Distraction Kills Children

I actually have other things that I planned to post, but I saw an article on Excite News that I just have to say something about.

Sentences Vary When Kids Die in Hot Cars

The article tells the story of a father who simply forgot to take his daughter inside when he got home and had so many things going on that he didn't think about her for 7 hours. I know that our initial thoughts are "How could a responsible adult let that happen?".

I don't have children so the only example I have is something I forgot at work yesterday. I have a very important task to do before I left work. It was simple enough, run a report from our system before the weekend when the system would be taken down for maintenance. I had prepared for this all week sending out emails to users warning about the system outage and how they had to have their data entered before I ran the report. Then halfway through the bus ride home, I gasped as I realized I hadn't run the report. I was on a commuter bus so there was no way I could go back and the system would be taken off line in just 30 minutes. Fortunately, I called around until I found someone who was available to run the report for me. I owe the person donuts or something for saving my "bacon".

The reason I share this recent experience is because I can understand how a mind can become so crowded with thoughts that the important things can get pushed out. Anyone with ADD can understand what I'm talking about. Yes, I have ADD and I went through several years of treatment and therapy to learn how to train my brain around the things that make ADD difficult. Having a crowded brain which is easily distracted is one of those difficulties. The thing is ADD can be a temporary condition for anyone that is experiencing a particularly busy or stressful day. So, anyone could forget something as important as their own child.

As I read the article, I was thinking "this could happen to me". I can remember the complete story of a movie that I watched when I was 6 years old but I would as the cliche goes "forget my head if it weren't attached". It is a frightening thought. My only defense from such a tragedy would be to practice something that I learned to cope with ADD in general. Repitition; create a habit of checking and to create such a habit you have to check every time. In a way, it is like learned obsessive complusion. So, if I had children I would check the car seat every time I got out of the car even if I thought I didn't have the children with me.

What does it take? 2 seconds?

So, I have been tagged again on another fun activity. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

I got Tagged ... Twice!!!

It's like a chain email only it's with blogs. Anyway, there are rules I'm supposed to follow and one of the rules is that I have to put the rules first.

The Rules: "Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples' sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do."

I'm not one for passing on chain emails but this tagging thing seemed like a good way to tell other people about my blog as well as sharing some blogs that I enjoy. I got tagged by Choc Mint Girl and Heaven Above. Now maybe I'm supposed to do 16 of everything because I got tagged twice but I had a hard enough time just doing 8!

1. I often have very dark thoughts that I find somewhat disturbing because I really am a very optimistic person. I think this has to do with having some very dark experiences so I know how brutal life can be but I also know how resilient we all are and that life is so worth it!

2. I love to touch rose petals. They are so soft and delicate.

3. Although I am a technology nerd, I don't own every new gadget. I'm really cheap that way and I will only buy the gadgets I really have a use for and by that time there are newer and better gadgets out.

4. I desparately want to have a child; my husband isn't sure he wants kids. I love my husband and we have a wonderful relationship. I knew about his concern regarding kids when we got married (many years ago) and at the time I honestly thought that I could deal with it. In many ways, this is more challenging than anything else I've dealt with in my life. It is so much easier when there is someone you can blame and hate; a "bad" person.

5. The song "The Greatest Love of All" is my theme song.

6. When I was 12 or 13 I was introduced to Rock and Roll (the members of my family are Country Music folks) and I loved it. One day, my mother caught me jumping on my bed, head banging and singing "Shout, Shout, let it all out" at the top of my lungs. I suspect that she thought I was possessed.

7. Wonder Woman was my hero. I wanted to be able to fight the bad guys the way she did. Beat the crap out of them but still be a lady.

8. A group of my co-workers and I like to joke about writing a musical based on the crazy things that happen at our work. Perhaps, I'll post the opening scene as my next entry!

So, there are the 8 things about myself. Now for the 8 bloggers that I'll be tagging.

1. Correr Es Mi Destino
2. Bizzy Girl's World
3. Herbal Renaissance
4. Amel's Realm
5. Mollotov Cocktail
6. Culumovic
7. Ramblings
8. It's Like You Know ...

For all of you who are following the tag chain, happy blog browsing and happy blogging!