Author Archives: Dy Larson

Is Your New Place Safe?

When you buy a house you never really know what you’re going to get until you move in. Take the time, before the furniture arrives to make sure the place is safe, you never know what other people may have left behind. My husband and I were fortunate enough to spend the first night in our house alone; our almost 4-year old daughter decided that staying at the hotel with Grandma, who had come to help us move, would be more fun. I was determined to enjoy a long hot bath in my new garden tub before the insanity of … Continue reading →

Let’s Go Fly a Kite!

Yea, this is a safety blog, why the heck am I talking about kites? Well, it started with a beautiful, sunny, windy Sunday and ended with four burnt fingers, two cut fingers, one just shy of needing stitches, and a LOT of antibacterial ointment, the good kind with the painkiller and some cool pirate bandages. Intrigued? I would be if I weren’t a writer with a right (dominant, for me) hand covered in skulls and crossbones (Girlchild wanted a pirate party last year and these were left over party favors), and aches. We went to fly the kite today. My … Continue reading →

Hand Washing 101

Frequent, correct hand washing is the number one way to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses that make us ill. How do you wash your hands? How often? If you work in child care, food service, or health care you probably pass the proper hand washing poster several times each day. Do you ever bother to read it anymore? If you do read it, do you pay attention? For those of who don’t work with these posters every day, and even those of you who do, here’s a brief refresher in the right way to wash your hands. Look … Continue reading →

Expunge the Sponge

With all the recent blogging about germs and the many places in our homes they hide I thought it time to point out the biggest spreader of things-that-make-you-go-ewww in the house: the sponge. Most of us, me included until I started writing this blog, assume that the sponge we use to clean our kitchens or bathrooms simply must be be clean, after all it’s soaked in cleanser by the time you’re done, right? Wrong. Sponges are fertile ground for germs, particularly bacteria that love a nice, dark, moist home in which to grow. So what do you do? No one … Continue reading →

Keeping an Eye Out for Molesters Away from Home

When we were house hunting a few years I made a list of the exact address of houses we were short listing. My husband looked at me funny until I commandeered his computer and began pulling up the sex offenders in the area around each location. There was only one house on our short list that we eliminated because of the proximity of a child predator, but eliminate it we did. Now that we’ve moved I try to check our address at the sex offender registry at least once a month. But it’s not enough. When it comes to child … Continue reading →

Finding Sex Offenders

Okay, none of us really wants to FIND a sex offender, unless, of course, you happen to work in law enforcement. But, if you have kids, you want to know where they are and if it is anywhere near your home. In Texas, currently, the law requires a registered sex offender to have a sign on the front lawn indicating that they are a sex offender (Sex Offender Lives Here, etc.) for the duration of their probationary period (usually post-incarceration). Once they are off probation, though, they are free to remove the sign. I don’t think it’s that easy everywhere, … Continue reading →

Evacuation – Where Do You Go?

There are several answers to this question, and there should be. First, you want an immediate meeting place similar to, if not the same as, the one in your home fire plan. The most common reason to evacuate is a household fire, so this is a top priority. A place everyone knows they need to get to in order to be safe and so that adults will know they are there. This last is vital, nothing is more tragic than someone who dies attempting to rescue someone who has already gotten out of the building. If you only have to … Continue reading →

Evacuation Planning – Why Do I Need to Leave?

Evacuation planning, based on what I’ve learned so far, involves lots of lists. I love lists. I’m not very good about doing anything with them, but boy do I love to make them. What kind of lists? The first list you want to make is a list of potential circumstances under which you might need to evacuate your home. Make a list of all the reasons you can think of. Then ask other people for input; maybe make the list as a family around the dinner table one night. For the first draft, include everything, every idea or crazy notion … Continue reading →

ICE – Emergency Contacts for Phones

I am becoming an ICE queen. Since I first learned about the ICE idea I have been obsessively reprogramming phones wherever I go. ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency” and more and more emergency services are asking people to utilize this abbreviation. It gives emergency personnel an instant way to identify which numbers they need to call. They don’t have to waste time doing reverse look-ups based on the address on your driver’s license or scrolling through what may be a lengthy address book looking for an obvious clue as to who to call (entries labeled “Mom” and the … Continue reading →

Evacuation – What would you bring?

My in-laws came to visit us last September. All six adults, 3 children, and six dogs of them (argh!), courtesy of Hurricane Rita. It was interesting to see how each family prepared so differently; the parents of adult children, the parents of teens, and the parents of a toddler. My parents-in-law packed paperwork, medication, their pillows, some clothes, and supplies for their dog (his food/bowl/medications). They secured and covered their first floor windows before they left and let it go at that. They were the first to evacuate, the first to arrive at our house, and the only ones who … Continue reading →