It is amazing that we are given this little gift of life without a handbook.  We try our best to keep them safe. However, there are some things as parents we should know.  I was lucky enough to be invited onto a phone call with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children and learned a lot of information about keeping my kids safe.  My goal is let you know what I have learned, so your children don’t become a statistic.

Did you know that most abduction attempts occur after school?  It is usually between the hours of 2 pm – 7 pm.  Almost half of nonfamily abduction attempts happen when a child is walking to or from school (or some related school activity).

Did you know that the majority of children affected by abduction attempts are girls between 10 – 14?

Did you know that only 58% of parents have talked to their children about this?

This is scary information.  I remember when I was a kid, and I could go play outside myself.  Now, I would never let my kids outside by themselves!  I am so glad to see that Duracell and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have teamed together to give us parents a handbook to start a conversation with our children.  Best of all, this is free of charge!  The Child Safety Handbook can be downloaded right from the linked site.

Now, we were able to ask questions and mine revolved around what to tell my 4 year old daughter.  I don’t want to scare her, but I also don’t want to not have this conversation with her.  The advice I was given for her age is that we really need to get away from “stranger danger”.  The problem with stranger danger is that it portrays strangers as these scary bad people, and that is not what strangers look like.  We need to talk about the situations that have been tried and are effective — like the puppy trick.  We need to teach our children that it is okay to say no to stranger and that if an adult needs help, they will ask another adult, not a child.  Our response cannot be fear based, and we must also reassure our children.

I highly recommend downloading that handbook.  You will find a ton of helpful information no matter how old your child is. The Power of Parents Child Safety Handbook provides safety tips from the experts at NCMEC for four age groups: infant to toddler, ages 4-6, ages 7-11, and ages 12-17. The handbook outlines age-appropriate tips and scenarios that parents need to be aware of, as well as some outside influences that may be impacting their child’s actions. If reading this handbook could potentially save your child, it is well worth taking the time to download and read it.

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Yes, we have already started celebrating Halloween.  That happens when you have a little one in preschool.  Since I have to dress Madison up anyway, I threw Will’s costume on too.

This would win any 2 and under cutest costume contest, right? I love this costume. It does come with a cute little hat. However, no matter how hard I try, he won’t keep it on. Madison came home already with an entire bag of candy from preschool. She’s already figured out how to sneak some of it already too! They trick or treated in her preschool building. Plus, all of us parent brought candy too! I do feel the need to smack the parents that brought pure sugar candy. Trust me, Madison does not need sugar to bounce off walls. You can only imagine how she is with sugar.

Madison would win for cutest costume 3 and up, don’t you think?  I love this costume.  It sucks that I caught the window glare in her glasses, but she looks super cute in her Cinderella costume.  It is suppose to be in the high sixties tomorrow, so we shouldn’t have to wear our coats out trick or treating.  We then are meeting at my sister-in-laws and going trick or treating by her house.  We also have a Halloween party on Saturday.  We have quite a busy couple of days just to celebrate Halloween!

Though I’d have to say that the best photo I took so far, I took at her preschool today:

She looks so excited and happy!  What are you doing for Halloween?

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If you have children in your house, you have dealt with diaper rash one time or another. I have never met a mom who hasn’t dealt with this issue before. Most diaper rash issues can be dealt with over the counter products like Desitin. However,no matter how much you change your child, they can still get diaper rash and get it bad.

My son is literally a pooping machine. Normally, this is not an issue. We is changed (almost constantly) and this isn’t an issue. However, when he is teething, we have a completely different story. His butt gets so red. I feel so bad for the little man. It has gotten to the point that he has gotten sores on his little behind due to the diaper rash (even though I am doing everything I should). We have had prescriptions written out for this very problem.

I just recently found out that there is a new product on the market called Vusion. It is for diaper rash that is caused by a yeast infection (not too sure how you tell that but that’s the doctor’s job. That’s what we pay them for. However, I do know that yeast is part of Will’s severe diaper rash.). It can be used on babies as little as 4 weeks and is only available by prescription. It is only to be used for 7 days and not for preventative care. I know this is something that I will bring up to my son’s doctor the next time he gets severe diaper rash to see if this will work for him. Check it out if you have a little one with diaper rash, so you can discuss it with your doctor.

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