The CPSC recalled this week baby walkers because they can fit through a standard doorway and are not designed to stop at the edge of a step. Babies using these walkers can be seriously injured or killed due to falling. 

No injuries or incidents have been reported, but the CPSC is urging consumers to stop using the walkers immediately and return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund.

The recalled walkers are intended for babies 6 months and older.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP.org) has recommended that walkers be banned from the market, and they are banned in Canada. Consumer Reports does not consider walkers a safe option. Baby walkers that don’t meet the nationally recognized stair-fall safety standard (like the model in this recall) continue to be sold and recalled in the U.S.   Consumer reports agree that walkers can pose a safety hazard—even if they meet the safety standard.

The simple fact remains: Babies in walkers can move with surprising speed, and as long as the walkers have wheels, no standard or testing can make them safe.

The baby walkers have a plastic frame supported by four wheels and eight brake pads. The walkers were sold in blue, pink, and green with a white activity tray and patterned, vinyl seat. 

The walkers were sold at small juvenile product stores in California, Illinois, New York and Texas from January 2007 through December 2009 for between $25 and $30 and were manufactured in China and imported by  Suntech Enterprises Inc., of Commerce, Calif.

For additional information, contact Suntech Enterprises toll-free at (888) 268-8139  between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

Baby Walkers Recalled

Dad, now that I’m a parent myself, I know what you and mom went through…HELL.

• Dad, my kids often remind me of myself and my siblings when I was a kid- happy now?  Sure go ahead and laugh.
• Dad, whenever I run into life’s little problems- I think back to all the advice you’ve given me.  Damn, I wish I would have been listening.
• Sure grandpa, now that the kids are all jacked up on candy and sodas, it’s time to take them back to mom and dad.
• Dad, can you offer any helpful advice on raising teenagers?  Uh, pointing and laughing isn’t advice.
• On Mother’s Day my kids brought me breakfast in bed.  On Father’s Day the only way my hubby is getting breakfast in bed is if he sleeps in the kitchen.
• I learned that my hubby shouldn’t complain about all my pairs of shoes.  He has twice as many wrenches that he never uses. 
• Why does he have so many different size and shape wrenches anyway? 
• When our dryer broke, my husband said he could fix it…if he had the right size wrench!  
• I learned that hunting through a man’s toolbox is worse than a man hunting through a ladies purse. 
• I learned how to remove a cork from a bottle of wine without an opener, leave it in the freezer overnight.
• I learned I’m the ambulance driver in my family.  Last week my daughter went to the ER for strep throat, and then my hubby needed stitches in his forehead, and then my son had a slight concussion from being checked into the boards in hockey.    You’ll recognize me in the car pool line; I’m the car with a red cross painted on it. 
• There’s something about the hot weather that makes some people get a little frisky with their fashion choices.   Edgy stilettos and barely there short dresses, really?
• I’m still trying to figure out when Hawaiian Bermuda shorts, Jackie-O sunglasses, and tank tops went out- of- style?  Where’s Miuccia Prada when I need her? 
• I learned that faux tanners don’t work for me; I end up looking like a sick zebra.
• When did Military styles come back?  I just sold all my cargo pants and camouflage at my garage sale only to find the same get-ups at the department stores. 
• Wait, that’s skinny pants with cargo pockets to be worn with double platforms and a sequin tee?  Never mind.
• My diet is a constant battle between, sweetened or unsweetened, broiled or fried, chocolate or double chocolate.
• I learned that as I get older, everything droops.  Even my chin looks longer than it did ten years ago.  I’m turning into Jay Leno.
• I bought some herbal tea that is supposed to help my memory but I forgot where I put it.
• I can tell its summer, our back yard smells like tiki torch fuel and bug spray. 
• I learned it’s probably time to cut back on the chlorine in the pool when the beach ball melts. 
• Summer eating is fun; since all the men want to be chefs, especially competitive dads, they want to bar-b-que where no man has bbq before!  Go for it! 
• Smoke bacon explosion, smoke duck, and smoked cheesecake… count me in.
• After football, basketball and hockey…at last baseball & golf, two whistle free sports most men can sleep through. 
• We’re trying to plan a family vacation.  There’s no such thing as fun for the whole family. 
• Is it just me, or am I really turning into my mother? 
• I want to get chocolate wasted!
• Forget having a nose for smelling the wine boutique; I need a trained nose to sniff out Gulf Seafood for oil. 
• I worry the oil spill will cause fish stick prices to go up.
• Now that summer is here, I don’t have to cook breakfast for the kids because they wake up at noon.
• You shouldn’t be eating candy so early. We have donuts.
• My motto for my teenage kids, “No drinking, no drugs, no sex ’til you’re dead.”
• I learned that you don’t choose your family; they are god’s gift to you. 

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in the world!

What are you doing for Father’s Day?  What did you learn in LIFE?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of children’s belts sold by Target due high lead paint content in the buckle.

About 100, 000 children’s belts that were imported from China by Target and sold nationwide  for about eight dollars apiece have been recalled. 

The recall involves Cherokee boys’ belts and Circo girls’ belts. The boys’ belts are reversible, brown and black belts, which were sold in packs of two with the numbers 202/08/0018, 202/08/0019 or 202/08/0020 embossed on the belt.

The girls’ belts were sold in pink and white with heart-shaped buckles in packs of two. The girls’ belts are embossed with the number 202/05/0071, 202/05/0072, 202/05/0073 or 202/05/0074.

We are all forgetful at times.  We are all guilty of every day distractions.  We are all human.   However, since it is Father’s Day this weekend, I felt compelled to pick on the man of the house.  The following story could easily be replaced with “me” versus my husband, but this week “dads” are the focus of my blog.  

When my husband is not traveling, he works from our home.  He often heads to his study early in the morning and there he will stay… sometimes all day.  There are days, when he rarely leaves his office, but he says he feels like nothing seems to get done.

I diagnose these activity disorders as adult A.D.D. or Age Deficit Disorder.  We both suffer from it.  There’s also Activity (as in TOO much activity) Deficit Disorder.   Too much activity on one’s brain can cause one to lose track of the simpler tasks and daily activities.  This is common among parents of newborns, as well as expecting parents.  

It has become apparent to me over the years how this ADD can manifest.   I know several people have written on this same subject, but I find it fitting to share our family’s version of our adult ADD.

In honor of Father’s Day, here’s a scenario of my hubby’s typical ADD day.  Many dads (& moms) can relate.     

As my husband comes in from getting the newspaper, he walks by the front porch pots and he decides the plants need watering.  So he lays the paper and his glasses on the porch table.  

He gets the hose to water the porch flowers, but as he walks past our son’s car parked in the driveway, he notices our teenager has driven through a puddle and splashed mud on his otherwise clean car.   He decides to wash off the tires.  He puts down the hose and goes back inside to get a carwash towel.  As he walks by the foyer table he sees the mail he brought in from the mailbox yesterday and he decides to go through it quickly, before watering the plants and cleaning the tires. 

He opens the electric bill, a company expense reimbursement check and junk mail.  He walks to the kitchen to throw the junk mail away.  He notices the kitchen trash can is full.   He decides he better take out the garbage first, because no one else will.  

Since he is going outside to take out the trash, he should pay the electric bill too because he can drop it in the mailbox.   He goes to his study and opens the drawer to get a check.  The checkbook is out of checks.  He needs to order more.  He takes a sip of his coffee he poured earlier, but it is now cold.  He decides to go to the kitchen and get a fresh cup.  As he walks to the kitchen he notices his blackberry on the sofa table.  He decides he better put his blackberry back on his desk or he’ll never find it, but first that fresh cup of coffee.  He sets his mug down, but before he fills it up he notices our daughter’s missing iPod sitting on the counter hidden by a vase of droopy flowers.   He decides to take her ipod to her room, but first he needs to water the wilted flowers for his lovely wife; me.   

Before he can water the vase of flowers, one of our dogs wants to be let outside.  He walks to the backdoor and lets her out.  He decides to check the dog’s water bowls.   Their water needs refilling. 

He gets a pitcher of water from the sink and he walks to the dog’s bowl but before he can pour it into the bowl, he spills water on the floor.  He goes back to the kitchen to get a dishrag to clean up the spill.   

After he cleans up the spill, he hears the dog bark outside.  He goes back to the kitchen to let the dog back inside.   As he is letting the dog in the house, he sees a beach towel has blown into the pool.  He goes to retrieve the hook to pull out the towel.   The dog barks again.  He returns to let the dog back in the house.   After he lets the dog in, he goes back to his study trying to remember what he came out to do.

At the end of the day:

The front porch pots are not watered.    The car tires are still dirty.   The kitchen trash is overflowing.  The electric bill is unpaid.  The expense check is not deposited.   New checks are not ordered.  There’s a cold mug of coffee on the counter. There’s a wilted vase of flowers.  The dogs are out of water.   Our daughter’s ipod is still missing.  There’s a beach towel at the bottom of the pool.  He can’t find his glasses or his blackberry.   

Then he tries to figure out why nothing seems to get done! 

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads of the world.

What are  your Father’s Day traditions?    What will you do special for the men in your life? 

Like many of you, my summer calendar is quickly filling up with kid’s activities. School has only been out for a week and already I have organized and held a garage sale, planned our kid’s summer camps & family vacation and supervised endless sleepovers and pool parties.  Whoever coined the phrase, “lazy days of summer”, didn’t have three kids! 

Every year I swear never to hold another garage sale and then the “gotta-clean-out-the-junk “phase hits me and I acquiesce.   This year I thought I would beat the summer heat and have it before Father’s Day. 

Fortunately, it didn’t rain on my garage/yard sale. (I wouldn’t want my junk to get wet.)  Unfortunately, the heat was relentless.

Whether you hold a garage sale or go to a garage sale I hope you enjoy what I learned in LIFE and my “garage sale random thoughts” this week.    Let me know what you learned when you held a garage sale or shopped at a garage sale?  What was the strangest thing you bought or sold at a garage sale? 

• I learned how to get my closet cleaned out, make $400, get a tan  and lose 10 pounds all in five hours…hold a garage/yard sale when it’s 95 degrees & sunny.   

• A learned that anything sells at a garage sale, as long as it is marked one dollar and  you sell it for half price.   

• Sir, I wouldn’t give garage sale lingerie to your wife when you get home. 

• I learned that people will buy a bird cage with bird poop in it, as long as you throw in the water bottle.

• Wait, why do we have a bird cage in our garage anyway?  We never owned birds.

• I learned that people actually want to buy the stuff you store in your garage over the stuff for sale at the garage sale, like tools, rakes, ladders, bikes, coolers, fishing rods, camping gear, lawn movers, trash bins…anything marked “NOT FOR SALE.” 

• No, I do not have lay-away at my garage sale. 

• I learned people will buy anything at garage sales including used underwear, holey socks and the dog’s chew toys, or even a dog-chewed, holy pair of underwear. 

• I learned to make sure you check out the attic box full of photos and frames before people rummage through them, especially if there’s an old photo of you and your little daughter taking a shower fifteen years ago.    

• I don’t know what’s worse a stranger finding a picture of you in the shower with your baby daughter, or your “now” teenage daughter finding it.    

• I learned that designer labels do not matter at a garage sale.  A Neiman Marcus blouse sells for the same price as the blouse from Wal-Mart; one dollar.    

• Since when did Pokémon cards, Beanie Babies and Pet Rocks stop selling at garage sales? 

• I learned that if you put “hold” on an item that no one wants at a garage sale, everyone wants to buy it.  “Ok, I will let it go, but really if this shopper comes back, I’ll have some explaining to do.” He He He.   

• Why is it every shopper opens their empty coin purse and says , “really this is my last dime” and hands me a fist full of change totaling 4.90 for six dollars’ worth of crap? 

• Next garage sale, I DO NOT do pennies! Scratch that, I don’t do coins.  

• I learned not to “get caught up” in the garage sale moment and start running in the house raiding my closet…selling my Jimmy Choo sandals for $3.00 sounded like a great deal at the time. 

• I learned that anything I cannot “give away”, will sell at my garage sale.  

• Garage sale wisdom does not make sense; people will spend money on gas, drive around in their air conditioned new vehicles in order to stand in the hot sun & argue about getting a $3.00 lamp for $2.50.  Then walk away upset, but come back an hour later looking to finally pay $3.00 for the lamp that sold five minutes after they left for $2.75.     

• Lady if the dollar high heels are too big in your swollen feet, they will not fit you when you take them home. But thank you for the dollar.   

• I learned it’s not a good idea for your hubby to fire up the lawn mower in the garage on sale day.  The smell of burnt gas and grass does not help boost sales at the garage sale. 

• So how bad is our economy when people shop lift at a garage sale? Really?   

• A man asked if I had any unused medicine for sale.  I should have given him hormone pills and told him they were Viagra.

• I lady asked if my opened half-drunk diet coke was for sale.  I said yes.  She looked at it & then said she would have bought it if it was not diet.   

• I learned that if you collect the lose crap and put it in a Ziploc bag it sells for twice as much. 

• I couldn’t sell the artificial plant in the ceramic planter for 3.00 until the wind blew it on the cement and it broke.  The next shopper bought it. 

• I learned I couldn’t have done a garage sale without duct tape and WD40. 

• I learned that duct tape fixes; a sewing machine, a bent fender on a bike, a lamp, a pot handle, a picture frame, a tennis shoe, a printer, a sword, patio furniture, a leaky snow globe and the back of a camera. 

• A common question asked at my garage sale, “Does this $2.00 42” TV work?”  

• I learned that the crappier your garage sale sign looks, the more people will come to the sale. 

• I learned that the helium balloons my neighbor tacked to their store bought garage sale sign, popped in the wind, and the deflated balloons blocked their address. 

• Junk is another person’s treasure, until they hold a garage sale! 

Let me know what you learned when you held a garage sale or shopped at a garage sale?  What was the strangest thing you bought or sold at a garage sale? 

The CPSC said Ikea has issued a voluntary recall of three Roman, Roll-Up and Roller blinds considered dangerous to children because of the lack of a pre-fitted tension device. This recall involves roller blinds that do not have a tension device attached to the bead chain.

This recall expands from three previous recalls In November 2008, August 2009 and October 2009.   Ikea has added its name to the retailers joining the voluntary recall announced in December 2009 of ALL Roman shades and roll-up blinds.

Strangulations can occur when a child places his/her neck between the exposed inner cord and the fabric on the backside of the blind or when a child pulls the cord out and wraps it around his/her neck. An additional hazard exists when the Roman blind has a continuous looped bead chain that if not attached to the wall or floor, which poses a strangulation hazard to children.

The CPSC and IKEA received a new report of a 1 ½-year old boy in Lowell, Massachusetts who suffered a near strangulation in February 28, 2010. On April 4, 2008, a 1-year old girl in Greenwich, Conn. became entangled in the inner cord of an IKEA Roman blind and strangled. CPSC and IKEA also received a report of a 2-year old boy who suffered a near strangulation. The last two incidents prompted previous recalls.

The roller blinds were sold at IKEA stores nationwide from January 1998 through June 2009 for between $5 and $55.

It’s important to examine all shades and blinds in your home. Make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side, or back of the product. CPSC recommends the use of cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit.

Roller Blind Hazard

Strangulation hazard to children

Roller Blind with tension in Recall

Recalled Roller Blinds with Loop Chain Hazard

CPSC today announced Bayside Furnishings has voluntary recalled Twin Trundle beds sold exclusively at Costco.  This is the second recall from Bayside Furnishings on the Pirates of the Caribbean youth beds line.  These beds look like a Pirate ship and have toy chests in the bow of a boat, as well as the stern.  

The storage bin poses a hazard entrapment of a child’s head.   A 4-year old boy sustained bruises on his back and ears after his head became entrapped.   The headboard of the youth bed bearing the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trademark embossed on a metal plate has three storage compartments, a storage bin and a mast. 

The beds manufactured in China were sold at Costco nationwide from January 2006 through January 2010.    Consumers should immediately stop using the headboard storage bin and contact the firm to receive a free repair kit that will permanently close the headboard storage bin.

In 2008 Bayside Furnishings recalled a youth bed toy chest sold at Costco after the death of a 22-month-old child. LaJolla Boat Bed and Pirates of the Caribbean Twin Trundle Beds were included in this recall. 

As your little one becomes curious about his surroundings and begins to explore with eagerness, please inspect your child’s surroundings for unsafe toys and the toy boxes that house them.  Toy boxes can be hazardous when a child’s head becomes stuck between the toy box and the lid cutting off air supply.

Navigate your child away from this fun but potentially hazardous product, and look for smoother sailing throughout their childhood. 

For more information on the latest recall review the CPSC web site  .

Bayside Pirates of Caribbean Trundle Bed

As the Alice Cooper song goes, “school’s out for summer”! Those words that Alice Cooper once sang are like heavenly music to my kids and students everywhere, but maybe not so much for the stay at home moms and dads. Summer means no more “me time”.   And for most stay-at-home-parents, they are already counting down the days until September.

 
For me personally, I’m relieved that the stresses of school will go on hiatus. With teenage children, the last week of final exams, was no walk in the park.

While you and your kids look forward to family vacations and laying out by the pool, others may find summer as a time to make some extra money mowing lawns, holding garage sales and selling lemonade. Whatever you and your family have planned for the summer activities, enjoy it! 

What do you have planned to keep your kiddos busy this summer?  How was your last week of school?

What this working mom has learned in LIFE:

• YouTube, Twitter and Facebook completely revolutionized procrastination.

• Seriously if it weren’t for YouTube- we would never get to see a cat play the piano.

• I remember when the kids were younger, I’d say, “it’s such a nice day, why don’t you just go outside and play.” Now I say,” it’s such a nice day, why don’t you just go outside and make some money”.

• Don’t eat the Sherk drinking glasses you bought at McDonalds, they are tainted on the outside with Caidum, a possible carcinogen.

• Sarah Ferguson is probably missing the days of her toe-sucking scandal.

• I got an email from my teen’s English teacher this week, explaining how the school system grades their Final “English” paper on formatting over content & quality of writing.  Shut the Front Door!  Since when is how pretty it looks graded higher than content?

• After school,  my daughter got in the car, and I asked her how she did on her final Math exam.  She replied, “Great, I got a 95 on the final and I had a 92 overall going into the final.  So that averages to 87, right?”

• I would help my son with Algebra, but I quit helping the kids with their math problems once they start putting letters in it.

• I was talking to my son’s teacher; he asked if there was any history of ADD in our family, but I didn’t hear him, I was watching the birds out the window.

• Believe me, you are going to need an extra-large stock of Valium when your kids go through puberty.

• My daughter commented on a song we were listening to on the car radio, “This song is from Twilight.” So I said, “The movie?” She said, “No mom, the book.”

• I learned it is best not to even ask my teenage son why there’s an orange traffic cone in his backseat.

• My husband is a horrible secretary. His note on my desk said, “Someone from the Guyna College called. They said Pabst beer is normal.”

• Have you seen the “Hot Guys reading Books” Blog? Well, at least they got the “reading books part right.”   http://bit.ly/d43yfO

• I have a mind like a steel whatchamacallit and a sense of humor like whatshisname.

• I just want five more hours in the day- after, you know, world peace and everything!

What have you learned in LIFE?  What do you have planned to keep your kiddos busy this summer?   How was your last week of school?

 McDonald’s has recalled at least 14 million “Shrek”-themed drinking glasses  after consumers were warned to stop using them because they contain the toxic metal cadmium.

Cadmium was found in the painted design of the movie characters on the glassware, which McDonald’s outlets sold for about $2 each, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Canada’s health ministry Health Canada.

The death of a 10-day-old boy in Texas has prompted the recall of some handmade baby slings.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission urged parents on Wednesday to immediately stop using the infant slings from Sprout Stuff in Austin, Texas — saying the slings pose a suffocation risk.

About 40 of the Sprout Stuff infant ring slings were sold directly to consumers between October 2006 and May 2007. They are made of cloth that threads through a ring. “Sprout Stuff” is printed on the back side of the tail’s hem.

In March, more than 1 million baby slings made by Infantino were recalled after claims linking them to three infant deaths.

CPSC Chairman has previously warned of a suffocation risk for babies in slings, which wrap around parents’ chests so they can carry their babies or just “wear” them to stay close.

CPSC said a sling’s fabric can press against a baby’s nose and mouth, suffocating a baby within a minute or two. Another danger involves slings where the baby is cradled in a curved or “C-like” position that can cause a baby to flop its head forward, chin-to-chest, restricting the infant’s ability to breathe.

For more information check out: http://bit.ly/dnzq5J

Do you have any comments to share about infant baby slings?  Do you use them? 

Sprout Stuff Infant Sling Recalled 06022010 by CPSC