Most of us look at child proofing like we look at an IRS audit: we hope we never have to go through it. If we do, we hope it only happens once. Have you ever looked around your once child proofed house and noticed the many hazards that have piled up like your laundry. As we do a safety tune-up (yes, even the Paranoid Sisters need safety tune-ups) we take you with us.

Alone in the Tub Would you leave your 2-1/2 year old in the tub alone? If we are being absolutely honest we might say "Maybe for a few seconds while I run the dirty laundry the 5 steps down the hall to the laundry room". Would you leave your 2-1/2 year old unattended for longer than that? I would hope not.

I did it by accident a couple of weeks ago. Here's what happened. I ran the tub thinking I would put the kids in right away. After it was filled up I went to round up the kids. They were all playing quietly. This only happens in my home when the moon and stars properly align and apparently they had properly aligned. So I figured I would take advantage of the quiet time and do a little research on the internet. About 5 minutes had gone by when my youngest son appeared next to me wet from head to toe and proudly announced "I take a bath". I turned around and none of my kids were where they had been a few minutes before. I tore down the hall and looked into the tub. I was lucky this time. No one else was in the tub.

It was another reminder of how we can let our guard down a little and a potentially disastrous situation can arise. I make sure now that if I fill the tub and the kids don't go in right away I close and lock the door. Be careful that you don't leave your kids "Alone in the Tub."

As always, thanks.

If you have any "I learned it the hard way stories," let us know. We'll put something together for a future edition.