I don’t know the details of the case, but if there isn’t much more than what is reported — I think this woman’s daughter should hire her own lawyer and sue the mother for neglect. Why? She openly admitted in court that she fed something to her child having no idea what it contained. And better yet — she repeatedly did it. Maybe she should be held on charges of Childism.

This is not to say I think Nutella should be presenting itself as a healthy breakfast option. I am not against lawyers or lawsuits and I am not pro-corporation. However, I am pro-responsibility and pro-reason. Again, I don’t know the details — maybe Ms. Hohenberg asked Nutella to stop their advertising and they refused so the lawsuit was necessary to stop it. And maybe, her admission of being “shocked to learn” that Nutella “was the next best thing to a candy bar,” was something her lawyer came up with to win the case.

In either case — being unable to read or playing the complete fool — it doesn’t say much for Ms. Hohenberg. And beyond that — and most disturbing — she was giving something to her child without knowing its contents. I don’t think that is really the case — I think Ms. Hohenberg is playing both sides of the coin and is willing to admit to a lie (perjury) to gain the other.

So, as I wait for the cost of Nutella to go up and for the next lawsuit (I have money on the lawsuit being about STOP signs not being explicit enough — stop what? the car? the engine? talking?), I will talk to my son about responsibility and reason and work on critical thinking with him — three items that I fear will be even more sorely lacking in the world around him when he is my age.

If you agreed with anything in the last paragraph: LEAVE. You do not belong here.

People are funny. Parents…crazy. I am not engaging in the discussion on teacher compensation (which the Wisconsin discussion is not really about, but this seems to be making front pages anyway) — I own a home, pay school taxes and have a family full of teachers — although I am not one myself — so I do have a point of view on it, but I will let the media outlets mangle a complex issue into sound bites and stock clips.

However, the discussion currently happening in Wisconsin did get me thinking about the current state of parenting, and in particular, my role. Here’s the deal — teachers and parents have a responsibility in the education of America. The current discussion is making enemies of two sides that share one goal: education — and this is not helping. I would rather spend my already limited time on improving my surroundings and not on what other people do or do not have. So, in the spirit of making sure my own house is in order, here is my pledge as a parent:

1. I will discipline my children.
2. I will work with others in educating my children.
3. I will make decisions based on fact, not fiction.

If my son says a teacher “stinks” or is “terrible” (or whatever term he chooses when he finally gets past saying “mom”, “dad”, “no” and “more”), I am not going to light a torch and storm the school — but it also doesn’t mean I will ignore potentially serious issues. It might mean I ask questions and employ….gasp!….common sense.

As seems to be the case in a lot of posts, I am finding that the answers to my questions can be found in two things: common sense and being levelheaded. Which, as yet another snow storm in the Philadelphia area has proven, is not as pervasive in the world around me as I once thought — and yes, I am talking to the person in front of me with only their windshield exposed as the snow still sitting on the rest of the car created a mini-blizzard.

As I posted, drop side cribs are on my Bad Things list for this reason. Drop side cribs are recalled at a fairly regular rate, which makes me wonder why companies continue to produce them (although these started selling back in 2007). If you are a new parent reading this — steer clear of drop side cribs unless it is an absolute necessity.

As I mentioned early, I don’t get overly concerned by illnesses and I don’t scare easily. In fact, I was wondering if the concerned parent instinct in me was completely missing. I wondered if I was going to be that dad that says “toughen up” when my son breaks his arm or otherwise hurts himself. Not only was I concerned this time around, I was scared.

Every so often, something comes along to put the rest in perspective. Work deadlines, layoffs, recession — it all disappears. Before I was a parent, I didn’t understand — I thought I did — but I had no clue. The world stopped around us and we focused on one thing — getting our son better.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was OUR parenting that made the difference and not MY parenting. We made decisions together — some maybe grudgingly — but we worked together. It also gave me a new appreciation of single parents. My wife and I took shifts holding our son as he slept on us for four days with nebulizer treatments every three hours (which moved to four after three days). WE were exhausted, so I cannot imagine what it would have been like had I been on my own.

And the nebulizer. Oh, the nebulizer. If you are reading this, you are most likely a parent so I will only say this — try keeping a 10 month old crawler/stander still with their arms pinned for 7 minutes and a mask over their mouth and nose.

Having another appointment 24 hours after this one sent my recently heightened daddy radar into overdrive. When the pediatrician is visibly concerned — that’s when I worry.

24 long hours of nebulizers and broken sleep had us bleary eyed, but we could see the light coming back into his eyes and I can honestly say that was all that mattered. As my wife came down from changing his diaper, she calmly stated that our son’s stool was red, but she had an idea as to the cause. A few weeks earlier, our neighbors, who have a daughter a week older than our son were shocked by a red stool and immediately called the pediatrician. The cause…the antibiotic (Cefdinir — you can see side effects here at WebMD).

If you are faced with a red stool, do what you need to do. Not all red stools are caused by side effects — so call the pediatrician immediately. We were literally on a way to the pediatrician’s office anyway, so we were able to confirm that it was in fact the antibiotic. But, if you have recently changed antibiotics or are just starting out and come across a red stool — this bit of information might help.

He had his appointment and things had improved, so we didn’t need to check him into the hospital. My wife asked about the red stool and our pediatrician sheepishly said she forgot to mention it. We weren’t upset since she was obviously more concerned about the pneumonia than the side effects of the antibiotics, but were thankful that our neighbors had relayed their own story of the red stool.

It started as a night of broken sleep on Friday and a fever by Saturday. It had the classic signs of an ear infection — wouldn’t sleep unless on one of us, irritable, sporadic vomiting, lethargy and feverish (all symptoms mild and not altogether). A doctor’s appointment on Monday confirmed our thoughts and we got the standard antibiotic. A light ear infection in the right ear and antibiotics — no problem.

The fever persisted the rest of the day and through Tuesday. Irritability did not change and he still was not sleeping in his crib — or anywhere that was not on top of us. A trip to the pediatrician on Wednesday left us with a diagnosis of pneumonia and a full blown ear infection in his left ear.

I typically don’t get concerned when our son is sick since I know time and some antibiotics (if required) will set things right. This was different. Very different.

I get it — no alcohol means longer drying time. However, when you are using hand sanitizer between the dirty diaper and the new diaper, time is very much of the essence — and the alcohol free variety just doesn’t cut it. The jury is still out on what the alcohol fueled products are doing to me health-wise, but since I use hand sanitizers in moderation like enjoyable alcohol, I am not overly concerned.

We do not own a drop side crib, so I can’t say from personal experience that they are dangerous. I can say that everything we read when making a crib decision warned of their dangers, which is why we don’t own one. Raising a kid is stressful enough — so when we can reduce some of that stress, we go for it. We will stick with the stress of holding the monitor extra close to our ears every so often to make sure he is still breathing.

You can sign up for email notice of USCPSC recalls here.

We started with Medela bottles and received these as a gift. My wife liked them for their angled design and vent system. She doesn’t mind the sizing issue — which is why I think I started this blog in the first place. She may have her “mommy instinct”, but I have my “daddy reality”.