Tag Archives: safety

Lock Down Drills

The Shift

I never thought I would have to hear my 6-year-old tell me that

“today in school, they practiced lock down drills.”

My first reaction was a gasp, then an exhale. One deep breath later, I tried to relax. Yes, I thought, this is something the schools need to do.

I’m glad that my daughter’s school is practicing lock down drills. I am glad she understands that it is important to pay attention and follow certain rules. I am happy with how she described the teacher’s explanations about the drills and why they were doing them. I am NOT glad that we live in a world where innocent people have to worry about dangers like school shootings. I am not happy that my 5 and 6-year-old children need to learn how important it is to know what to do if they are ever (hopefully NEVER) in a situation where a lock down drill is no longer “just a drill”.

It’s been a few hours since she told me about the drills. While listening, I made every effort to look calm, but my stomach was twisting and turning. It killed me to stay positive during our conversation. As I listened to my little girl explaining the drills, all I could think of was her innocence. I am happy that she doesn’t understand the severity of what could occur, but at the same time, I want her to. I want her to have her eyes open to the dangers of this world. I want for her to know that if anything were to happen at her school, that she has to listen to her teachers, and do EXACTLY as they say. I want her to do everything she possibly can to stay out of harms way. There are so many things I wish she understood and at the same time, wish she never had to!

I do know that she is still too young to understand our world, the dangers in it, and why some people do the things they do. For now, I’m happy with the world her mind lives in. I just wish it was my world too.

Posted in Children, Education, Family, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting | Tagged lock down drills, safety, school | 4 Comments

Children And The Internet

Managing Your Child’s Online Reputation

Before allowing your child to use the Internet, it is important that you educate them about the potential dangers associated with using the Internet.
- Explain to them why they shouldn’t visit certain websites and how they can compromise your child’s safety.
  - Teach them about the dangers of chat rooms and social networking sites.
  - Tell them about online strangers and predators. Explain that they should not communicate with any strangers on-line just like they are not supposed to in the real world. Make your child aware that although an online profile might show that the person is the same age as your child, the person may be an adult posing as a child.
  - Explain the importance of keeping personal information private. Their profile should not show things like the school they go to, the town they live in, their email addresses and more.
  - Stress that your child should never post future plans or their whereabouts.
  - Your home computer should be in a room that is commonly used by your family.
Use parental controls available to you.
Familiarize yourself with checking the history of internet usage on your computer.
Communicate regularly about your child’s online usage.
Approve all websites before your children access them.
Be sure to check the content and make sure it is safe before letting your child create any profile on it.
Be aware of all websites your children access. If they are social networking sites, parents should have the passwords so they can watch their child’s usage.
Your computer should always have some sort of antivirus and Internet security software on it. Make sure it is always updated.
Check that all of your child’s social networking profiles are private.
Encourage your child to use your email address for their profile so you can monitor friend requests and messages.
Make sure you discuss friend requests with your child to make sure that strangers do not have access to your child’s profile information.
Remember, to protect your child online, parents must educate themselves about the risks associated with the Internet. If parents are not aware of the potential dangers, it will be harder to ensure your child’s safety.

Posted in Apps, Children, Education, Family, Kids, Media, Mom, Motherhood, Tech | Tagged cell, cellphone, cyberbully, cyberbullying, facebook, i-stuff, internet, iPad, iPhone, iPod, online, parents, predator, safety, school, sexting, social media, social networking, tech, twitter | Leave a comment

Technology, Baby And Fisher-Price

The Technology Savvy Baby And Fisher-Price…

Fisher-Price products have been a staple in my home since the birth of my children. Since 1930, Fisher-Price has been crafting products for young children that are not only safe and age appropriate, they help our children’s developing minds grow. Through the years, I have watched the impressive evolution of Fisher-Price toys and products. Recently, I was approached to do a review on a brand new product by Fisher Price.

Clearly, babies and toddlers are more tech savvy than ever before. Fisher-Price, well aware of what our little children are interested in, came up with every parent’s dream… a device to keep our tech savvy kids from ruining our favorite tech items… The Apptivity Product Line. Currently, the product line features 4 amazing tech accessories to keep your devices safe and secure.

The Laugh And Learn Apptivity Monkey - Compatible with the iPhone or iPod Touch. This monkey is not only cute and cuddly, it holds an iPhone or iPod and entertains baby at the same time.
The Laugh And Learn Apptivity Case For The iPad – Put your iPad in the case, drop it, hit it or drool all over it. Trust me, the iPad is safe.
The Kid-Tough Apptivity Case For The iPhone And iPod Touch – This is the case I received.
The Kid-Tough Apptivity Case For The Kindle-Fire.

When I received the Kid-Tough Apptivity case, I initially thought I’d use it with my iPhone. Moments after I took it out of its box, my daughter Julia decided to claim it for her own iPod touch. I agreed quickly since she is a bit of a mess maker and has a tendency to not only leave food stains on the screen, she also has trouble keeping it safe and out of harms (or should I say our bulldog’s) way. Since the Apptivity case met Julia’s iPod, all has been good. The case has kept her iPod safe. Even Cooper, our bulldog, has not been able to ruin it. What is most impressive is that Julia, my lovely daughter, did in fact drop it in a bowl filled with milk… Both the Apptivity Case and her iPod Touch survived.

Thank you Fisher-Price!

Posted in Children, Education, Family, Girls, Kids, Media, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting, Shopping, Tech | Tagged baby, Children, fisher price, Kids, safety, toys | Leave a comment

Wildlife In Suburbia And Some Strange People

A Quiet Life In Suburbia Turned Upside Down In Less Than 12 Hours…

It was dark… very, very dark… Danny and Cooper left for a walk… as they strolled down the driveway, they saw two spooky looking eyes staring at them. Within seconds, the eyes were overshadowed by the screaming they heard coming from the creature in front of them. Petrified, the two froze for a moment, then turned and sprinted back up the driveway. 6 legs, moving as fast as they could! My tough looking husband and really tough looking bulldog, finally made it into our home. Breathing heavily and emotionally scarred the two of them could barely use their vocal chords. I asked what was wrong. Danny replied, “A fox! You Didn’t Hear that???” “No,” I said. He continued to tell me how scary it was, and how it basically attacked them with the awful scream. I could tell he felt violated.

This morning… Danny had taken Talia to breakfast with dad morning at her school, leaving Julia and I home with the dogs. As I was getting ready for work, both dogs began barking in an aggressive manner. I looked out the window to see what all the fuss was about. There it was… right in front of me, showing no fear… a fox! It was staring right at me and not moving an inch. Our eyes locked, thus beginning the stare down. Thanks to the “Stare Master” My Little Pony episode I watched with the girls, Moments into the stare down, both dogs were still barking but running from the front window to the back door slider. The dogs were such a big distraction that I had no choice but to put up my white flag. The fox won this time… I turned to see what the dogs were barking at in our backyard and noticed yet another fox. My house was surrounded and I was being kept hostage. Fortunately, they dispersed soon after, Danny came home and I was able to leave for work. As I drove down my street, in front of my very own eyes was another fox! The fox was not only in the middle of the street, it was carrying an animal in its mouth. Disgusted, I quickly drove off. Thinking it was time to call our Animal Control officer regarding the “fox issue” we were having, I pulled up in front of our local library.

While at the stop sign in front of the library, a large sign caught my eye… The large black lettering was hard to ignore… JUNE 7^th, 7PM COYOTE AWARENESS MEETING AT THE LIBRARY! Great, never mind the fox, now I have to deal with Coyotes. Maybe they could have a FOX AWARENESS MEETING as well. Unfortunately, I saw the sign a bit too late as June 7^thhas passed. Driving along, I neared our towns Police Station and Dunkin Donuts. In front of the Dunkin Donuts (directly across from the Police Station and on a main road), I saw a large table and two men standing behind it. They were on the sidewalk and had signs and posters hanging from the table. Being a bit nosy, I slowed down… Yes, I was one of “those” people today. You know, the ones that slow down because they are nosy stopping traffic everywhere for no good reason. Anyhow, what I saw was overwhelming. The posters were of our very own President Obama. His face had been altered on them though. They had moustaches on them, similar to the German leader I don’t like mentioning the name of. The men were verbal about world peace and stopping the war… I have no more words.
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Posted in Children, Family, Funnies, Girls, Humanity, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting, Uncategorized, Women | Tagged activist, animals, blogging, Children, coyotes, dogs, fox, local, Mom, obama, Parenting, pets, president, safety, Suburbia, wildlife, write | Leave a comment

Facebook, Kids Under 13 And Parental Intelligence Software

I previously wrote in an article about Keeping your kids safe from cyber bullies and other problematic situations regarding social media and other new technology. Technology has changed the way our children socialize today. It is only logical to change the way we parent as well. Facebook’s latest idea, targeting children under the age of 13, is exactly why parents need to take matters into there own hands, and protect their children.

Uknowkids.com is helping parents do just that. The Uknowkids team developed the first parental intelligence software. The system allows parents to connect with their child’s digital world without being invasive. With cyberbullying being more prevalent than ever, and child predators using the internet while targeting children, this is a must have for all parents.

Fortunately, I have been able to connect with Uknowkids and see first hand what their software is capable of. Besides the software though, their website offers useful tools and information that are a “must see” for all parents. During recent visit to their website, I found a moving snippet I had to share with my readers. Here are some statistics regarding Facebook and the social sites newest potential venture