I try to limit the amount of television my kids watch, although they do indeed watch some almost every day. In a perfect world we wouldn’t watch any television, but since my world is far from perfect there are times when the kids win in their quest to get the TV turned on.

Although my kids get to watch some commercial-free TV at home, I draw the line at getting a TV screen installed into the car. I see far too many families driving around our city with the kids glued to the TV that’s going on in the back of the minivan. The parent who is driving isn’t engaging the kids in talking, the kids aren’t glancing outside of the car or looking through books, and all in all I’m sure it’s a quiet ride…but a potentially mind-numbing one.

My kids were allowed to watch TV in the car for one trip, and that was an eight hour drive. They didn’t watch the TV for the entire time and I was actually pretty happy on the return trip when the portable DVD player stopped working and we were all forced to talk about the things we saw outside. I have nothing against watching movies on long rides, but really…do we need to turn the TV on for the ride home from the grocery store? How are parents finding out about their kids’ days if they flip on the TV the second they pick them up from school or daycare?

Don’t families talk in the car anymore?

I try to take advantage of somewhat long drives by playing different types of music and having the kids compare them. Even when my kids were very young babies I tried to talk to them about the things that were out the car window and enjoy music while in the car. I don’t want my kids plugged in all the time. I want them to be able to enjoy their surroundings and use their imaginations.

Every summer, temperatures reach scorching levels, climbing to triple digits in some states. Every year, officials warn parents against leaving their child in vehicles even for a moment. The sad thing is, it seems like every year, there are reports of babies being forgotten in the backseat of the family car. Sometimes it ends happily, with the child being discovered, unharmed. Unfortunately, there are still cases where the children are left in the oven-hot cars for hours, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and then found dead after. One child who is a victim of this is one child too many.

So parents, be mindful of your child in the backseat. Don’t let the running list of errands in your head distract you from your precious cargo. Never leave your child in a car unattended. It is not only dangerous but against the law in most cases. Even if you feel like you will only be gone for a few minutes and plan to crack the window wide open, you never know what might happen. A child’s system is so delicate, babies even more so, that they could suffer from heat stroke at the blink of an eye. Keep them safe and cool this summer, and don’t let them be another statistic.

If convicted, she might spend a year in jail. Her crime: endangering her own child. But does she really deserve it?
Treffly Coyne of Illinois is charged of child endangerment and obstruction of justice charges. She left her sleeping two-year old daughter in the car while she and her two older daughters dropped donations at the Salvation Army collection pot. The car was locked, with the alarm system on, and at 10 yards, always within her sight. Does that make her a negligent mother?

I am not familiar with the laws regarding child endangerment but oh, how I feel for her and her family. I can only think of how this incident is affecting her family and her kids.

? Her 2 older daughters had their mom being arrested and handcuffed right before their eyes. Did they understand what happened?
? Her sleeping 2-year old probably woke up in the car without her mom. Did somebody bother to explain to her what`s going on?
? If convicted, she might have to spend a year in jail. How do you explain this to her toddler? ?Mommy was put away because she didn`t want to wake you up??
? Will the kids grow up with a corrupted view of the justice system? Will they associate donating to the Salvation Army or any other charity organization with crime?

I am a mom, too, and my twin boys love to sleep in the car ? they still do. As babies and toddlers, I would sometimes briefly leave them in the car to drop off a letter in a letter box, open the garage or house door, ring a friend`s doorbell, etc. There would be times when I had to stop the car to get something out of the trunk ? diapers, a change of clothes, etc ? and during these moments, the kids were really out of my sight while I searched though the bags. Was I committing a crime when I did all these? Was I a negligent mom?

I do agree that we shouldn`t take risks when it comes to the safety of our kids. My family and I used to live in Germany and now in Switzerland, countries which have relatively lower crime rates compared to some other parts of the world. Still, crime against children does happen even here. It`s just the sad state of our society nowadays are forcing moms (and law enforcers) to paranoia when it comes to the well-being of our children. Will our children ever be safe again?

Source:

MSNBC, 12 March 2008
Update: The charges against Treffly Coyne were dropped on Thursday, 13 March 2008. After 97 days of ordeal, the family can now sigh in relief and carry on. I just hope we (parents and law enforcers alike) have all learned something from this incident.

It`s every pregnant woman`s nightmare ? delivery before getting to the hospital. It occurs more frequently than you think ? and not only in the movies.
Well, this woman had to go through it – twice ? thousands of miles away from Hollywood.

Jessica Linde-Escobar and her family live in Sweden. She had her first baby, a girl, at the hospital car park. Understandably, she didn`t want the same thing to happen last week when she felt the contractions coming while carrying her third child. She and her husband did make it to the hospital in time. But ? because of a computer glitch at the hospital, they had to drive back home for a medical document. Their third daughter did not even wait till the car park. Jessica`s husband had to drive on the shoulder of the highway just as the baby was born. Both mom and baby girl are doing fine.

Source:

World News Australia, 7 Feb 2008