Mommin' It Up!

As a parent, I can barely bring myself to acknowledge and think about the fact that there are people out there in this world that would hurt my children. But the fact is true, and it is cruel, and it must be reckoned with. I know that talking to my son Joshua, who is almost five, about safety and “stranger danger” is extremely important. One day I started to broach the subject with him and before getting very far into it at all, I could see that he was becoming frightened. He is very, very innocent and also tends to be fearful in general. So how do I talk to him about child safety without scaring the poor kid to death?

Luckily for me, tomorrow I am going to be on a conference call with an expert, and I am going to ask her just that. Her name is Nancy McBride, and she is the Safety Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The NCMEC has teamed up with Duracell for the third year to offer the Power of Parents child safety program.

The Power of Parents exists to achieve the goal of helping parents prepare, protect and empower their children by providing useful safety tools and information for families. The Power of Parents program web site contains a variety of important FREE safety tools for families to download, including the new Child Safety Handbook. Before I talk to Nancy tomorrow, I am going to head over to the Power of Parents site and download the Child Safety Handbook, a storybook to read with Joshua, and their age-specific “Teachable Moments Guide.” I suggest you all head on over there and do the same!

I’m excited to ask my question of Nancy McBride tomorrow – and I’ll ask YOURS for you too! Leave me a comment with YOUR child safety question and I will ask it for you! Then I’ll report back on what I’ve learned later in the week and let you know how she answered.

This issue is too important for me to ignore any longer, and I believe the same is true for many of you. So head over to the Power of Parents, check it out, and leave me a comment with your question for Nancy. Let’s teach our children what they need to know to protect themselves!