Sunday, October 14, 2012

Kids really do say and do the darnedest things!

When I was reading through my e-mails I found this and just had to pass it on.  Kid's really doing say the darnedest things and listening closely can really give us new insight into our world and a good chuckle.

Why do We Love Children?
1) NUDITYI was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'
2) OPINIONSOn the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.'
3) KETCHUPA woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle, the phone rang; so, she asked her four-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'
4) MORE NUDITYA little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'
5) POLICE # 1While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about six years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop?' 'Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. 'My mother said that if I ever needed help, I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'
6) POLICE # 2It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then toward the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'
7) ELDERLYWhile working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. One day, I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'
8) DRESS-UPA little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.'
'And, why not, darling?'
'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'

9) DEATHWhile walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his five-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers; and, with sonorous dignity, intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.'
(I want this line used at my funeral!)
10) SCHOOLA little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'
11) BIBLEA little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.
'What have you got there, dear?'
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam 's underwear!'

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Should Sports Be Revised to Keep Young Children Safer?

Emergency room visits for sports-related brain injuries has risen by 60% over the last ten years.   Should contact sports for children under fourteen be motified to stop this growing trend?   Is this spike directly associated with the fact that children seem to be playing contact sports at younger ages than ever before? There is growing support for these changes because young brains under the age of fourteen are more vulnerable due to neck weakness.  The proposed changes will effect the nature of many sports, but the three "biggies" will incur changes that will change these games significantly if they are adopted.  Here are the proposed changes for children under fourteen:

Football-eliminate tackling, adopt flag football, use tackle dummies to teach tackling
Soccer-no heading as most of the head injuries in soccer are linked to this practice
Hockey-no full body checking
Field Hockey & LaCrosse-use helmets,  most of the injuries are due to being hit with the sticks

I don't think many parents would argue that the use of helmets in LaCrosse and Field Hockey is something that they couldn't live with in order to keep their child safer while playing.  However, I think that this group is going to come up against some significant resistance from parents whose children participate in the "big three".  I think some parents will argue that these changes are going to change the nature of these games too much and their children will not be prepared to play theonce they reach fourteen.  Parents argueing for these changes not only make the point about safety but also the effect these injuries have on the health care system.

The debate begins.  Will child safety win out over sports or will sports be the victor?  Only time will tell.  I think that there are going to be some very heated debates between parents on both sides of this issue before any decision is finalized.