Dad, Stop Worrying So Much about Keeping Your Kids Safe

(Continued)

At the Babies R Us near me, there's an entire room devoted to child safety devices: Unsurprising stuff like cabinet locks and electrical outlet covers. Ridiculous stuff like easy-to-grip baby soap. (Good in baby prison, I guess.) And then there's a whole display of mirrors that allow you to watch your baby in the backseat as you drive. "Why do you need one of these?" I asked a dad reaching for one.

"To see if the baby's okay," he shrugged.

I suppose I knew he'd say that. But what we're talking about here is a parent checking up, while driving, on a child who is already strapped snugly into a federally approved car seat. A child strapped in there with a five-point belting system specifically to be "okay." It's really hard to imagine how the child would not be okay and besides, if he was fussy, you'd hear him. Then, at a stoplight, you could turn your head and look at him.

But now, with about 10 different car mirrors to choose from, it starts to feel as if good parents DO have to check on their car-seat baby even more often. Like, even while they're driving - which is dangerous!

Here's one last example of a safety product that we don't need, and how it undermines our own good sense: The heat sensitive bath mat.

This is a mat you put in the bottom of the tub. Turn the water on and if the words, "TOO HOT!" magically appear in a bubble near the duckie's head, you know that the water is, indeed, TOO HOT! Because who can trust her own wrists anymore?

Oh wait a sec. We all can. Dip a wrist in the water and you yourself can tell if that water is warm, cold, or boiling hot. (Key word: YEOW!) So why on earth is there not only this bath mat for sale, but also a competing turtle you can put in your tub that will indicate, "TOO HOT!" too? (Not a real turtle who would indicate that by turning into soup.)

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