Category: Our stories

  • Leaving Your Childs Door Open At Night Can Be Deadly

    2 a.m. and you’re sound asleep. You’re kids are down the hallway and you remembered to shut their door after you tucked them in. You shut your door too. You can’t hear them, but you realize that what would you expect to hear at 2 a.m.?

    Their room is safe. They can’t fall far off their beds. Their floor is padded carpet. They’ll be ok. You told yourself it’s ok that their door and yours is closed. If they need you, they can come to you. It’s a good thing you listened. 2:02 a.m. and the next thing you know you’re wide awake hearing the smoke alarm going off.

    Fear freezes you, and you think straight to getting to your children. You bolt for the door and as soon as you open it, heavy, hot smoke pours in and forces you to close it. You can’t go that way. You call 911. You’re able to get out the window. You meet the firefighters in the front yard when they arrive.

    Leaving Your Childs Door Open At Night Can Be Deadly
    Leaving Your Childs Door Open At Night Can Be Deadly

    You tell them your children are in that front window in their bedroom. You did your part and shut the door. The firefighters did their part too. They trained for this exact scenario. They get to work and throw the ladder and get inside that window. No smoke pours out of the window as they go in because the door inside was closed.

    The next thing you see is your kids being handed to the firefighter on the ladder. They’re crying, but their safe. No burns. No cuts or bruises. They’re perfectly safe. After the fire is out, the Captain shows you through the house and praises you for shutting the door. You see first-hand the outside of the door that stopped all the heat and smoke from hurting your children and you. It’s black and scarred.

    The inside is almost perfectly white. Almost no smoke got inside. You did your part and closed before you dozed. You gave us, the fire department time, and we did our part. We kept a family together tonight instead of having to tell a mother her children are dead, or a child that mommy won’t be coming back. Good for you. Now spread the word to everyone else. Let’s give every family this chance. #closebeforeyoudoze #firefighterrescue #familiestogether #werecomingforyou

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009462775639

     

  • Nurse Placing Nappy Over Our Son’s Face Is Not Okay

    On the 12th October I set off to go and see Henry as usual I walk in and walk over to my son to see this.

    He had a nappy over his face, he had a blanket on him in a humidified incubator and he had his feeding tube hung up to the side of his incubator with a piece of sellotape. Why? Why would he possibly need a nappy over his face and why would this be acceptable?

    Apparenly because his nurse was trying to sort a cannula in his left foot for some antibiotics and the light was too bright. Which was not in when I got there. Anyone who has had or know of anyone who has been in nicu knows that they have blankets over the top of their incubator so the light doesn’t shine on them, however this still confuses me as Henry’s eyes are nowhere near his feet… it is also important that when you’re feeding anyone through a NG tube that it is important to stay with them whilst the feed is being done and monitor them closely just incase the feed needs to be stopped immediately.

    Colin got told off a few days prior as he was taking a photo of Henry and HOLDING his tube and the nurse said you can’t do that, you have to watch the baby at all times as Henry has desaturations. So why is this acceptable for a nurse who has been trained and knows the importance?

    When I walked in I got the doctor straight away and said why have I walked into my son like this, the doctor said I’m not sure I will go and get his nurse, a student nurse then came over and said she’s so sorry she’s never seen anything like this. The nurse looking after Henry was nowhere to be seen, when I questioned this I got told that she was in the reception speaking to someone, another patients parent. If I remember correctly she only had Henry at this point as it was very quiet in nicu.

    This was Henry’s last ever feed as after this feed his feeds got stopped due to an infection it was 8ml of milk, a tiny amount of milk that would have taken no longer than 30 seconds to hold and let go down.

    If Colin and I put a nappy over Henry’s face and tied his tube up with and left him to go and speak to one of the other mums we would have had social services come to us and questions would have been asked regarding our parenting skills so why is this acceptable? Someone we trust to look and care for our babies while we can’t?

    I took a photo straight away and it was sent to the matron and we still haven’t got the answers from an “investigation” being taken place about it so no doubt she is doing it to other baby’s in a vulnerable position.

    Myself Harper and Henry all born prematurely and they have done a fantastic job im not saying the hospital is bad but on this particular day walking into this, seeing my son being treated like this is NOT ok!

    Please share 💛

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/jessica.johnston.9028

     

  • A Reasonable Man Driven To Do Unreasonable Things

    Sit down kids and let me tell you a tale, about a reasonable man driven to do unreasonable things.

    Marvin Heemeyer was a man who owned a muffler shop in Granby Colorado. The city council ordained to approve the construction of a concrete factory in the lot across from Marvin’s shop. In the process this blocked the only access road to the muffler shop. Marvin petitioned to stop the construction to no avail. Petitioned to construct a new access road, and even bought the heavy machinery to do so himself. Denied.

    The concrete factory went up in disregard to the ramifications on Marvin’s business. To add insult to injury, the factory construction disconnected the muffler shop from the city sewage lines. An indifferent city government then chose to fine Marvin for this.

    His business and livelihood were in ruin. Rather than lie down and die, Marvin chose to fight back. Over the course of a year and a half Marvin secretly outfitted the bulldozer he bought to save his business with three foot thick steel and concrete armor, camera systems guarded with bulletproof glass.

    On June 4th 2004 Marvin Heemeyer lowered the armored shell over top of himself, entombing himself inside the Killdozer to make his last stand.

    He burst fourth from the walls of his muffler shop and straight into the concrete factory that ruined his business. Over the course of the next several hours Marvin drove his Killdozer through 13 buildings owned by those officials that had wronged him, including the city council building itself.

    Swat teams swarmed the dozer, but it proved immune to small arms fire and even explosives. Another piece of heavy machinery was even brought out to fight the Killdozer, but it too fell to the dozers righteous fury.

    In the end, Marvin’s Killdozer became trapped in one of the buildings it was built to destroy. Marvin chose to take his life, the only life he took that day.

    Today we celebrate Killdozer day and Marvin Heemeyer, the last great American folk hero. A man driven to the brink who chose to fight back against an indifferent system.

    From notes left behind after his passing:

    “I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.”

    When injustice becomes the law, resistance becomes duty

     

  • This Is The Underwear We Give To Survivors Of Rape

    This is the underwear that no woman wants to wear.

    And it’s not just because it’s a plain cotton sports bra the color of Pepto-Bismol.

    It’s because this is the underwear we give to survivors of rape and sexual assault after we take their own underwear as evidence.

    We take their nice underwear, their favorite underwear, their cute underwear, their comfy underwear, their best-fitting bra, their 75-dollar designer bra, their weekend bra, their work bra. And we take it away from them while wearing gloves, and drop it into a paper bag, and seal it with evidence tape and write their police case number on the outside, and send it to the state crime lab, and they never see it again.

    And we give them some Fruit from the Loom to wear home, back to a life and a world they no longer recognize and no longer trust.

    But here’s the kicker: That boring sports bra is WAY way WAY better than what some survivors get when they’re discharged.

    Some women have ALL of their clothes taken for evidence. Shirt. Undershirt. Pants. Bra. Underwear. Even their socks. And if the local forensic/sexual assault program that cares for them doesn’t have — or won’t buy — or can’t buy — clothes for them, they get discharged in hospital scrubs.

    And grippy hospital socks.

    And postpartum white-mesh hospital underwear.

    And no bra.

    Ever seen a woman who’s just been raped, just had a three-hour forensic exam, just had every surface of her battered body swabbed and photographed and inventoried for the police, ever seen her walk out of a hospital wearing oversized hospital scrubs —

    —and her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, ashamed, because she doesn’t have a bra to wear?

    I have.

    And I absolutely refuse to ever see it again.

    This is $150 of underwear from Kohl’s. My team and I buy this underwear ourselves for our patients, because we are no longer willing to let any of our survivors go home without a bra, or without a decent pair of underwear.

    If you are looking for a place to donate something meaningful this holiday season, reach out to your local Forensic Nursing team, rape crisis center, or domestic violence shelter.

    Go to Wal-Mart, or Kohl’s, or Target, and buy clothes you’d feel comfortable in curled up, safe at home, watching TV. And donate them.

    New underwear, a comfortable bra, a comfortable pair of pants, a soft hoody, squishy socks — all of these things can help make a woman who has survived a violent rape feel like a person again.

    A person.

    Not a victim.

    Because it’s a long walk down that hallway, out of the hospital, and back into the world.

    At least she can be comfortable as she takes each step.

    * * *

    Update 12/6 — Looking for a local organization that supports survivors of rape and sexual assault? You can start here:

    https://centers.rainn.org/

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/martha.phillips.RN

     

  • Handmade Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Cheap

    Why I am reluctant to take on commissions….

    I often get asked if I can ‘make one of those’ for people. whether it be a blanket, a poncho, or more recently a length of crochet chain.

    I really hope I do not come across as rude or dismissive when I am reluctant to quote – but I will tell you exactly why I am reluctant to quote.

    Let’s use the crochet paper chain as an example….

    I usually answer the question with … “Well, I will quote you but just to let you know that this crochet chain took me just under ten hours to make.” (35 links at 17 minutes per link = 595 minutes / by 60 = 9.91 hours)

    At the point I don’t even mention the material cost as I would expect that paying me a decent hourly rate for 10 hours would put them right off straight away 🙂

    Sometimes it doesn’t put them off so I go on to prepare the quote:

    Yarn (100g of Twinkle DK) £2.70

    Hourly rate – 10 hours at….. well, what is my time worth? Let’s do minimum wage at around £8.00…

    So, This piece of crochet chain, barely longer than a meter will cost £82.70, please and thank you 🙂

    Let’s be honest… you’re not gonna pay that are you?

    You’re not even gonna pay me half… or even quarter.

    The probable expected price would have been around a fiver… after all, that’s more than what you would pay for a string of fairy lights in B&M.

    In other words, the yarn price is covered and here’s a little bit extra for your work.

    Believe me, it happens.

    What doesn’t happen so often is the understanding that THIS is my work – I cannot afford to give 10 hours (or sometimes 100 hours if it is a blanket) for free. I need those hours to work on class samples, or at this time of year, gifts for family.

    My offer of….”but I could happily teach you how to make your own” often falls flat…. which confuses me somewhat. So, you don’t want to invest the time into making your own, but you also don’t want to pay me to make it for you.

    I once asked a bloke who asked me to make a 100 hour blanket for his wife (and nearly fainted at the price) what he did for a living…. he was a painter and decorator, so I offered to trade hours – I will give you 100 to make the blanket, you do 100 hours of decorating for me! (I would have LOVED that – always happy to do skill trades if anyone is still reading 🙂 Anyway.. he laughed and said ‘not a chance’… so his work was obviously worth so much more than mine. He didn’t get his blanket… not from me anyway 🙂

    So, after a long winded musing…. the moral of the story is, handmade doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. And if you get something handmade this Christmas then that person REALLY, REALLY loves you. Treasure it 🙂

    Oh, and come and learn a craft yourself, and you can have this rant next year 🙂

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/Soozintheshed/

     

  • Dogs Get Older But Their Love For You Never Changes

    Imagine Xmas morning. You get a puppy! Shes so cute. You take 100 pictures. Share all over Instagram and Facebook. You can’t love this puppy enough. You take her everywhere. To the store, to friends houses. She rides shotgun anywhere you decide you’re going. Everyone stops to pet her and cuddle.

    She is perfect in every way. Later on she starts to grow up. Still cute and starts to get an entity of her own. She has good days and bad days. You’ll come home and she will have ripped up your favorite pillow or peed on your carpet….but shes till soooooo cute, it’s just a mistake, she didnt mean to. You cuddle her and fall asleep just like you’ve done 100 times before.

    Then… she gets a little older. A little “less cute”, she’s trained now. More on auto pilot if anything else. When mistakes happen they are harder to oversee. I mean you’re an adult now, there is no reason for this. You scold her and run out the door. Your friends and family are waiting, of course! After hours alone in the house you come back, she’s peed on the floor. This time it isn’t laughs and cuddles that follow. Its yelling and smack on the butt, she’s old enough after all. She knows better. Then its lights out and off to sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow and she’s an afterthought.

    8 years later now, shes grey in the face. Shes an afterthought in your home. A piece of furniture. You knows shes there, as long as her food and water is full, you’ve done your job right??

    Every few weeks the vet introduces another medication to her regimen. This is becoming a chore! More and more money is spent keeping her healthy. Yet every day she greets you with a wagging tail! Even when shes obviously tired and in pain, she’s there. You brush her off, after 10 plus years the novelty had expired right??

    At night she cuddles alone, wondering what she did wrong. She isn’t the puppy with fuzzy fur anymore. She cant see as much as she used to, she has aches and pains. Shes confused and feels alone now. She knows you’re there but it isn’t the same. Her love for YOU has never changed. In 10, 12, 15 years. Its always been the most love she has always had to give. The question is have we done the same?

    Have we given all of our heart to her? It’s easy to get wrapped up in the day to day, to forget the small things that mean the most. The fact is shes loved you from day 1. The same love will continue until her last breath. Please! Especially this holiday season. Let’s not forget the ones who have been there. The ones who have seen us at our worst and continued to love us. Maybe their fur isn’t as smooth.

    Maybe they aren’t the pup we took home that night, but their heart has NEVER stopped loving us. Until they day they leave us they’ll never stop loving you!!! Here is to all the ones who are overlooked. The ones that have become an accessory in their own home. You are loved and know that you have served a purpose. Sleep well old friends!!!! Please please share this post. I know so many of us understand! Share please!

     

  • Parents Advised To Read Back Of Products Thoroughly

    This is very important guys. Please read

    THiS SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME!!

    The below photos are not mine but I had to share this as this really is the difference between a happy child   and a child needing medical attention!

    – this and other similar are being sold in shops.. They are often £1 or £2 and are perfect pocket money treats.

    They look like bath bombs / bath fizzers don’t they?

    But if you read the teeny tiny writing at the bottom this one line will clear all those China manufacturers from being sued……..”NOT TO BE DISSOLVED IN A BATH”

    They put a large warning in the front “choking hazard”, but everything about this says drop in water – it’s a mermaid and a shell……

    Anyone would think this is a bath bomb

    These are NOT bath bombs. I have now seen at least 6 posts in the last few weeks from parents about their kids getting rashes, stinging and actual CHEMICAL BURNS from using similar to these as bath bombs.

    How can they get away with it when uk manufacturers are required to be cosmetically safety assessed, insured and are scrutinised by trading standards………..Because as long as they put tiny wording to say this is not to be used in a bath, they don’t have to be cosmetically safety assessed, as it is not considered a cosmetic. It is imported from China by shops for pennies and frankly the manufacturers can put whatever they like in the “fizzer” with no restrictions. I doubt that trading standards even look at products like these.

    Basically if your child gets chemical burns…….it’s your fault that you used the product wrong.

    I urge ALL parents if you see similar in a shop near you, to read the back – if it says do not dissolve in a bath or similar (and it’s in the bathroom section), you make it your mission to alert the manager of the shop of the potential danger of these products.

     

  • How To Recycle Your Cat Food Pouches

    If an average cat has 2 sachets of wet food a day that means that cat goes through 730 plastic sachets a year, and sadly most of those sachets aren’t widely recyclable.

    The images of plastic polluting the planets seas, oceans etc are becoming an all too common thing that we see – It can often feel like there is nothing we can do to help stop this, but there are small changes we can make to help stop plastic pollution. That’s where Terracycle comes in. Terracycle runs a scheme where they will accept any type of pet food packaging (both wet food sachets and dry food packaging) and recycle it!

    In the UK if you would like to recycle your pet food packaging make sure it is clean and dry. Collection points are on the website.

    LINK: www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades/petfood

    Source photo/words credit Cats Protection NorthLondon

     

  • 3 Chocolate Mousse Recipes COMPARED. Which is best?! | 5 min vs Classic vs Chef's Gourmet

    Ad | Not one, not two, but three different types of chocolate mousse up for comparison this time around! From super-speedy to super-fancy, everything’s on trial …

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