A Young Widower's Tale
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Aidan's first tiger game and "child saftey experts" Aidan was exposed to his first Tiger game yesterday. Of course, he had the attention span of a three-week old and was more content to sleep and eat instead of watch the game. Still, once he woke up about the seventh inning the Tigers went on a four run tear which ended up being enough to top the Braves 7-4. *** Even though I have a three week old baby, I still roll my eyes each time those “child safety” experts come on the news and try to scare the hell out of parents. You know the ones that make it sound like your lucky your children aren’t dead right now because, of course, your house/car/garage/backyard is teeming with danger. And as a parent, you’re an irresponsible oaf for not protecting your kids since you don’t put them in a big plastic bubble. Like the other night as a teaser for the 10 p.m. news the newscaster with a serious look on her face breathlessly announced “What’s in you’re home that could be deadly to your children. Details tonight.” What could I possibly have in my home that could be deadly to kids? Cleaning supplies? Nothing the people at poison control can’t help me with if Aidan decides to drink a gallon of Clorox. Well come to find out that it was off-the-shelf medicine. Yep. Everyday medicine such as pain relief, cough medicine, and cold relief. See those sneaky pharmaceutical companies often package medicine in such a way that it could be mistaken for candy by young children. Those evil pharmaceutical companies are always looking for ways to kill kids. The world would be a better place if they made all medicine look and taste like spinach. That way no one would ever want to take it – especially kids. The child safety expert’s advice? Keep all medicine out of the reach of children and, if possible, keep all medications under lock and key. Why didn’t anyone tell me becoming a parent involved this kind of decision making? It’s much more convenient for me to leave Tylenol just lying on a table or counter. When those headaches strike, I don’t want to want to take the time to go to the medicine cabinet and open the bottle. I want relief now! This really should have been the lead story on the news. There’s probably thousands of homes where the parents are casually leaving all sorts of candy-looking medicine lying around for their kids to find it. The morgues must be teeming with the bodies to toddlers who mistook Nyquil for Kool-Aid or Aspirin for Smarties. Thankfully there’s a whole bunch of “child safety experts” out there who’s business it is to make ensure Aidan survives to adulthood because his parents are too stupid to realize that off-the-shelf-medicine can be deadly. Have a great weekend everyone. Thankfully we have people running around who’s job it is to make sure you’re being a responsible parent all the time. Because of their You Can Now Purchase Room for Two - 2007-08-31 |
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