Day: March 29, 2005

Kid Safety

By / March 29, 2005 / 3 Comments

Today I read this article: (http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?sid=158841&nid=5) It is an example of alarmist marketing.
“Statistics show that roughly 2,000 children are reported missing every day.” That is probably true, but they fail to mention that the vast majority of those “missing” children are at a friend’s house, with a friendly relative, asleep behind the couch, or have some other benign reason for not being where they were expected. Most of the kids who appear on those Missing Children mailers have been abducted by a parent in the course of a custody battle. This is heart rending for those involved, but does not reflect the risk to the average person’s child at all.

Next statement: “Police say the first three hours are the most critical after a child is taken.” This is a true statement. If a child is truly abducted by a “friend” or, much more rarely, a total stranger then the first hours are critical. Having your child’s picture and vital statistics ready to hand CAN be a big help the police greatly. So the idea of carrying the info with you is a worthwhile one whether you choose to keep a photo in your wallet or a USB stick on your keychain. Unfortunately most parents go through the effort once and then, feeling secure, fail to update the photo and info regularly.

What bothers me most about the article is the way that they imply that child abduction is an imminent threat to ALL children. This simply isn’t true. Child abduction with the intent to harm the child is rare. Parents do not need to live in daily nail-biting fear that someone will steal their child. What parents need to do is take proactive steps to minimize their risk. Identity kits are a good step. Teaching kids how to evaluated and talk to strangers is another. Evaluating all the adults whom you allow to have unsupervised access to your kids is yet another. Talking through with kids how to react to a threatening adult is a great idea. Reading Protecting The Gift by Gavin De Becker is a fantastic place to start. There are so many things that parents can be doing to make their children safe, but unfortunately many parents just wring their hands and sleep poorly at night instead.

Prescription shell game

By / March 29, 2005 / 4 Comments

Only days ago I was lamenting ear infections. I’m about to treble that lament. Kiki and Patches both have infected ears today. The good news is that I was able to get both of them diagnosed in one visit so I’ll only have one co-pay. The bad news is that when Link came down with his infection last Friday afternoon I had a choice of going to the emergency room (And paying grundles of money) or filling an antibiotic prescription in Kiki’s name and giving it to him. I chose to give him the prescription. Only now that Kiki needs antibiotics, the insurance company won’t pay for them because according to their records she’s already on antibiotics. The solution is simple I called the doctor’s office and requested that they reissue Kiki’s prescription in Link’s name. Whee.

Why do they put the toys and candy right next to the pharmacy? While I was trying to sort out prescription nonsense and waiting for the doctor to call the pharmacy and make things official, I had to field begging from Kiki and Gleek about shiny Polly Pockets and I had to stop Patches from filching candies from the bins. Finally I realized that I did NOT want to spend and indefinite length of time at the store waiting for the doctor to call. I carried screaming Gleek and protesting Patches away from all the shiny plastic packaged happiness they didn’t believe they could do without. Gleek tantrumed all the way home. I’m tired and grumpy and I STILL have to go pick up prescriptions. This is NOT how I wanted to spend my morning.