The Zoo’s Education department is offering a mother’s day out program beginning in February. The program will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nature Explorers Mother’s Day Out Program will run from Feb. 15 to May 26 and is for children ages 3 and 4. (Child must be 3 or 4 on or before September 1, 2010.)

The program will promote interaction skills, self direction, language skills, intellectual growth and environmental awareness.

For more information, including a program handbook, tuition costs and registration forms, go to http://zoofieldtrips.publishpath.com/explorers. 

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

1. Always choose age-appropriate toys for children.  Keep toys appropriate for older children away from younger siblings.

2. Include safety gear whenever shopping for sports-related gifts or ride-on toys including bicycles, skates and scooters. Helmets and other safety gear should be worn properly and be sized to fit.

3. Be aware of your child’s surroundings during play. Young children should avoid playing with ride-on toys near streets and traffic, pools or ponds.  They should avoid playing in indoor areas near hazards such as kitchens, bathrooms or rooms with corded window blinds.

4. Once gifts are opened, immediately discard plastic wrappings or other packaging from toys.

5. Battery-charging should be supervised by adults. Chargers and adapters can pose a thermal burn hazard to young children. 

6. For children younger than 3, avoid toys with small parts and small balls. For Children younger than 6, avoid toys with small magnets. Keep all young children away from broken balloons.  Keep deflated balloons away from children 8 and younger. Balloons are a choking hazard.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

According to their Web site, if you have ideas about what our community needs to be a better place for families or want to learn more about why the early years matter and what you can do to help, then this just might be perfect for you.

It meets for 5 evenings, from April 1 to May 13.  Free child care is provided as well as dinner.

For more information, call Smart Start Central Oklahoma at 523-3519 or click here.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

These recalled slings have been sold in the U.S. and Canada from January 2003 to March of this year. Stores carrying the slings included Walmart, Target, Babies R Us, Burlington Coat Factory and on the Web at Amazon.com.

I had this exact sling when my son was born.  But I had to return it because he was too big to fit inside without it straining my neck.  If you have this sling, or know someone who does, don’t take any chances. Contact Infantino to get a free replacement product, like an activity gym or shopping cart cover (which I personally recommend and still use!).  Go to www.infantino.com to get replacement information.

For complete recall information, click here. 

-Erica Smith

esmith@opubco.com

This recall involves millions of blinds, as the CPSC estimates 5 million Roman blinds and 3 million roll-up blinds are sold EACH YEAR. 

Anyone with these types of blinds is urged to go to www.windowcoverings.org or call (800) 506-4636 to receive a free repair kit.  In the meantime, the CPSC has issued these important guidelines:

1. Examine all shades and blinds in your home.  Be sure there are NO accessible cords on the front or back.

2. Do not place cribs, bed or other furniture close to windows, where children can climb on them and gain access to cords.

3. Make loose cords completely inaccessible.

4. If the shade has looped bead chains or nylon cords, install tension devices to keep the cord taut.

Since 2006, the CPSC has received reports of 5 deaths and 16 near-strangulations. And those are only reported numbers.  Please consider this an urgent problem that needs to be addressed if your home has these types of blinds.

For full recall information, click here.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

The free parenting seminar will be at the Edmond library on Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. It’s perfect for parents and caregivers of children from birth to age 5. The experts from Child Guidance Services will answer questions and address concerns, and give out great information about issues related to eating.  Techniques and resources will be provided.

To register, call Child Guidance at 425-4412 to register.  For more information about this program and others, call 427-8651 or go to www.cchdoc.com.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Here’s what your day care should have been told:

1. Encourage all staff to get vaccinated.

2.  Make sure children’s and staff’s hands are washed often with soap and water, and especially after children cough or sneeze. Keep alcohol-based hand cleaner nearby if a sink isn’t readily available.

3.  Remind children and staff not to touch their eyes, nose or mouth as germs are often spread this way.

4. Clean the environment regularly. Dirty areas and items should be cleaned immediately, especially play areas and toys.

5. Day care staffers deemed to be high risk for flu complications and parents of children younger than age 5 who become ill with flu-like symptoms should call their doctor immediately to see if they are in need of antiviral treatment.

6. If a swine flu outbreak is severe, staff should consider closing the day care center to decrease the spread of infection. A decision to close should be made in conjunction with local public health officials.

7. Remind staff to stay home and parents to keep a sick child at home when they have flu-like symptoms.  Send sick staff home immediately. If a child become ill at the day care, move them to a separate, but supervised, area until a parent can pick them up.

If an outbreak becomes more severe or symptoms more dangerous as the fall and winter season approach, the following guidelines should also be considered:

1. Let high-risk staffers stay at home.

2. Increase the distance between children; separate children into small groups of six or less.

3. Have children stay home if there are others in the child’s household who have the swine flu.

4. Inform parents of sick children and sick staff  members that they should say home for at least 7 days.

5. Close the day care center either as a reaction to the outbreak or even as a preventative measure.

For more information about swine flu, go to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.

Here’s to hoping we and our children stay healthy this flu season.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

As a parent of a toddler, I knew I couldn’t possibly be the only one who experiences the store -induced temper tantrums, the difficulties with getting him to eat, and dealing with this little person who is constantly asserting his independence.

I was greatly assured that yes, thankfully, my child is completely normal and not a pint-sized T-Rex.

Here are seven great tips I learned:

1. Don’t ask questions that require simply a yes or no answer.  Instead, give your toddler some choices.  But be sure you can live with any of the choices.

2. Avoid power struggles.  It takes two to argue, so take yourself out of the equation. Consider allowing him to be his own boss, unless he poses harm to himself or others.

3. Children won’t do what doesn’t work.  Ignore temper tantrums. Easier said than done, but if you want the tantrums to stop, you’ll have to stop reacting to them.

4. Make a statement. When talking to him about his day, don’t ask questions, but instead make statements.  I tried this and it works!  Instead of “Did you play outside today?” try “So you played outside today!” You’ll get lots more response from your little person.

5.  Use descriptive commentary.  Like a sports announcer, talk about what they’re doing as they’re doing it.  It promotes conversation, builds vocabulary and makes them feel important.

6. Focus on behaviors you want, not the ones you don’t want.  Instead of “stop running” say “I like it when you walk next to Mommy.”  And always be specific in your praise. Just saying “Good girl” won’t let them know what exactly they’re being good about.

7. Use humor, and keep your sense of humor.  Your toddler is learning to be an independent person and it can be a fun time if you just let it happen.

The health department has a great lineup of workshops and parent talks.  I highly recommend attending. Their staff is knowledgeable and they give great advice. Go to www.occhd.org and click on the Parent Express Newsletter or call 425-4412 to find out what’s coming to a location near you.

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

Anyone else ready for their children to get back into school?

I wouldn’t have expected to be so happy about this. But our house has seemed even more chaotic than usual. I’m not sure that it’s actually that the kids are out of school. I think the strain is partially caused by the stress of preparing to go to school.

Beyond the usual requirements of getting school supplies and some added clothing items to round out their wardrobes, we also are dealing with three information day sessions we need to attend, band meetings, band camp, doctors’ appointments, daycare enrollment, transportation issues with busing my young son to and from daycare, freshman orientation, both daughters’ worries that they won’t have friends in their classes,  orthodontist and dentist appointments, approaching birthday party planning, passports for an overseas band trip …

And did I mention the frenzy of cash flowing out of our pockets to pay for many *incidental* things?

Last night, as my daughter asked me a question repeatedly after I had answered twice, I started to count to 50 … not 10, but 50.

At first, I thought, “What is happening to our family?” For several days we had all been snapping at each other, voices were being raised. Everyone, except maybe for the youngest member of our family, was ready to get away from each other.

Then, it occurred to me that maybe the stresses, anticipation, extra this and that were taking their toll.

So, yes, I think we’re ready to start school.

Then, we can deal with sleep issues, homework, ballgames, teacher conferences, lunches, juggling schedules and mealtimes …..

– Linda Lynn

LLYNN@OPUBCO.COM

I started my search for information at www.okdhs.org.  From there, you can click on the ‘child care locator/summary of facility monitoring’  link and type in the name of the day care you want to know more about.  But you’ll only see general information.  It doesn’t cite specific complaints or violations. 

So I called the local DHS office and found out that anyone can go take a look at a daycare’s complete file.   Just call the DHS licensing division at 767-2650 at least 24 hours in advance so they can prepare the file for you, and you’ll be in the know. 

Most of the information should also be available at the daycare itself.  You can ask any provider to see their compliance folder and they are obligated to let you look through it.  If they won’t let you or if they say they don’t have one, contact DHS and let them know.

You can never be too careful or thorough when it comes to your child’s daycare.  

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com