For the first time since my husband and I met, we watched the…big football game this past weekend. (I know what it’s called but they’re picky about when you can use it in a blog post and I don’t have enough interest to look into it!) My favorite things about huge events like this are always the commercials. There was the funny nod to Breaking Bad, the always awesome Liam Neeson, and a preview to a new Terminator movie that looks really cool. Then there were the more teary commercials like the lost puppy and the phone call to tell tell your mom you love her… but the one I heard complained about most was the Nationwide commercial, which really was more like a public service announcement.
The commercial, which you can watch HERE, featured a little boy talking about how he was unable to travel the world, get married, or grow up at all because he died of a preventable accident in the home. The video shows an overflowing bathtub, an open area under the sink filled with cleaning products, and a television smashed on the floor. It is a video that raises awareness about these safety issues and to some, it might just seem like a big boo-hoo way to get your attention and reap the publicity over controversy, and maybe it was. What I see is a very real topic that needs to be talked about. I know of four people personally that have actually lost children just to the furniture falling accidents alone. Imagine waking up in the morning to get your child ready for daycare and finding them crushed under a heavy dresser or making dinner and hearing a crash, running to find your television on top of your baby. This is so much more common than you think. Nationwide has put together a site called makesafehappen which talks about securing your heavy furniture properly, along other safety tips, to avoid all of these tragedies.
The chemicals in the cleaners in your house are just as concerning. We love the ease of small laundry detergent pods but do you know how dangerous they are? Their squishy ball-like nature makes them seem fun to squeeze (even to me) but due to the high concentration of detergent, they are actually fatally dangerous. Children have had serious injuries and even perished after obtaining and consuming them. It is so important to keep all of your chemicals out of reach of children, locked up.
We used to keep everything high up in our bathroom closet but last year while I was making lunch for my oldest daughter, she stacked up every book she owned and managed to obtain her children’s vitamins which contained iron. Had she eaten many of them or fed them to her younger siblings, we could have had a tragedy of our own on our hands. Now we lock up vitamins, medications, nail polish, and anything containing harsh chemicals. As much as you are convinced your child will never have the chance to get into these things, it is worth it to be safe for the moments you will have to turn your back to go to the bathroom, make dinner, do dishes, etc. Another suggestion I have is to try and limit your harsh cleaners. Vinegar works for nearly every area of your cleaning, as well as many other more natural options.
My point is that these risks are very real and you think they can’t happen to you until they do. They sound like dramatic fear-mongering stories until they are yours to tell. The Nationwide commercial may have made you a little sad but hopefully it sparked a very real conversation in your household and you’ve analyzed your own home a bit for potential dangers. I know it’s cliché but wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?