Wacky Wednesday

Well it wasn't wacky, it was just....Wednesday. Today was a nice family day. We went to the mall so Jeff could get his complimentary gift card for his birthday (which was two weeks ago). He wanted to use it at Subway, but for some reason it didn't go through, so he had to pay cash. After we walked around for a little bit, we left to go to Meijer.

This Mejier was in the rich end of town, and we went before, so we knew our experience would be slighty different. A couple of days ago, I bought Jelly Belly Flops, which are Jelly Bellys that didn't pass the satisfaction checkpoint to be sold in regular packages. So when the bag was empty, I was still wanting more. Seriously, they are that good. At one point, our Meijer had a little Jelly Belly stand, but for some reason we have jelly bean Nazis who took them away. The fancy Meijer had the Jelly Bellys. I'll admit I ran a little towards the colorful little beans. One pound of these things cost $6.99. I know there are people out there who would gladly pay this amount, if not more. I settled half a pound. Came up to be $2.45, and it's worth penny. The bag isn't empty (yet), so I had to hid the rest from me so I won't go crazy with sugar this late at night.

That was pretty much our day. Nothing too exciting has been going on as of late. Though I have been thinking....

This year (in Louisville, at least) there have been too many stories regarding harm towards children. In the summer countless of parents left their babies in hot cars. One mother was high, and a couple went into a strip club to drink. I really can't understand why parents would do this. If they don't want to be in a hot car, what makes them think their kids want to too? I'll admit, I've left Elliot in the car before (a couple of times), but it has always been at home in the driveway. Does that give me a free pass? No. These times I had to throw something away in the garbage can on the side of the house, grab the mail and put it inside on the kitchen counter, get something from the fridge in the garage, or like this morning, run upstairs to get a jacket. Though this morning, I put the car in the garage since I was a little bit farther than any other time. This isn't an everyday occurance, or even weekly. I wouldn't call this wrong, but I wouldn't call it okay either. Anything could happen in just one minute, even in the driveway of your own home. But never would I leave my son in a car in any weather condition alone. It sounds easy to do, especially if you just need milk from the store and the baby is asleep, but this is a crazy world we live in. You just can't do that. But at the same time, you can't call every parent that has left their child in the car alone bad. I understand being busy and having other things on your mind. Or that the child is sleeping, so there are no noises in the car, except maybe the radio. I understand, but the parent should still be held accountable. And now that it's getting cold outside, and will snow in the coming months, I shudder to think that there could be at least one story on the news about a parent leaving their child alone in the car.

Another story that has been buzzing about town are two stories of toddlers being killed or close to killed due to their mother's boyfriends. I don't know the personal stories of these mothers, but people should closely examine who they are leaving their child with. I was going to say just the boyfriends who may not be the father, but fathers and mothers can be subjected as well. In one of the cases, the toddler was crying and the boyfriend slammed the baby into his crib and holding him in there.
http://www.wave3.com/story/15725909/man-charged-with-attempted-murder-of-two-year-old
We have to be aware who we let into our lives. Women, get to know these men well before letting him watch your child alone. Yes men can sweet talk us, but they can decieve us. Let me back that up: SOME men can decieve us. I'm not hate/bashing on men- just the bad ones.

A few days ago, a mother had recieved a call from her son's daycare, saying that he was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. What happened? He choked on a PUSH PIN. Reports are saying that one big issue was there weren't enough staff for the number of children. This is another reason why I don't like daycares. I know it's a lifesaver to many parents, and even the only option for some. But personally I couldn't do it. The way I figured is that this little boy thought the push pin was a piece of candy-since the "push" part are usually colorful. I can't imagine what that mother is going through, but thankfully the state has closed the daycare. What's worse is that the owner and mother are cousins. Blood is thicker than water, but some things you just can't let slide.
http://www.wave3.com/story/15723838/child-dies-at-daycare-after-choking-on-push-pin

On a happier note, Elliot crawled for the first time last night. I was so proud of him. Jeff and I knew it was coming, because Elliot was in the position to move, but just didn't. I tell you, there is no greater feeling than seeing your child achieve some sort of milestone. We were thrilled when he rolled onto to just one side, then both, and now crawling. I know that there must have been thousands of babies crawling for the first time yesterday, but to me, Elliot was the only one. On the outside, it seems silly to be overwhelmed by something like crawling, but when a baby does it for the first time, that's opening the gate to the world on a whole new level. It also means we have to keep an even closer eye on him. Motherhood is a blessing beyond words.