Separating Hazards

When I was in driver's education class back in High School, my instructor had his driving mantra.  He said one of the best ways to avoid a collision was to always separate hazards.  He said it was always easier to focus your attention on a single "hazard" than two hazards at once.

For example, if there's a pedestrian walking on the side of the street and an oncoming car on the other side, speed up or slow down so you're not passing both at the same time.   It seemed like good advice to me and I always try to separate hazards when I drive.

As an aside, he also said that the term "accident" was really an excuse more than a term to describe what had happened and if we ever got into a collision, we should call it by the proper term.  Strange that I remember these advice points from my instructor, but I have no idea at all what he looked like or sounded like.  Ah, memory.

But back to the separation of hazards.  My two children are each hazards in their own right.  They are both completely capable of getting into trouble, hurting themselves and making a mess.  Putting two hazards together makes the chance of disaster, injury and damage that much higher.  As a parent or someone watching them, you have to be on double high alert when they're playing together.

My son will play with his own toys, unless he sees that my daughter is playing with something else and then he must have those toys.  My daughter is fine playing with her toys, unless she sees her brother playing with something else and then she's interested in what he's doing and crawls over and gets all in his way.

Sometimes the two of them play well together for periods of time and it is very cute and intriguing to watch.  Other times, they're in a delicate balance of her bothering him and him tolerating it of him annoying her and her putting up with it and of him hurting her accidentally or sometimes intentionally and it being not that bad. 

But that's not always.  The best thing for family harmony is to have both babies in separate places.  Separate those hazards.  But it's not ideal and they're siblings and must not only survive together, but thrive together.  So we shove our hazards together and hope for the best most days.

The Big Boy Update:  The Grinch.  He was so being the Grinch today.  Remember when the Grinch went to Hooville and stole every last present, decoration and morsel from the town?  He made sure not a single crumb was left behind.  My son was in just that kind of mood today.  He had two handfuls of  plastic toy spoons.  He had more than he could hold.  When he would drop them my daughter would pick one up and be so happy she had a piece of something to play with.  He would not rest until he had every last spoon in his possession and had ripped the final one out of my daughter's hands, making her cry.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Snot gone, face healing.  Her snot is finally gone.  She must be so glad to be rid of the nasal aspirator.  Her face is healing nicely, redness and swelling gone and only scratches to finish healing. 

Someone Once Said:   Many theologians believe that no human social organization could stand up under the strain of absolute honesty. If you think their misgivings are unfounded, try telling your friends the ungarnished truth about what you think of their offspring—if you dare risk it.