Child Safety

Lately I've been thinking about child safety and I've had the urge to somehow get involved in child safety advocacy.  I don't know that I have the time to fully commit to such an important cause.  I do try my best to follow safety procedures and be extra cautious for my children.  There are many times that I am concerned for other's children because of a safety issue.  I debate with myself whether I should say something to the parent and "cause a situation" or let them parent, but there are times I just can't look away.  The number of times I've seen very young children not in a car seat is alarming.  All it takes is one accident.  One that isn't even your fault.  It doesn't matter how safe you drive because you can't guarantee the driving abilities of every other driver.  Ask my husband.  He'll tell you about the day he was driving  carefully home with our newborn son from the hospital and we still got hit.  Thankfully, we were okay. 

My husband and I took the kids to our mall's little play area last weekend.  It's nothing fancy, but it's for kids 42in and under to play in.  The number of parents versus children just didn't add up.  We started matching children to parents sitting and watching and noticed several unattended children.  Sure enough after some time a parent that was no where in sight would show up and pick up a kid or two.  There were at least 3 - 4 adults that just showed up to pick up kids they had left and most were very young.  I don't get it.  I could never leave my child unattended at the mall.  I don't even like leaving them unattended in my own house! 

Is it just me?  Am I just one of those paranoid mothers that is always worried about what could possibly happen?  Are some parents just too relaxed?  Is it a little bit of both?

www.safekids.org has a lot of safety tips for parents, teachers, etc. 

I read through some of the safety laws for my State.  Some of them should be obvious, but I've seen many of the laws broken. 

Check out your safety laws for your State. http://www.safekids.org/in-your-area/safety-laws/

Growing Up...

My baby is growing up too fast.  Last week he figured out how to take the tray off of his high chair, so we moved him to the table with a booster seat.  My little stinker is great at figuring out how to open things!  Last summer we went to the beach and while trying to pack I noticed her grabbed a tube of sunscreen.  It was a small travel size tube that had a twist off top.  I let him play with it because he was happy and it gave me a minute to pack up a couple things plus he was in my sight with it.  The little stinker figured out how to open it and was able to squirt a little sunscreen on the floor before I could grab it. 

Well...last night my normally happy-to-sleep baby toddler decided he didn't want to sleep and threw a fit.  I decided to leave him in his crib for a minute or two before going back in and trying to get him to lay down.  I barely shut the door to his room and took two steps before heard the crash.  He climbed fell out of his crib.  Thankfully, he was okay.  He just had a little bump on his head.  He then got to stay up late while Daddy changed his bed over to a toddler bed.  Stinker.

My daughter didn't climb out of her bed until at least 2.5yrs old.  I knew that she was probably capable, but she never tried until she was big enough to safely climb out and come wake us up in our room.  I don't think she ever pulled the tray off the high chair.  We moved her just because she was getting older and we had already bought the booster seat to use for a vacation.
With him I need to worry more about him getting into things he shouldn't.  I'm really worried he's going to figure out how to open the kitchen cabinet that has our cleaning supplies in it.  I put a child safety latch on it and for now that's enough.  I won't even let him touch the door because I'm afraid my stinker will figure it out if he had a chance. 

Oh and he also figured out how to open doors even though he can barely reach the knob.

Do you have a stinker like I do?  When were your kid able to climb out of a crib?  Can your children open child safety locks?

Toes

My friend was finally able to take her beautiful baby home on Valentine's day after over 3 weeks in the NICU.  I was supposed to go over and take pictures this weekend, but my family got the stomach flu.  I handed off my camera to another good friend and she took them.  I'm editing.  I just had to post this.  I LOVE baby toes. :)

Earrings Winner announced!

Congratulations Rebelle D. you won a pair of earrings (or $5 off) from Marti's Jewelry Box!

If you didn't win, Marti has a great sale going on right now buy one get one 50% and always FREE shipping.  You really can't beat her prices especially with the free shipping.  It's the perfect time to buy and the sale is for a limited time.

Marti's Jewelry Box

Don't be afraid to ask about custom jewelry.  She's really great about coming up with a great piece from your idea.

An Alphabet Trip to the Limerick Zoo Ebook Review

We received An Alphabet Trip to the Limerick Zoo ebook to review.  I can see SO many ways to use this book in the classroom or at home.  It's in PDF form, so it can be used on any e-reader (Nook, Kindle), tablet (Ipad, Android), smart phone, computer, laptop, etc.  Many of the teachers at my school have projectors or at least access to check one out.  I plan on using this book on a projector for my students.  Having the book in pdf form saves us from needing a document camera.  

The book has different animal for each letter of the alphabet and a limerick poem for each animal.  Obviously this book is great for teaching students about limerick poems, various animals, and the alphabet, but I already have several other ideas too.  I teach music and we are working on musical form (AB, ABA, ABACA, etc).  I'm planning on using the limerick poems as another example of form (AABBA) and to show the connection to poetry.  For my younger students, I plan on having students play a rhythm instrument on the rhyming words (ie Drums play when they hear the word that rhymes from the A parts and wood blocks play on the B rhymes).   I could see this book being in introduction to studying the different animals in the book for Science.  With 26 different animals each child in the  class could pick one and do a research project.

You also get a free coloring book with the book purchase.  The coloring book is the illustrations from the book that can be colored in.  Each student could be given a coloring page for an animal in the book.  They could then ask the students color their own page and create their own limerick poem to match their animal/picture.  This would be great to create a class book of Limerick poems or to display for parents or administration to see.

I read An Alphabet Trip to the Limerick Zoo to my daughter on my husband's Nook.  She loved looking at the pictures.  I love that the illustrations are created by students.  I'd like to know more about the children that created them especially their age.  My students LOVE seeing accomplishments by kids their own age. My daughter enjoyed the book.

My son joined in on the fun too!

If you are interested in purchasing An Alphabet Trip to the Limerick Zoo it is only $9.99 and comes with copyrights to print up to 6 copies. That's less than $2 a book if you have a little ink to spare.  You also get the coloring book for FREE ($4.99 value).  This book is perfect for teachers, homeschooling, or just home reading.


Click here to view more details
 
Click here to see a preview on Youtube. :)

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Rough week...

Wow...It's been a crazy week.  I had some great classes, but there were some challenging times too.  That's normal though for every teacher especially in a low economic school.  It's so hard to not let it get to you especially when it seems crazy behavior is in the air all day (full moon??).  The only way I got through the day was by constantly saying "today is Friday, today is Friday. We have four weeks to Spring break...I can do this."

The week started out on a bad note when I found out an old classmate lost her 2nd child only 8 mos old.  2 of her 3 children were born with a genetic disorder and had to have bone marrow transplants.  The oldest, a boy, would have been 4 (my daughter's age), but passed away when he was 1.  I'd been following her little girl's progress and her passing was unexpected.  She had been doing so well after her transplant and all her stats had been improving.  It's just so difficult when everyone thought she was doing so well...even Doctors.  I don't even know how someone could live through that experience once let alone twice.  My Dad and Step-Mom lost my little sister just before she turned 3 and as hard was it is to lose a sibling, I just never contemplated the magnitude of losing a child until I had my own children. 

I also have a friend that had a baby 3 weeks ago and she's been in the NICU since her birth.  There were breathing treatments, feeding tube, IV, talk of possible surgery, and finally a possibility of her getting to go home tomorrow.   I know they just want to go home!  If she does get to go home, I'll be taking pictures of her this weekend.  I'm excited to see her beautiful girl again and without all her "gear."

I am so grateful for my family and our health.  I know that I take it for granted a lot.  Bubby hasn't been feeling well the last two days, but it's only been a low grade fever and besides being grumpy, he's okay.  No matter how bad my day is...I know I have it pretty good and I'm thankful.   

Handmade Earrings Giveaway!

 Marti's Jewelry Box has moved to ecrater and she is offering a free pair of earrings to one of my readers.  

Marti has been making and selling handmade jewelry for awhile now and she just recently opened a new store on ecrater. She has some really cute designs for a great price.  She also does custom orders, so if you see a specific design, but would like to change the colors check with her and she may be able to make you what you'd like.  Also, if you have a design in mind contact her to have her create your design.  You can request the type of clasp you prefer and more!  I had some custom bracelets made with a specific theme for a couple girls I teach at church and they turned out great.  I can't wait to give it to them for Valentine's Day.  Her turn around on custom orders is very fast!

 

  The metal on the jewelry is made out of silver or is gold plated and the beads are crystal or glass not plastic.  All shipping to US (Mainland) is FREE! 

I've seen similar earrings on other sites that cost much more.  Actually, Etsy told her she was pricing them too low.  This is one of the reasons she moved to ecrater.  She wants to keep the prices low and affordable, but with the same quality. 

One lucky reader will win a pair of handmade earrings of your choice (Value up to $8.50) from Marti's Jewelry Box.  If you win and decide you'd rather have something besides earrings, you can trade your free earrings for $5 off any piece of jewelry. Check out her other designs.  She has a lot of jewelry available (ie matching bracelets, necklaces, pendants etc).  If you see something in the picture above that you like that is not listed in her Ecrater store right now, contact her and see if it is still available. 

Kids Tooth Brushing Chart for Students - Classroom Resources for Teachers

If you are teaching students about dental hygiene check out this site for free charts to remind kids to brush their teeth morning and night. It looks like it will be very easy to print a personalized chart for each student.  I don't know about you, but I love charts.  It must be a teacher thing or just a parent thing.  We used charts for potty training, for behavior, etc with my daughter.  If I had only one class instead of 29, I'd use charts even more in my classroom too.

Check the tabs on the bottom for children, parents, or teachers. 

A Public Service by Dentist Advisor

Photos

I realize I haven't been putting up my photos lately (or much at all).  These were taken in September/October.  I was mostly trying to get pictures of my daughter for her 4th Birthday.  She LOVED that I braided her hair.  She kept saying they were tangled.  It took me a little while to realize that she was saying they were like Rapunzel's in Tangled.

My kids just keep growing SO fast.  I take lots of pictures, but then feel like I should take more!