This morning, Heather told me of the emails going around on her Mom’s group email list. Seems that common sense is in short supply these days. At least that’s the impression I got from the emails she read to me.

First up, Purell. It seems that Purell is now the devil. Some parent didn’t heed the warning on the package to “Keep out of reach of children”, and put it on the edge of the bathroom sink. What did her curious toddler do? Same thing any other one would — took a drink. The kid’s ok, didn’t die, but now some of the Moms are on a campaign to rid the world of Purell. Don’t get me wrong, I think Purell is far over-used in our culture. We’re building stronger germs over time because of it. However, I think it’s a wonderful thing when you need to quickly sanitize your hands and for whatever reason, washing your hands isn’t an option.

Next, Magnetix, a toy for older kids that I’ve never heard of. Seems that back in late 2005, a toddler swallowed a couple of magnets from his older brother’s Magnetix toys. The magnets wended their way through the child’s intestines, eventually attracting the attention of each other, twisting the child’s small intestines around to the point of killing the child. This tragedy, while terrible, could have been avoided by not putting the child in a position to eat the magnets in the first place. Even if the bits weren’t magnets, they’re still a choking hazard, are they not? If they’re a choking hazard, they shouldn’t be within the reach of a toddler like that either, now should they?

Parents, let’s all whip out our common sense and band together against reactionary fury over such easily avoidable problems. Here’s a set of basic rules to follow:

1. If it says “Keep out of reach of children”, then do it.
2. If it’s small enough for a toddler to choke on, keep it away from the toddler
3. If it’s probably going to hurt the child when he/she is unsupervised, find somewhere else to put it.

As parents, we need to realize that we’re the responsible ones. So, go be responsible already.