My Son the Hero

At my parents’ house this weekend we tucked our three-year-old in bed and went downstairs.  My parents have done a good job at childproofing their house and our kids are good about not getting into stuff.  About 10 minutes after we tucked the kids in, my five-year-old son came running down the stairs and yelling “Mom! Jane is eating pills!!!”  I tore up the stairs and to my horror there was a bottle of my mom’s thyroid medication (which we were told tastes like pez) all over the floor in their bedroom.  My mom looks at it in dismay and said, “That bottle was full!”  After counting we realize that 20 pills are gone.  911 was called and Jane was taken by ambulance to the hospital.  This was the scariest night in my life.  After searching we found more pills and she more likely ate about 5-7.  Not a fatal dose, thanks to my son.  She was fine and since this was like taking speed, she was bouncing off the walls all night.  This got me thinking of all the play dates and relatives houses we have been to.   How many had left a prescription on the counter in their bathroom?  How many times has someone come to my house and set their purse next to my couch as it contained medicine like this or even “just” Tylenol? 

Now when we go to someone’s house I will ask if they have medication in a place that children can get to it.  And when someone comes to my house I will ask them to put their purse up on a shelf above the fireplace – just in case there is something in it.  Kids are just too fast and we can do the best we can teaching them what to stay away from and watching them.  Even so, it is too risky to trust that the house you are at or the purse someone sets on your floor are safe for your children. 

Before They Hit the Floor

What is the best way to start the day?  A cup of coffee?  A newspaper?  Nope.  Prayer is.  Do I do this?  No.  So that is what I am going to concentrate on doing this week.  A prayer (probably while I am nursing) of thanksgiving for my amazing family and to have my priorities straight for the day.  I am hoping this will help me to fix my eyes on Christ and who he is.  Then, hopefully, when I am making my decisions throughout the day I will be a little closer to who He wants me to be.  So before my two feet hit the floor I will pray.

A Little Light Therapy

Did you know that sleeping in a dark room has a ton of health benefits?  It promotes melatonin production, it is good for your natural circadian rhythm and it can help reduce your risk of cancers like breast and colon. 

I decided to do an evaluation of how much light was in my bedroom in the night.  I am surprised at how much unnecessary light is in my room.  Even though my shades are closed there is still quite a bit that gets through.  I am not sure how to help with this because we have bay windows so curtains are tricky.  Any ideas there?  I also noticed that quite a bit of light is emitted from the baby monitor.  I have a black cloth I am going to throw over it to help.  There was also some light coming from the dvd player even though it is off.  So I am going to make sure the armoire doors that the TV is in are closed.  My electric toothbrush is also very bright when it is charging so I will just have to charge it in the morning and unplug it at night.  My charging cell phone has a battery light appear when the phone is fully charged so I will put that under a cloth as well.  I will also be turning off the night lights in the kid's rooms before I go to sleep so they can benifit also.

Have you assessed the amount of light in your room?  What are some problem areas and how do you solve them?

Where's the non-rubbery beef?

A question I face every day is “What’s for dinner?”  Then I think about how that roast would be good but it is now 5:00pm and there is no time to defrost it and cook it.  So this week, before I go to bed, I am going to ask, “What’s for dinner tomorrow?”  Then I am going to pull the meat out of the freezer and put it in the fridge.  This will also get me thinking about setting up the crock pot if needed in the morning.  Plus, meat tastes better when thawed this way than in the microwave where the edges get that weird rubbery partially cooked texture.

How do you get dinner to the table quickly?