It takes a village to raise a child..but are we?

Today..a rant! This is just an opinion and I will probably receive a lot of flack about it but I feel it is necessary to voice. Somewhere down the line, things have gotten horribly out of whack. I am not sure just when it started but it seems that our ability to raise kids has gone terribly askew. We are not raising the rough and tumble sort of young'uns that will be able to survive any sort of major incident. Those days are past. We coddle our young too much. I am not referring to infants and toddlers..they should be fully protected from any harm whatsoever. I am referring to older kids that should, with guidance, be able to use a bit of commonsense when the need arises.

I was reading the news when I came across an article about recalled toys. This is not surprising in itself since almost daily some product or another is being recalled. Call it pathetic ability in the workplace.. cheap materials.. no pride.. whatever.. I don't care. What I do care about is that most of these toys are not problematic. It is not the product that is defective in most of these cases..it is how we are coddling children. It seems that children are not being taught the basics of survival any more..and I do not mean survival in the wild..I mean everyday survival! Children..small children can only be taught so much at any given time. This, I understand except there has to be some sort of guidance at some point in a kid's life that says.."Don't put strange things in your mouth!" Now, before you get your shorts in a wad..I am referring to number fifteen on the list..Bucky Balls High Powered Magnet Set. It is rated for age thirteen and up! My goodness if a kid thirteen and older is eating magnets then he has worse problems than the possibility that he might choke! Are we raising imbeciles that, by the time they are teenagers, still cannot figure out that eating a magnet might be detrimental to their health? It says that if they swallow more than one, the magnets can click together and cause a blockage. So...... Junior swallowed one magnet by accident.. this, too, shall pass. But just out of curiosity, he decided to eat a few more????? What is this world coming to when things of this sort are actually happening??? There is a warning on the box that this could happen.. is it a case of.. "Hey! I wonder if that warning is true??" Oh, geez, come on people!!! There are about thirty items noted on the recall list.. some I agree might present a situation that would be harmful to tots but some are questionable. Have we resorted to raising kids with no commonsense whatsoever that they would knowingly eat inedible things? Tiny tykes put everything in their mouths..that is why parents or caregivers should watch them with the eyes of a hawk. This is why the word "NO" was invented..to teach little ones what is safe. Teenagers..even though maybe we should question their choice of food at times, should not have to be told to avoid swallowing inedible objects. If, still at age thirteen, we have to instruct them to not eat magnets, then we have failed.

What is next? " Wait! No! You cannot eat your supper! You might choke! Here have this mashed up babyfood!" All food is now recalled. "Oh my! Junior might climb that tree and fall.. cut it down!" All trees are off the face of the earth. While we are at it lets remove anything that has a power cord..Junior might strangle himself. Lets do away with all heating sources such as stoves ..Junior might burn his fingers. No utensils such as knives and forks..stabbing possibilities. The list could be endless.. think about it. Whatever happened to old-fashioned warnings ..you know .. "Don't run with scissors!" or "Don't take the pan out of the hot oven without a potholder!" or (my favorite!) "If you fall out of that tree and break a leg, don't come running to me!"

My kids grew up with some pretty dangerous things, obviously.. LiteBrites! Remember those? All those little pegs and a light bulb with a .. wait for it.. power cord! Jumpropes.. uhoh.. not good! Cork guns.. Oh my! Dolls..yes, even dolls.. their heads and limbs were always being pulled off! Scissors, paste, paints..and the dreaded ...PAPER! Stuffed animals! Now there is something that needs to be recalled for sure! The stuffing could be ingested! (I jest not here as that was on the list.) This is not to say that my kids did not have their share of accidents. My oldest was given his first pocket knife at the ripe old age of perhaps five. His grandfather, the gift-giver, gave him strict instruction of how to use it and when to use it, but he still managed to cut the finger so many times that it became a regular occurrence. But, did I sue the Swiss Army Knife makers because he was a mite careless? No.. it was a learning experience ..hopefully. Darling Daughter was injured on the swing set. Not by the chains that held the seats but by an exposed screw in the post. Even after being told repeatedly not to swing in circles .. she did ..she hit the post ..she ended up with a nice size puncture wound behind her ear. Needless to say, she never misused the swing again! Another painful learning experience. Things happen. My youngest received a nasty whack up side the head with a boomerang. He was right back out there throwing that thing just minutes later..none the worse for wear.

I do feel for those that have had a little one injured by some plaything. I do agree that harmful products should be removed from the market but get real!..with a little instruction from parents/caregivers many of these toys should be perfectly safe at least to kids of age thirteen! People! News flash!!! Watch your kids.. trust me on this ..there are a lot more dangerous things out there in the world than an innocuous toy. Again..watch your kids! Be alert! If something looks dangerous to you, then don't buy it! If something is truly dangerous..say contains lead paint or has sharp edges.. by all means remove it from the market! Companies .. check the safety of all products before they are approved to be sold. Teach the children commonsense starting at an early age! Perhaps, it this not an intense interest in the welfare of children at all but more a case of money-hungry people, shoddy workmanship and lawyers who will file a lawsuit at the drop of a hat. I don't know.......... but I do worry about that teenager that will eat a multitude of magnets.