Safety in America Today

by Grant

    Have you noticed how safe everything has to be? I was watching a Magnum PI and some guy got in the Ferrari (a government official no less) and he <gasp> didn't put a seat belt on! The horror! The government must protect us from everything including ourselves. When I grew up one of my favorite things was to ride in the back of a pick-up. Even though I see kids still doing that around here, my paranoia of the cops would make it hard to allow my kids to do that. So, not only do your kids have to wear a seat-belt, but it has to conform to certain requirements or you could be fined. Obviously, you must wear a seat-belt as well (pre-magnum PI). Obviously, many safety things such as seat-belts are worth the inconvenience. Sometimes I wonder with child seats though. Evil and awkward contraptions at best. But I propose that no government or parent should try to protect people from everything. With my children, I make a judgment when my kids are engaging in semi-perilous activities. "Will this result in fatality or maiming for him or anyone around him?" If no, then I ask  "Will he damage any property in the process?" If no (or very unlikely), then I generally let them have some slack. Please notice that I didn't ask myself if they might get hurt. The reason is, at least for boys, getting hurt physically is a part of life and they need to learn to deal with it. I think that learning to make decisions that affect the safety of yourself and others is important. I have noticed too many people that rely on the government to keep them from harm (people in New Orleans) and parents that think that they are failing somehow if their child gets hurt. The fourth of July festivities at a friend's house is a very good example. We had 14 children (including the girls) at a friends house. My friend lights copious amounts of fireworks (all legal) and the kids get to participate actively in some of it. Well, I figured Titus and possibly Forrest would burn their hands or fingers a little but I'd keep an eye on them. Titus surprised me by picking up a sparkler ember with his mouth. Obviously, the term "dropped it like a hot potato" is very apropos here. But he won't do that again. Hannah (my friend's 11 year old daughter) got a smoke bomb between her "flip-flop" and her foot. It burned her badly, but ice and vitamin-e did wonders. Guess what lesson she learned? Yeah, and before you castigate the father, he had told the kids to put on shoes. Attention world, "flip flops" are not shoes and should not be worn when shoes are required. The father was told by his wife before the festivities that someone might get hurt. He conceded that this was likely but it was still worth the risk. I tend to agree. Pain is a valuable teacher at times and we would do well to learn from its lessons.


Baby/Life update:
The girls are doing very well. They are a lot of fun to interact with. Rebekah lays them on the floor and I'll lay down by them and talk to them. They will even talk to each other which is incredible to watch. The boys are having fun with them as well, but not being careful enough at times. Rebekah has started to wean them to Kirkland/Costco formula, which if successful would cut our formula bill down by $100 a month. In the meantime, if you run across some Enfamil coupons and want to mail them to us, it would be appreciated. My hands still hurt and I'll probably have to have surgery which may or may not help. And no, we don't have any puppies, I was just trying to show how "ogre-ish" I am at times. Hey, you get what you pay for when you read the blog.