- Has your child ever fallen off the bed and bumped their head?
- Has your child ever dashed off into the road?
- Has your child ever climbed on a chair to get in a cabinet?
- Has your child ever went after a socket on the wall?
- Has your child ever locked them self in the bathroom?
- Has your child ever choked on a cracker because they didn’t chew it well enough?
- Has your child ever fallen down the steps?
- Has your child ever done something you have told them not to do?
What’s your child doing right this very instance while you are reading this? Just wondering if you are a perfect parent that has never once taken their eyes of their child for even an instant. All of these things can happen in an instant and all of them can be deadly, just like falling in a pool.
Injury is the leading cause of death in children and young adults. According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were approximately 2,800 children, ages one to 14 years, that died from an unintentional injury .
- Falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury for children. Children ages 14 and under account for one-third of all fall-related visits to hospital emergency rooms.
- In 2003, nearly 285,600 children ages 14 and under were treated in the US for bicycle-related injuries. Nearly half (47 percent) of children ages 14 and under hospitalized for bicycle-related injuries are diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
- Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages one to 14. The majority of drownings and near-drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites. However, children can drown in as little as one inch of water.
- Airway obstruction injury is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among infants under age one.
- Approximately 45 percent of unintentional injury deaths occurred in and around the home. Unintentional home injury deaths to children are caused primarily by fire and burns, suffocation, drowning, firearms, falls, choking and poisoning
Think before you judge people, especially a family in mourning.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Ross Family.
I agree!
.-= Jenny´s last blog ..Giving Into The Kids =-.
Ahhh, the voice of reason.
.-= Kate´s last blog ..UL Fireplace Safety and Best Buy $100 Gift Card =-.
I also agree! You can NOT watch your kids 24/7. This was a accident! Thoughts and Prayers to the Ross Family!
I agree with you 110%. Great post!
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..Omg The cute. =-.
I think that there is negligence, and there are accidents.
I’ve seen negligence….a drunk mother allowing her 2 year old to ROAM the neighborhood. Day, after day neighbors would take the girl in and feed her and take care of her until her father came home.
I’ve lived accidents….my daughter was playing in the house and yes I told the kids to stop running about 40 times, but they did it anyway. She slammed into the wall, was bleeding out of her mouth and cut her cheek open. It swelled up to twice it’s normal size and took months to heal and she has a scar. What was i doing at the time…nothing, sitting at the kitchen counter planning dinner.
Most accidents turn out ok…a few more grey hairs maybe – a few are tragic. That doesn’t necessarily mean the parent was negligent.
.-= Kim @ What’s That Smell?´s last blog ..Tasty holiday ideas from Sara Lee & Hillshire Farm + a $500 Walmart gift card contest =-.
I agree! There is a big difference
Well done! And totally true!
.-= Miss Blondie´s last blog ..WW- In Memory of Bryson Ross =-.
I agree that there is a huge difference between negligence and accidents. I know I can say yes to at least one of those things you posted above. And where was I? Right next to her.
.-= Trish´s last blog ..Spam Jokes =-.
To answer your questions, yes, my child (or at least one of them at some point) have done everything listed. Does that make me a bad parent? No. It just makes my kids…well…kids and circumstances of accidents.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people, I don’t know why, but it happens, as much as I wish it didn’t.
.-= Cat´s last blog ..Kodak ESP 9 AIO Printer Review =-.
So very true. Accidents happen in the blink of an eye and we cannot be holding our children 24/7. Things happen…accidents happen. They’re sad, scary and unfortunate but they happen.
.-= Stefanie´s last blog ..Fight Against Child Hunger =-.
Those who are criticizing, are either doing so out of their own fears or a false feeling of superiority. Either way they are completely unrealistic. This was shown by their spreading of inaccurate rumors without having the facts.
.-= Robin G´s last blog ..Join the Warm & Fuzzy Campaign and Support Toys for Tots =-.
I could not agree more. You said everything I have thought, just much more eloquently than I could have. Great post!
.-= Whitney´s last blog ..Christmas is Love =-.
How I wish this was over for Shellie already. As if grieving wasn’t hard enough.
.-= Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting´s last blog ..I’m Betty Freakin’ Crocker. Only Organic. And Hopped Up on Coffee. =-.
There are minor accidents and there are tragic accidents – the degree of damage does not negate the fact that it IS an accident. And accidents happen to the best of parents.
.-= Creative Junkie´s last blog ..I hope they taste more color-coordinated than they look =-.
You are so right! Accidents happen unfortunately. I just can’t imagine what Shellie and her family are going through right now
.-= Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy´s last blog ..No Coupon Inserts for 12/20/09 =-.
This is why I love you, Brandy. You tell it like it is!
GREAT job.
And yeah, my daughter has done nearly all of those things. And some of them I was standing right next to her when they happened. Kids are QUICK little suckers. Curious, fearless…that is what makes them kids.
I am NOT a negligent parent, I just have a very inquisitive and curious child.
He who is without sin, cast the first stone.
.-= Shan @ Last Shreds Of Sanity´s last blog ..Just Another Wordless Wednesday…Candles For Bryson =-.
Yes I think that all my children have done the above. No parent is perfect and I don’t believe for a second that there is one parent that can say that their child has never had a accident.
I would have to live in a bubble for my children to never get hurt.
Great Post
Well said Brandy.
.-= Zippy´s last blog ..Book Reviews: The CIG to Psychology =-.
I totally agree. People shouldn’t judge others. Case in point, when I was working nights one night, I had to go into work early about 9pm.
My husband was at home with the kiddos. He heard a knock on the door. It was a girl, in high school. She wanted to talk to my step-son (my husband’s son) who was in high school too. So my husband went and told him, but told him to stay in the yard.
Then my husband went into the bathroom. He thought he heard our son yelling, but thought it could be a program on the TV too. So, he finished his business and went to the front door.
What did he see? A gang, about seven guys and this girl beating my son up.
My husband let our then dog out (he was a german shepard) and the dog got some of the kids off our son and then my husband threw a couple others off, while yelling for the neighbors to call 911.
Seems these kids were having a gang initiation and they wanted to steal my son’s ROTC jacket off of him as part of the initiation, though this would be found out a couple weeks later.
My husband did nothing wrong, because he only saw a girl come to the door. I guess she was the decoy and once the ROTC boys come to the door the gang then comes from somewhere else and beats on the kids til they get what they want out of them, usually their letter jackets.
Our son ended up with a concussion and had to go to the ER. All of the kids got away because my husband was more worried about him then trying to hold down the attackers.
The neighbors and all of them gave descriptions of the gang members, but my son knew none of them. They got caught doing the same thing to another boy a couple of weeks later.
So how do you know what is going to happen at all times and all places? You don’t.
You don’t even know what could happen in your own home and own yard all the time. You just don’t and to judge someone saying they should is just wrong.
But for the Grace of God there go I. They should think about this saying before they judge others.
My heart and prayers go out to the Ross family. As a mother who has buried two children of my own, I’m stunned that writing a post such as this was necessary. I don’t want to know why. I’ve learned in my 54 years that no one should ever judge anyone. Ever.
The Ross family has a very long road ahead of them. The hardest times are yet to come. The love and support needs to continue long after the funeral of their sweet little angel. The sadness and pain never go away. It just gets different.
This is a good way to look at what happened. It is so sad that people are quick to judge someone’s parenting. Seriously, how many times has a mom looked up from her laptop to see her child chewing on an electrical cord or trying to unlock the front door? It only takes a second for things to go horribly wrong. Unfortunately accidents happen.
I agree. Why does everyone feel the need to question and try to be whistle blowers when there’s nothing to blow about? My opinion is if the situation doesn’t ring true to you, then gracefully bow out, there’s no need to assault grieving families.
.-= Cheryl@SomewhatCrunchy´s last blog ..I Want To See These Movies!! =-.
What a good post about accidents that can happen. My heart goes out to the Ross family at this time.
.-= Bobbi Janay´s last blog ..5 Years =-.
I would like to say, I am a CASA worker (great volunteer opportunity) and working with the program has changed the way I think about parents and people in general. When you realize what horrible child abuse occurs on a daily basis you will naturally become a lot less judgmental of parents whose values or parenting practices are not your own. I am far from perfect but I would like to add that judging others is definitely something I am going to work on more and more as the new year goes on.
.-= sarah´s last blog ..Screw Lucy’s Top 5 Virginia Resorts for the Holidays =-.
Well said, we are human beings not perfect people, as there is no such thing as perfect. Man I recall my children falling more times than not while I was sitting right here, I even had to call the ambulance one time because my 1 year old couldn’t move his arm, and he had only woken up from a nap, he had nursemaids elbow, a common thing my oldest had as a baby. I wouldn’t have been able to stop his elbow from popping out, he was napping in a safe place, a crib that he couldn’t get out of … so it’s wrong to judge, no one is perfect and to sit here and be horribly mean to a mother in her time to mourn is horrible and insensitive I feel!
.-= Brandy´s last blog ..My Independent Nature =-.