Author Archives: Dy Larson

Germ Laundering

I was reading through a stack of old parenting magazines last week looking for anything I might want to clip and keep before recycling them and ran across an article that grossed me out. It was discussing a report on household germs and the places they show up where most people don’t think to look. Places like laundry. CLEAN laundry. Anyone else bothered by this? You think clean laundry would be, well, clean—apparently not. Some of the statistics were both depressing and disgusting; some items are COMING OUT of the wash with fecal matter, bacteria, and viruses on them. Yes, … Continue reading →

Goggle-Eyed Over Safety

Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you wear glasses? Not do you need corrective eye wear; specifically, do you wear glasses? Do you wear safety goggles when doing routine household maintenance jobs like using a screwdriver? Chances are if you said yes to the first question you did not say yes to the second. I recently heard a local DJ discussing this very issue. He was a lifelong glasses wearer who had recently had Lasik surgery. Not long after he was putting together something at home using an electric screwdriver and he over tightened a bit, causing … Continue reading →

Heads Up! – Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Musical Learning Chair Recall

This isn’t really a true, proper, full blog entry, I admit it; think of this as a little blog bulletin. I have two friends with children under 15 months old who both own these toys so I thought I should go ahead and pass the information on to families.com readers. The Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Musical Learning Chair has been recalled due to a potential strangulation issue. No children have died or been severely injured but there have been three reported incidents of children getting their heads caught between the seat and table attachment and one child developed a … Continue reading →

Home Invasion – Make Sure Your Door is Secure

I was unloading groceries yesterday when one of my neighbors, walking a pair of dogs, approached me. “Did you see the police cars yesterday?” “Police cars?” “Yea, here on our street.” “Noooo. What happened?” Two men in a hatchback vehicle backed into the driveway of a house on our street around midday. One approached the front door while the other man went around the side of the house and into the back yard. While the at-home mom who lives there was approaching the front door the man at the back of the house was attempting to open the back door. … Continue reading →

Do You Recall? What You Need to Know About Recalls

Product manufacturers issue product recalls all the time, usually for safety reasons but occasionally for defects as well. How do you know if you have a product that has been recalled? Here are a few simple steps you can take to help you ensure the products you and your family use are safe: 1. Register everything. Any product you buy that comes with a mail-in registration card should be registered. It takes maybe, oh, three minutes or so of your time, and many of them now include a check-box to opt out of the manufacturer’s mailing list—in case that’s what’s … Continue reading →

Digital Music – Safe and Legal

Your teenager has been bugging you for an iPod or MP3 player for what seems like forever and you’ve finally decided to give in. Now what? First thing is to choose between an iPod and any other type of digital music (MP3) player. This is ultimately a personal choice, so I’m just going to have my say and you can take it how you will. Go with the iPod or another Apple music player (Nano, Mini, etc.). The main reason I say this is, not surprisingly considering the topic of this blog, safety. Yes, safety. The main reason I’d recommend … Continue reading →

Amber Alert Basics

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On January 13, 1996 nine year old Amber Hagerman was abducted while riding her bicycle near her home in Arlington, Texas. Four days later her body was found in a ditch about four miles from where she was abducted. It was later revealed that a neighbor heard Amber scream and actually saw both the kidnapper and the abduction as the perpetrator grabbed her tossed her into his pickup truck. The neighbor called the police and provided a description of the attacker and the vehicle but at that time there was no system in place to distribute this kind of abduction … Continue reading →

Code Adam – What is it? How does it work?

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What is Code Adam? Code Adam is a strictly defined procedure for employees to follow when someone reports a lost or missing child. The program was originally created by Wal-Mart Stores in cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1994 and has since been implemented by many other stores and facilities throughout the United States. What happens when an employee reports a Code Adam? The specifics vary from store to store, but all Code Adam procedures include the following: 1. Employee will ask for a detailed description of the child, including name, age, gender, race, height, … Continue reading →

Why do I need to know about Code Adam?

I had never heard of Code Adam until the day last spring when I needed it. It was a rainy day and I took my 4-year old daughter (known as Girlchild) to the Toys R Us up the street to burn off a little excess energy in the two-story play area. She’s pretty good about not wandering off in a situation like this, so while she played I was talking to other moms and scanning a magazine I’d brought with me,periodically looking up to visually locate and check on her. Then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t see her. Here’s … Continue reading →

Are your holiday ornaments hooked on safety?

I have to tell you about my least favorite part of the December holiday season. It’s not the shopping, not all the cooking, it’s not even having to deep clean the house before the relatives show up; nope, it’s ornament hooks. Those little bits of metal are the bane of my holiday season. We have pets that think our holiday ornaments are toys. My favorite pair of shoes is, well, none. My daughter has a medical condition that leaves her extremely vulnerable to dangerous infections if she cuts, scratches, or punctures her feet. All of these things make traditional metal … Continue reading →