It is safety week over here. If you knew my husband, you would know we are quite safety conscious over here. Which could be an understatement. He would describe it as thorough. Which is probably good cause I would probably leave the car in the driveway, running with the keys in it.

So when I was given the chance to review a new product designed to make car seats safer, I jumped on it. We work so hard on getting our car seats installed safely. Seriously, I work up a sweat. Well, not me, the hubby. I don’t even try cause I can’t seem to get anywhere near safe.

So imagine my delight when Lily graduated to a booster seat. No more installing, no more worrying. Lily always hopped right in, got strapped in and was able to pull it snug. Until winter coat season hit. Now we can’t seem to get everything always where is should be. Which is lovely when maneuvering Michigan winter roads. And then I read this:

In fact, car accidents are one of  the leading causes of death and injury for children and the failure of seat belts to properly secure children is a leading contributor.   

Well fabulous. Like I need one more thing to keep me up at night.

Enter The Seat Snug. The Seat Snug helps fit the seat belt tightly across the child’s hips and prevents any slack from developing. It clips onto the seat belt and works using a patented CG-Lock Technology. And you can put it in the on-off position depending on whether or not your child is in the seat.

Here is the deal. You have to really follow the directions to install. And it ain’t easy to uninstall. Which is good cause you don’t want your kid figuring that out cause they defeats the purpose. And at $35 it is a teensy bit pricey, but not really when you consider safety. We have always spent a bit more than average on our kids car seats cause we value the piece of mind that comes with knowing your kid is safe in the car.

So check out the Seat Snug and check out their website for more information.

I would love to hear what you love. So link on up!! Rules, guidelines, blah, blah, blah…

  Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Nancy McBride, the Safety Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). We spoke about how to keep our children safe and some of the misperceptions how to teach our children about safety. Boy did I learn a lot. Some things we are doing very right, but some things, um, not so much. So I wanted to pass on some info to you that can help you protect your family as best you can.

• Most abductions happen after school between 2-7 pm. 74% of those abductions are young girls. As a mother of girls, this terrifies me. But what terrifies me more is that studies show only around 50% of families are taking the time to really discuss safety with their children.
• Lose the “Stranger Danger” message. Kids frankly don’t get it. They think of a stranger as some creepy weirdo and a lot of child pretators aren’t strangers, but people your child knows (coaches, teachers, community leaders, etc.). Children can’t be expected to differentiate good guys from bad guys. The message should instead be to let us know if ANYONE makes them feel uncomfortable.
• Pay attention and listen to your children. Give validation to their feelings. Kids need to feel safe telling us anything. If they are uncomfortable in a situation, explore why instead of brushing it off. Kids won’t lie if they feel safe. Our children, above all, need to know that we are their “safety person” and trustworthy to tell anything to.
• The point of teaching safety is not to scare them. Tone should be very reassuring. We want them to know that we love them and want to keep them safe, but that there are people who don’t. Details are not necessary.
• We need to make sure that in our quest to teach them to be polite, we don’t inadvertantly teach them to ignore the voice that tells them when they are uncomfortable. We shouldn’t force them to talk to people they don’t know that we do. Or hug people if it makes them uncomfortable.
• Practice safety when you are out in the community. Teach them to stay put where they get lost.  Teach your child who to tell if they are lost. Look for an info booth, name tag for store employee, police officer or mother of children. Just saying, “Don’t talk to strangers” will cause child not to seek help. Children need to know who “safe strangers” are.
• The internet has not increased the amount of predators, but has provided a new way for them to get to our kids. Make sure you monitor your child’s computer usage and tell them never to start conversations with people they don’t know. There is lots of free software out there to monitor what your kids do, but don’t get lulled into thinking that is enough. You child should understand nothing they post online is private. Other people can and will get a hold of what they do. Post a computer pledge and guidelines next to the computer.

Best of all NCMEC is partnering with Duracell for the third year in a row for the Power of Parents initiative to provide parents even more resources for safety.

If you click on the picture above, you will be taken to the Power of Parents safety handbook with specific tips for various developmental stages from infant through high school. This is a free resource and has been updated to include the latest technology and information. It is a must read for any parent.

  I have been doing a little bit of messing with my blogroll. Taking some off that I don’t read anymore or don’t really post anymore. And I am looking to add some new ones to my roster of “must reads.” So I thought you all could help me out. What blogs are the ones you “can’t live without?” Cause I clearly need more things to spend time doing on the computer. Email, blogging, People.com surfing, Facebook and Twitter just aren’t consuming enough of my time. Right hubby?