Child Passenger Safety Week

I'm joining a Twitter party to support the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in support of Child Passenger Safety Week (September 15 – 21, 2013). Car crashes are still a leading killer of children age 1 to 13. Having your child in the right seat can make all the difference.

RSVP HERE for the NHTSA Twitter Party!

Knowing when your child is ready for a new car seat can be confusing. This Saturday is National Seat Check Saturday and a perfect time to get your car seat checked. Find your local event here: safercar.gov/therightseat (English) and safercar.gov/protegidos (Spanish).

Did You Know?

“In 2011, over one third of children killed in car crashes were not in car seats or wearing seat belts.”

“Car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury in cars by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers.”

“In 2011, an average of 2 children died every day in motor vehicle crashes.”

What questions do you have about car seats? 

Find out if you are using the right car seat! 

Visit safercar.gov/therightseat and join us for the NHTSA

Twitter Party on Wednesday!

When: Wednesday September 18, 2013 from 2pm – 3pm ET

Hashtag: #therightseat

Host: Twitter.com/NHTSAgov

RSVP HERE! Shared here: Between Naps On The Porch Monday Funday

Save The Children: Get Ready Get Safe and Maine Preparedness Reort

Did you know that 28 states in the United States still lack basic measures to safeguard children against disaster in childcare and schools?

Is your state one of them?

Mine is. 

Here is our "Unsatisfactory" report.....

Totally shameful. 

So, I wrote to my Governor and then I shared it with my friends on Facebook and Twitter.

And, now, I'm sharing it with you.

Do you want to know how your state did?

Click HERE to find out. 

Please, when you're done... share it with everybody!!

This kind of basic safety is so ESSENTIAL. 

And sharing it is so SIMPLE.

We can make a DIFFERENCE. 

Last year was a full of disasters, man made and natural. 

We can do something to be prepared!!

Since Hurricane Katrina, Save the Children has commissioned a state-by-state report of US Preparation and Safety Standards for children in childcare and schools. 

Save the Children’s disaster report card tracks progress on four critical standards: that states require all child care centers to have 

1) an evacuation plan, 

2) a family reunification plan 

3) a plan for children with special needs

4) that states require all schools to have disaster plans that account for multiple types of hazards

You can find Save The Children at these social media sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Google +

Pinterest

They have also got some very very helpful ways of planning ahead!

Here is a checklist for families to make their own personal plans:

GO HERE to find your own printable or downloadable version of this checklist.

Here is a checklist for childcare providers:

GO HERE to download or print this checklist.

I shared this post here:
Between Naps on the Porch
Monday Funday

A Marvelous Mess!!

Friends of ours got married this summer.

And, thanks to Maine for giving all people the right to marry another of the same sex.... the two friends of ours were both men. I could not have been more proud of them..... and of the people of our state for taking such a wonderful stance on gay marriage.

One that I hope will inspire all the other states to do the same. 

They specifically said "No presents", but I couldn't resist. 

On their invitation they had an image based off the animated drawings by Emily Hubley, made for the song The Origin of Love (which was written by Stephen Trask and about Plato's Symposium) for the movie version of the theatrical play Hedwig and the Angry Inch. *whew*

It looks like this:

Wikipedia tells me that Symposium has a speech in it from Aristophanes:

"According to the speech, long ago, humans were composed of two people stuck back-to-back, with two faces and eight limbs. Male-male humans came from the Sun, female-female humans from the Earth and male-female humans from the Moon. The gods, out of jealousy, split them in half. Now, throughout our lives, we are always trying to find our "other half", and sexual intercourse is the only means we have to put the two halves back together; this desire to be one person again is what we call "love". However, it is impossible to fully rejoin two people because it is our souls and not our bodies that most desire to be reunited."

I love the image (though I'm not a big fan of those petty greek gods). 

So, I made it out of wool and I'm going to put it in the mail for them tomorrow!

Here is mine:

Hopefully, for this moment anyway, they are not faithful followers of my blog. 

I doubt it, as they are both very busy men.

But, if for some reason, either one of you sees this post..... thank you so much for inviting me to your wedding. 

It was beautiful.

~

My fave from last week:

Copy McDonalds BBQ Chicken Wrap from Princess and Her Cowboys.

Now, on to the party!!!!

I shared this post here:
Between Naps on the Porch
Weekly Creative Link
Link Party Palooza
Monday Funday