn marks, and says it is still arcing!! It shouldn't have been doing that - the circuit should have flipped before it got that bad. It didn't. Damn again! He puts his tester on it and we start flicking off circuits to find the right one. We find it and get it turned off so it doesn't start a fire in our wall. It shuts off the wall into the bedroom next door - my son's one big fish is going to freeze. I hope the pet store is open tomorrow because I am going to see if they'll take him for us before he dies. I'll dump some warm water in there periodically and keep the door shut to keep the room warm until then. We'll see. He is a butt ugly fish but I still don't want him to die.

My stomach is still in knots, thinking about the fire that could have started in my daughter's bedroom wall. We are going to have to call an electrician out here to replace the box in there, but I'm wondering if I should have all the electrical in the house checked and maybe updated. I'll be worried everytime I go to bed at night if I don't. Worried about my kids. I am also getting rid of the electrical baseboard heating in the bedrooms. Scares me too much.

So, if you haven't done it in a few months, check all your detector batteries. Make sure they all work. Replace old detectors. New ones aren't that expensive. Add more where you need them. I definitely am going to add a couple more. It may be overkill on the detectors but I don't care. Better safe than sorry.

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