The Consumer Product Safety Commision released seven additional recalls on Thursday. 

The recalls were for the following products (each link provides information about the recall and the products affected, including pictures).  Please follow the guidelines provided if these are products you own.

Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway recall – five additional products have been added to their recall list: a cargo car, a cargo box, “Toad” engine, green maple tree top and green signal base.

Knights Of The Sword toys recall – three silver knight toys are on this list.  These were sold in blister packs from 2004 – 2006.

Children’s Toys Rakes sold exclusively through Jo-Ann Fabrics recall – these rakes have a green handle with a yellow duck head attached. The rake has seven purple tines. The rake is about 24 inches long. “Robbie Ducky™ Garden Collection Rake” is printed on a tag attached to the handle.

Guidecraft Children’s Puppet Theater recall – these are free-standing, large puppet theaters that have a chalk board on the front.  These were sold 2006 – 2007.

Children’s Spinning Wheel Metal Necklace recall – these necklaces were sold through novelty stores and machines, redemption centers at arcades, and small discount stores.

Toby & Me Metal Jewelry recall – this line of jewelry for children was sold through stores such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls, A.J. Wright, Cracker Barrel, and Shopko.  Please check the pictures for specific items on the list.

Happy Giddy Gardening Tools and Miss Spider Sunny Patch chairs by Target recall – Target is issuing a recall of certain items from each of these lines from this past year.  Check the link and product description for details.

Following the death of a 10 month-old child, Kolkraft has issued a recall that involves twelve different models of their play yard system.  Included in this recall are the Travelin’ Tot (LTD, 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 as well), Carter’s Lennon Travelin’ Tot, “Sesame Beginnings” Traveling Play Yard, Jeep Sahara (SE, Limited, XT, Limited SE, Limited XT) Play Yard, and the Contours 3-in-1 Play Yard.  Reports of children being injured while rolling over as well as strangulation from the changing table strap have been reported.  Please refer to the link provided for more information on the products involved and the course of action if you own one of these products.

Those pesky little slivers of wood.  They show up in places we’d otherwise consider safe!  What is an easy and pain-free way to remove a splinter, especially from a small hand or foot?

First of all, make sure your hands are clean and the area around the splinter is clean.  While you don’t want to get the splinter wet (wood swells with water), you do want to make sure the area around it is clean.  Soap and water are fine choices for cleaning, or an alcohol pad will do just great as well.  Sterilize a needle and tweezers.  Make sure the tweezers have a blunt end and are not beveled. 

Make sure that you will be pulling WITH the splinter.  You want to take it out exactly the way it came in.  If the end is sticking out of the skin, try to grab it with the tweezers.  Or, use the needle to gently scrape away a bit of the skin around the splinter top to make for an easier “grab”. 

Another easy way to remove a splinter that is above the skin’s surface is with heavy-duty tape, such a duct tape or packing tape.  Or, put a dab of hair remover or dilapatory on the it, wait for it to dry, then peel off.  Just remember, in both cases to pull back in the direction the splinter entered the body to avoid breaking it off inside the skin.

If children are upset, wait until they are calmed down to remove it.  Distract them with a story or with a game.  Let your child practice on a stuffed animal, and try out the tweezers on a part of the body without the splinter, so they can see how gentle you will be.  And, if all else fails, wait until your child is alseep to try and remove the splinter.

Most times, splinters can work themselves out in about a week.  But, if you notice soreness, redness or oozing from the spot, call a doctor.

And, once it is all said and done, be sure to wash the area off with soap and water, administer a little T.L.C. give a kiss and perhaps a cool band aid.

The world of money – it is a jungle out there.  And, teaching your children financial responsibility can go a long way to helping them understand saving and spending as an adult.  So, where do you start and what are some strategies to making the allowance gig a teachable moment?

We have a pretty good system at our house.  It isn’t foolproof, nor is it probably the best for every child.  But, it works for us with our eight year-old, and hopefully it will give you some ideas of your own.

First of all, make sure that your child is really ready for an allowance.  Do they understand the importance of money?  Do they see the value in dollars and coins, and do they take care of money when it is given to them?  If you are picking up quarters from under the couch where your child shoved them, your child is probably not quite ready to learn about an allowance.  On the other hand, if your child keeps it in a special place and shows and interest in finding out how to get money, then they are probably ready for an allowance.

Make the amount doable for your family.  Some people follow the dollar-per-age rule, some do a $.50-per-age, but we simply cannot afford that.  So, in our house, our eight year-old gets $2.50 each week.  And, while kids with bigger allowances may have to chip in for things such as birthday presents for friends and such, we don’t do that with ours.  He gets the $2.50 each week, and we provide for other expenses that arise.  But, it isn’t “free” money, that $2.50.  We built in a savings system for him.  Of his $2.50, 10% of it (or $.25) goes to our church offering.  For us, it was important for him to see the value of contributing to our church family.  Then, $1.00 goes directly into a bank on his dresser.  This is his “savings account”, and every quarter, we empty it and add it up.  Then, we (the “bank”) pay him interest for keeping his money there.  While this money isn’t necessarily off limits, he knows that he has to be really careful about spending it, because if there’s nothing in the bank, he doesn’t get any “interest”!  The rest of his allowance goes into his wallet for spending money.  This is HIS money to spend as HE chooses.  He saw early on how important it was to budget and save for things he really wanted.  And, while we don’t tell him what he can and cannot spend his money on, we do offer advice and suggestions to him, which he does carefully consider.

His allowance is his each week, no strings attached.  We don’t pay him for chores or grades or for good behavior.  He has, however, learned the art of negotiation, and he will offer to do “extra” chores around the house if we agree to a payment.  And, sometimes he’s right; for an eight year-old to sweep out the garage is a daunting task, and I am happy to hire him as a bit of ‘contract labor’!  Our thought is that tying an allowance to chores only sets you up for chores not being done when there’s no incentive to spend money at the time. 

It is a good system we have, even though I have a feeling a raise negotiation may be in the works in the next few months.  But, it has been an invaluable lesson in saving, spending and budgeting for our child. 

Let us know what ideas work for you.  Leave a comment and share your thoughts and stories!

Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it
         Than a house full of feasting with strife.
Proverbs 17:1

There is something to be said for practicing what you preach.  This past week, I began facilitating a parenting class based on a book by Tim Kimmel, Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right.  The title is a bit misleading.  There’s no guarantee that your children will grow up to be independent, fulfilled, happy, well-adjusted, gifted, powerful individuals.  What it does do, though, is equip parents with strategies and ideas to improve the core family values and rethink the way we interact with our children.

Our first lesson hit home.  It was on overscheduling and allowing outside factors in our lives become priority over our families, and teaching our children the exact same lesson.  This is pretty much the way I work: I’m on everyone else’s clock but my own.  I work two jobs outside the home, then there’s my church commitments (and there are many), keeping up with the kids and their activities, running the house, and that leaves very little time to be me – to write, to ponder, to enjoy my life.  There’s not much left to enjoy.

So many times we, as parents, get wrapped up in our children’s activites, taking on more and more, and still try to keep up with “our” stuff.  And the family feels it.  Being half-good at doing everything isn’t nearly as beneficial as being really good at just a few things.

I challenge you to take a look at your week.  To see what is going on in your life, your family’s life, and all the stuff in between.  What is really important?  What can take a back seat, either for now or forever?  Make a change in one thing in your everyday life and see what kind of an impact it can make on your relationship with your family.