People are quick to use email forwarding as an impromptu Emergency Alert System.  There seems to be a steady flow of “the sky is falling” new things to be terrified about when it concerns the safety and health of our kids.  Put a story in first-person who is just trying to educate parents so they don’t have to go through what they did, mix it with the easily accessible heartstrings of an overzealous parent and you have 4-5 new things a week to wring your hands over when your child is not under your direct supervision.  I would submit that an ounce of healthy concern and prevention is worth a truckload of baseless worry so I am hoping to help you distinguish what warrants a genuine threat and what belongs in your email trash.

“There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.” - Harold Stephens

Snopes is an online database that is quick to respond to “…not only urban legends but also common fallacies, misinformation, old wives’ tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items.”

While nothing can take the place of common sense, the classic gut-check and the tried and true mommy sixth sense.  Snopes can hopefully take a little worry off your significantly packed plate.  Here are some recent ones:

• While plastic water bottles can provide a significant long-term environmental concern they do not produce carcinogens when reused or frozen.  (the effects of bisphenol A is still widely debated)

Kleen Kanteen is AWESOME!!

• Ingestion of hand sanitizer CAN result in alcohol poisoning.

• Mr. Clean Magic Erasers DO NOT contain formaldehyde.

Good news because these things are INCREDIBLE!!

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers