by Heather I am extremely fair-skinned. You might call me pale and if we were both 12 years old, you probably would call me Casper (as in the Friendly Ghost) and scare me away from wearing shorts for 10 years...
by Whitney I don’t want to shock anyone (pun intended), but I just learned that 19 people have died from lightning related accidents this year. Last week was National Lightning Safety Awareness Week in the United States, and I’m about to jump on a plane to New York where it will be raining...
by Heather In the past week, I think the after-hours urgent care clinics of the world have been filled with the calls and visits of my friends. In a single night, Whitney took Julian to get his first stitches and my son woke himself up by vomiting...
Heather Gibbs Flett Is Father's Day contest still active? Can I use email to send a pictures? That will make it easier for me.
by Heather Yesterday, I did my first triathlon in five years. I was busy swimming, biking and running while my husband, Rookie Dad Alec, handled the duties at home...
by Whitney The title of this post might bring a smile to some readers’ faces, but the topic is quite a serious one in my family right now. We just said goodbye to my stepfather’s 86-year-old mother...
by Whitney Are you about to pull the trigger on a big Father’s Day purchase like an HDTV, high-end power tool kit or GPS device for Dad’s car? Or, maybe you want to treat him right with an electronic back massager, video game console or professional-grade food processor...
by Heather To prevent dog bites, you can prepare the dog and you can prepare the child. When Holden was bitten by his grandparents’ dog, we had done neither. The dog, Luke, was a nice-enough dog with very little exposure to children...
by Heather When I was a teenager, my family went to upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains for occasional long weekends and school breaks...
by Heather You already know to keep kids and pets away from the hot grill, right? And not to wear flowing sleeves that can catch fire? Well, how boned-up are you on barbecue food safety...
by Whitney I am coming up on the first anniversary of moving back into my house after a significant remodel. Not a day goes by that I am not thrilled by my spacious new bedroom. Each morning, I am relieved by the fact a child who has awoken before 6 a.m...
by Whitney On a recent trip to San Diego with my in-laws, my family learned some valuable lessons in water safety. First, in the swimming pool, we learned that my toddler has absolutely no fear of water and doesn’t see any reason to refrain from running straight into the pool and jumping in...
by Heather A few months ago, I heard a great story on National Public Radio’s This American Life about an old timey home and its supposed haunting...
by Heather I always appreciate gifts from friends and family, but I have to be a gatekeeper to make sure we only keep safe toys. For example, Uncle Phil probably enjoyed giving Holden the remote control forklift a few years ago, and I know Holden liked receiving it...
by Whitney It was at Thanksgiving last year when I realized that folks without kids have no idea what sort of hazardous behavior we are dealing with. Might my child remove a metal barrette from her hair and stick it in the electrical outlet? Yes, she might...
by Heather About a year ago, my 3-year old nearly drowned. He fell into a swimming pool and was fully submerged before my supermom instincts kicked in and I pulled him out by his hand. It was terrifying but also illuminating...
by Whitney We all remember safety drills from elementary school, right? There were ones in which you had to evacuate, hide under the desk, stop, drop and roll, or practice your knowledge of some other emergency response technique...
by Heather A long time ago (2002, but pre-kids so it totally feels like a lifetime ago!) in a land not too far away, I used to be an athlete. One sunny Sunday afternoon, I went mountain biking with my good friend Olivia and my new boyfriend (and eventual husband), Alec...
by Whitney Summer reached our neighborhood this weekend, although it is only April...
by Heather While our reservoirs dip to dangerously low levels out in California (short showers, no water at restaurants, etc.), the rest of the country has had very high levels of precipitation this winter and spring and that means … FLOODING...
by Whitney What steps would you take if you were suddenly given 10 minutes to get out of your house? Over at RookieMoms.com, Heather posed this question, challenging me to think about how organized I am (not)...
by Heather Do you know where to go if your house burns down? Do you know where to meet up with your family if a bad storm keeps you from getting home? If you’re at work and the kids are at school, do you have a Plan B to get in touch if the phone lines are out? Scary stuff, I know...
by Whitney Frankly, I expected to be bored to tears when Heather asked me to come to her house for a “disaster preparedness party.” No offense to the other guests, Wendy and Victoria, who I was looking forward to seeing in person, but I figured we’d be listening to some speakers drone on...
by Heather As a mom of two little guys, I try to plan ahead. And while it helps to think ahead on the little things like bunny crackers and keeping enough diapers in the car, it can be all too easy to lose sight of the BIG PICTURE of disaster preparedness in our homes...
by Whitney What great fortune it is to be raising our children in a time during which the exchange of ideas has become so easy. There are more sites on the Internet than can be catalogued. There are even more parenting sites than can be read by the most enthusiastic of blog-reading parents...
by Whitney We’ve been through more than a few digital cameras since we started using them. Oh, and there’s the film-based camera that’s still sitting around in a drawer somewhere, never to be used again. And some old cell phones. And some electronic learning toys that my kids have outgrown...
by Whitney My husband just found these in our garage. The previous owner had written a date with pencil on one of the packages. That date is 9/20/68. I didn’t even know they had pencils back then. I was very excited to see the huge UL Mark on the packaging...
Safety at Home