My guru rocks!!

Okay so most who know me know I am super out-spoken about children and protecting them. I am a firm believer that we as parents need to do everything we possibly can to support, love, and nurture our children. I think that when you can having a single income household so that a parent is with the children at all times is a huge benefit. I know that it is not always an option and am in no way coming down on the families where both adults need to work or the single parent. (Our Maggy is a working Mom and does an amazing job!) I think children benefit the most from being raised by their own parents. So today I was checking up on my favorite blogs and went to the guru! My guru is Dr. Laura. Honestly her book "The proper care and feeding of husbands" saved my marriage and I still apply the things I learned to my interactions with my husband. She is very no-nonsense and I love her. So when I saw this entry I wanted to stand up and cheer. For those who don't want to go look it is about an article that was passed to her about child deaths from being left in a car in the heat. She comments that the majority of these deaths are because a parent forgets to drop the child off at day care. I also loved the paragraph where she deals with the articles reasoning that the mother forgot her child and her response to those reasons.

Let’s look at her stressful month of September: business trips, day care, work, visits with relatives and anxiety. How many of those factors would have been eliminated if she was a stay-at-home mom? Answer: ALL OF THEM, and the child would likely be alive.

Sadly she is spot on. She then lists the suggestions made by the article on how to prevent this from happening and he comments on those are also very right.

The article ends up giving suggestions so you won’t forget your kid to die in your back seat while you are busy with what is more important.

1. Put something that really matters to you - like your cell phone - in the back seat with the child. Do you realize that means that your cell phone is more important than your child?

2. Keep a teddy bear in the baby car seat. When you put your kid in the seat, put the teddy in front, so you’ll see it and remember you have a child. After all, you’re a “busy employee.”

3. Ask your child’s child-care provider to call you on your cell phone if your kid doesn’t get there. Oh, so now the day care, minimum-wage worker is more responsible for your kid than you are?

4. Put visual cues in your office and home reminding you to check the car seat. Gee, I thought parental love and bonding did that. Guess not.

I agree with every single comment she made after these atrocious suggestions. Really? Step up and make parenting the priority. If it is you won't forget your kids in the car. I am sure many will find this insensitive and unfeeling and I am sorry you feel that way but when did children stop being a the focus and purpose of a parents life?

I can't even find Words.

This makes me sick.

Uh, seriously?

There was a huge traffic accident in the area Tuesday. Traffic was backed up 10+ miles for hours. A friend was trying to go to class by taking the main freeway, and it took him 4.5 hours to complete about a 20 mile loop (which only got him about 6 miles on the freeway, and 15 or so back on back roads). I initially heard "drunk driver hit a car carrying two pregnant women" and I was so angry. Turns out, the SUV (an Expedition) was actually carrying 9 people. 1 man, 2 pregnant women and a whole herd of kids. 2 of the kids and one of the women were ejected from the car, because none of them had on seatbelts or were in car seats.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How irresponsible can you be?! I can't imagine not having the Boy in a car seat, and especially NOT in a seatbelt at the least. If you don't have enough room, take two cars. I don't see how this is complicated. I feel terrible for those kids, but those parents should be ashamed of themselves. I hope to goodness Child Protective Services is all over this. Thank God that none of those children were killed.