Thursday 22 September 2022

Things My Children Have Taught Me This Summer

First - an update on Auntie Peggy. She was brighter than we'd expected. The change in meds clearly helped. It was good to see her and feel reassured. Thank you all for your concern
This is not a profound post in any way. Just a few observations about how childcare has changed in the last 40 years!
Safety gates - when Liz was a baby we lived in a flat and were very poor. Bob fitted plastic channels inside the door frames and we slid a piece of board in, to keep her in the room. One board, decorated with a Mickey Mouse poster fitted every doorway. "Don't put Mickey in!" was the bedtime lament. But it was effective, cheap and easy. 
In Manchester, there is a safety gate top and bottom of the stairs, and one at George's bedroom door. Every one is different! I had to remember which method to use as I went up and down stairs. 
And don't get me started on the different ways of folding buggies or fitting car seats! "No Grandad, that's not right!" says Rosie helpfully. Perhaps we need to pin up a copy of this poster 
It's not just us - we've seen others on Grands duty struggling in car parks to buckle up the child and get the buggy in the boot. 
But this summer I have picked up two very useful tips from my girls which I think are worth padding on. One you may use, the other I hope you never need. 
First - When you finish your day at the beach, and the tots' feet are all sandy, it takes forever to rinse and dry their toes. Liz taught me to put some baby powder on my hands and rub it over Rosie's feet. The sand and grit comes away easily, and socks slide back on, with no fuss. This tip works for grown up tootsies too! 

BTW, there has been much fuss in the USA about the safety of baby talc. Boots, like Johnson&Johnson now use a maize starch formula. I think the key thing is to avoid clouds of powder round the baby's face. And use a cream for nappy rash. 

Second tip - if you have children around, keep a jar of honey in the house. I knew that if a child swallows a tiny button battery, they need to get to hospital ASAP. Steph told me that you should feed the child 2tsps of honey every 10 minutes until you can get medical  treatment*. This helps reduce risk of serious injury and death. [*not suitable for babies under 12months]
As I said, I hope you never need to use this tip. But it is worth knowing and sharing. Too many children's toys rely on battery power imho, but that's a Rant for another day
My daughters are intelligent and resourceful young women. It is good that each generation can share wisdom with others. 



18 comments:

  1. Oh that brought back happy memories of two small boys, heads just above the board, which slid between the kitchen and the hall, chatting to me while I made their meal. Our board wasn't decorated though!

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    1. The poster was 50p in Athena, because the top was damaged - it was Mickey as the Sorcerors Apprentice from Fantasia. Bob cut round the pattern of stars above Mickey's head

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  2. Both useful tips! Yes, I hope never to have to use no.2. I agree on the battery-powered toys. Also, overly chunky and plastic!

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    1. Our grandchildren have wooden cookers with wooden/fabric food. So much better than plastic!

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  3. Thank you for the tips! Good to know!

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  4. My eldest lot have just moved from a flat to a house just last weekend. I'm visiting this Saturday and can't wait to see how many stairgates I'll have to manoeuvre to get upstairs! Luckily they also have a downstairs cloakroom loo so won't need to make too many upstairs trips! I could never get to grips with the newest grandchild's buggy but thankfully, he's outgrown it now so no more struggling like a lemon to fold/unfold in full public view!

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    1. Have a lovely weekend - I hope they are happy in their new home

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  5. ps The other 'new fangled' idea I could never get to grips with was taking their outdoor coats and jackets off them before they were strapped into their car seats - in the middle of Winter it seemed cruel!

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    1. Steph informs me that "the reason for no coats in car seats is that they create too much distance between strap and child. In a collision the air would be compressed and the child would not properly be restrained." I did not know this - but it makes sense. The safer the better!!

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  6. Love the talc tip.
    Oh goodness the honey thing, I wonder how that works? Like you say we all hope it's something we don't need to do, but thanks for sharing .
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. The talc one is good [for grannies' sandy toes as well!0 The honey apparently sticks to the outside of the battery and apparently slows the leakage of the sinister chemicals inside

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  7. Oh, the batteries are a scary thing aren't they, children and animals have lost their lives because of swallowing the small watch type ones that are in so many toys and gadgets.

    A good tip about the talcum powder, my Dad used to go and fetch a sandcastle bucket of sea water and make us dip our feet in. Getting socks back on damp feet was always a real struggle. I didn't have that problem with my boys as they wouldn't have bare feet on the beach so they both wore wellies, much to mine and everyone else's amusement.

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    1. My dad did the bucket of seawater thing too

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  8. Good tips and I really should get some talcum powder for next summer when the family come and go down to the beach. As for battery toys, I detest them on the whole. When DGD was a pre-schooler she had a game which said at the end, in a particular way, "Let's play again!" When I used to play a simple board game with her, each time it ended, guess what she said, with identical sickening inflection! Drove me nuts!

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  9. I hope that I will never need to know about the honey, but I'm absolutely using the baby powder.

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