The Importance Of Teaching Kids Their Parents And Guardians Phone Number and How To Call Collect

I woke up early from an awful dream... I left my daughter at a Verizon store and forgot to pick her back up...then couldnt find her hrs later...we found her purse & her dead Cricket phone in there & signs she had settled down somewhere.

For real life that means for me that it's time to cancel my Verizon phone and make sure kids still know how to call collect and my new Cricket number. Good reminder!

YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR KID MIGHT GET LOST OR EVEN ABDUCTED! 

The following is also a good thing in case of other emergencies. These days it's easy to reach authorities for kids to locate their parents or pass on emergency information. 

When I was about 5 years old, my mother collapsed at the kitchen table and fell into a seizure. I was home alone with her. My parents had taken me to to their volunteer German red Cross classes since I was a toddler.  I called my grandma, gave her all the necessary information,  and she called an ambulance. I put my mom into a safety position the best I knew how and removed furniture and objects that could hurt her. My mom was saved, though she was in a coma for a while. But my calling for help was the thing that saved her. It was a life saver to know how to make that call and do some First Aid.

The very least your kids should know is how to call 911 or reach an operator by dialing "0"! Of course, they need to know their parents or guardians full name, too, and if possible, their address! Calling collect is easy, too, with phone numbers like 1-800-Collect.  Kids are the best learners at an early age! teach them every day, keep at it a couple of weeks, and they'll know how to act in an emergency situation!

 

My Volunteer Work with Boise River Volunteers (BRV)

Boise River Volunteers or "BRV" is a non-profit, self-sponsored organization that cleans up the Boise and Payette Rivers in Idaho. We float the river over 11,000 hours each year on pontoon boats, paddle cats and rafts and stop to pick up trash alongside or in the stream. In the process, we literally rid the area of tons of recyclable garbage and make our environment cleaner and safer for us all! It's a blast for everyone involved!
Besides doing "cleanups", we also help floaters to fix air leaks and re-inflate their floating devices and boats when needed. If injuries occur, we are there to help, as well.

Our volunteers are widely diversified. We cover most every age, culture and income group. You are sure to make new friends on almost every float. Anyone can join, from kids to seniors. We even encourage the disabled to come with us and enrich their life by helping a good cause! 

Throughout the year there are several fundraising events. Recently we manned the Kids Zones at Eagle Island Experience and Boise Beer Fest. Next Saturday, August 20,'11, there is going to be a BRV Fundraiser Car Wash in the car lot of Cabela's in Boise. Come and check us out while we wash your car!

We love donations of any kind that can help the cause. Whether it is money or items we can use on a float, we appreciate any help we can get! If you are part of a company, that would like to become a sponsor, we would like to hear from you!

Anyone, who's interested in helping and maybe becoming part of our team of volunteers, please sign up at www.riverhelpers.com and read more about us in our "About" section. You can also find us on Facebook - Boise River Volunteers, and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/riverhelpers

I will write quite a few posts regarding Boise River Volunteers in future, so be sure to visit again to learn more about this great way to spend time with family and friends, while volunteering for a great cause!

Wonderful Junk Drawers...

I love my junk drawer! Every time I find something in my home that I can't classify as belonging into any particular spot, it goes into that drawer. After a while, when I need something and can't find it anywhere, I go to my junk drawer in the kitchen and - boom - there it is! Not to mention, that going through my junk drawer often yields unexpected treasures lol. So today I came across a package of shoe laces I've had in there forever, as it seems, and they were a perfect match for some older Converse shoes I own, because the ones, that were in the shoes were no longer doing their job, because they were tied together in hard knot I just couldn't pry apart.
Of course, you will think that a junk drawer seems like a messy alternative to putting stuff somewhere in a more organized fashion, but I just love digging through my "junk" and finding stuff I really didn't need when it was thrown in there, and get inspired by other stuff I see. I guess it must be the treasure hunter in me - it takes a little more effort to find stuff, but in the end it's kind of rewarding. My kids like the concept, as well!