Investigators say two-year-old Alexia died from blunt force trauma in March 2008 at the hands of her babysitter, Berny Figueroa. Authorities believe Figueroa fled the country after being questioned by police. She's believed to be in either Mexico or El Salvador
Police: Craigslist Babysitter Scammer Arrested (IN & MI)
A man wanted for using Craigslist to steal money from potential baby sitters in West Michigan has turned up in Indiana. They say he set up meetings at coffee shops or restaurants under the cover of a dad looking to interview a babysitter. They say he got personal information and cash for background checks then took their money and ran.
Babysitter Charged with Murder (PA)
A community is in shock as a three-month-old is dead and his baby sitter is behind bars.
The woman said she shook the infant because he was crying, investigators said. It happened her home in the 1000 block of Windridge Drive in Spotsylvania County.
Toddler Struck, Killed By SUV (CT)
A 4-year-old boy was struck and killed by an SUV while out walking with his baby sitter Thursday, police said. Anthony Martorelli was holding the 15-year-old baby sitter's hand during the walk on Brookfield Road, said Lt. Chris Corbett.
Domestic Workers in New York Getting Closer to Having Their Own Bill of Rights (NY)
This bill, which has been battling its way through the New York State legislature for five years, aims to provide basic protections to many of the estimated 200,000 nannies, housekeepers and eldercare-givers who labor in New York State. Backed by a diverse coalition of labor and religious groups and even employers, it calls for severance and overtime pay, advance notice of termination, one day off a week, holidays, healthcare and annual cost of living increases, among other fundamental rights.
FYI- CL-WTF, will not be available until late Saturday/early Sunday.
I'll read all of the stories tomorrow...but OMG...is that child's head inside a produce bag?!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG! I skimmed ISYN earlier and didn't even notice that picture until now! My first assumption is that the kid was throwing a fit and she used that to distract her, but come on! Seriously? I'm sure a bag of cookies would have worked much better, tee hee!
ReplyDeleteyep yep that bag on the head is not good. might be a mom though.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a produce bag, alright!
ReplyDeletewow and I thought I was bad for opening the popsicles for my daughter while waiting in line to pay. lmao!
this is a classic ISYN pic!
I am not assuming a thing but the woman looks like she could be a grandma. The child looks like a cantaloupe!
ReplyDeleteWell, whoever the lady is, I hope somebody ho has the ability to intervene sees this photo and teaches this woman about the little known concept of suffocation.
ReplyDeleteAnd, just to say something very un-PC...a child that young should not be so incredibly fat. What is wrong with people that they set children up for a life of obesity and the many related health concerns that go along with it?! Seriously, I don't understand how any parent can, in good conscience, allow their small child to be obese. It is nothing short of cruel and irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteThat picture was on the peopleofwalmart.com website and the person who submitted it said that they tried to talk to the grandma, but a language barrier caused her not to be able to understand what they were saying. And yes, it's horrible that some people still do not know that plastic bags are unsafe for children!
ReplyDeleteWhen my newborn daughter was in the hospital over Halloween, they arranged for the young patients and their siblings to Trick or Treat all over the hospital. It was really great...until at one of the stations, a NURSE handed an unblown balloon to my toddler son!
ReplyDeleteI took it from him right then and there and informed her that unblown balloons, like plastic bags, are unsafe for toddlers. I still can't believe that fact hadn't crossed the minds of any of the many healthcare professionals in attendance! (Maybe they were low on business?)
The picture is a link to the people of walmart website.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane Doe, I didn't catch that, sorry. I wasn't meaning trying to imply that you were posting it without permission. It was just ironic because I actually just saw the picture there for the first time yesterday! If I'd thought about it yesterday, I would've submitted the link to you myself. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I'd have been on your list. Mom. Eevn though it's pretty common knowledge that every child grows at their own individual rate and you're being pretty ugly about it, IMO. My middle child weighed 40lbs at 18 months old. He weighed 42lbs when he started kindergarten. He's not even the tiniest bit overweight and hasn't been since toddlerhood.
ReplyDeleteWTF, the child in this picture is neither an infant, nor a toddler. This does not look like a pudgy infant or toddler (I am quite familiar with those), but rather, an obese child.
ReplyDeleteMom-
ReplyDeleteThat little girl looks almost identical to se at that age (besides the bag on the head of course.) My mom didn't feed me junk food and I was very active but I was still a lil chubaroo. Once I started shedding by baby weight, which was around 7 I stayed very thin. As an adult, I am the same weight I was in HS which is 5'3 and 103 lbs. Very normal.
AML, you are the exception then. A child who is obese at age 6 is statistically doomed to an obese adulthood.
ReplyDeleteThere are the exceptions...10, may be 20, percent (and I am being generous with the stats) overcome childhood obesity and live their adult lives at a healthy weight.
Childhood diabetes is becoming more and more prevalent, and an alarming number of kids are too out of shape to even enjoy the running and playing games of our childhoods because they can barely walk down the block without getting winded. And this is the fault of their parents.
I know this is a hard subject for people... it is very un-PC to even admit a child is overweight. But we are doing a huge disservice to the many, many children who are allowed to become grossly overweight at ever younger ages. I know it is important to counteract the horrible stereotypes we have set up in the other direction where kids feel the need to be stick thin...but we have become PC so far in the other direction that kids are actually becoming ill from obesity. What ever happened to not making a big deal over food, but simply feeding out kids HEALTHY food. GENERALLY, overweight comes not just from eating too much, but from eating too much CRAP.
Come on, are you really going to say that you have not noticed how many more children are "naturally chubby" nowadays as compared to when we were kids? When I was a child there was MAYBE one really fat child per grade in school. Now it would be unusual not to find at least one (more like 3- 5, in reality) in each classroom.
Be mad at me if you want, but I still say that the Emperor has no clothes.
mom-
ReplyDeleteLive your life as a fat child then tell me we've become too PC and accepting. Fat children are the children most picked on and the ones least often defended by adults because of attitudes like yours. People who think the kids chose it, can easily fix it, etc and who think calling a child so incredibly fat is okay.
Childhood obesity is on the rise and is a terrible thing. Children are more often too heavy too soon and get sick because of it. However judging does not help. That child's weight is a concern of hers, her parents and her pediatrician. If your children are healthy why don't you concern yourself with teaching them compassion for others, especially overweight children who often have extreme emotional problems because of and which add to their weight problems.
nurse,
ReplyDeleteAll of what you say is absolutely true...which is why it is up to the PARENTS, first and foremost, not to put their children in that position where they are starting life out behind the 8 ball. All of these things are bad for kids...but is it better to "teach society to turn a blind eye" or to face the problem head on, admit it, and help educate people about what they can do to keep their kids healthy?
(I do disagree on one thing you said, but a minor point. I don't agree that the problem is between the child and his parents. I think that small children should not be burdened with this issue. They should never have to think about it, or be confronted with the effects of obesity. I believe it is their parent's responsibility to keep them healthy in every way, to the best of their ability, so that that kids can be as carefree as possible, and run and play with wild abandon...which will set them up for a lifetime of good, healthy habits.)
I think you misunderstand. (Maybe I didn't say it right.) I don't think it's ever OK to say to a child that he is fat.) But I do think it is OK...necessary actually, to say, as a society that we are letting this get out of hand and too many children are suffering because too many parents are unwilling to face the fact that they have not been responsible in their children's dietary habits...either out of ignorance, laziness, or guilt.
Kids CAN be mean, but I purposely did not list that as a reason to have kids be a healthy weight, because I think that pressure to look good for social reasons is far, far at the bottom of the list as to why kids need to be kept a healthy weight...and regulating one's weight to "Look" a certain way leads to many problems in the other direction, like Anorexia, for example. (But as a parent I would feel awful if my kids were overweight due to my negligence and I heard them getting teased.)
Too many kids are not learning to eat healthy foods. They are getting sick. They are unable to enjoy playing in the carefree way we did...running around without a thought of being too tired. They grow to dislike, and eventually to avoid, physical activities. All of these things contribute to a lifetime of unhealthy habits that do the child no good whatsoever. It is not OK.
Yes, people are different shapes and sizes...and that's great. We definitely need to learn to love our natural shapes..but we also need to realize that, just like extreme thinness for fashion's sake, obesity for laziness sake, is NOT a "natural shape." Learning to love our bodies however they look (a good thing), should not be confused with an excuse to abuse them with junk food to the point of causing disease (a bad thing.)
It's not that hard, really. Serve kids a healthy, well rounded diet and it's pretty hard for them to become unhealthy...even if they eat and eat. I know there are exceptions, but the kids I have encountered who are grossly overweight over the past many years of raising my own kids have been the ones who typically came to school with the likes of a snack of 15 Oreos for break time and a lunchbox filled with processed garbage and another 15 Oreos for dessert....things along those lines.
PS Nurse,
ReplyDeleteBecoming more PC about this issue is not going to stop the cruel bullies who tease kids. As a five year old I had enough of a consciousness of other people's feelings not to tease people about how they looked...as do most people...children and adults.
Some people, however, seem to be missing an empathy chip...and they will always be there teasing the overweight kid, the child with a limp, etc., etc. Changing for them is useless, because they will always find something to pick about.
The better course is to teach our own kids to feel good about themselves in the face of bullying. This is not easy when it's your kid, I admit. Mine have been teased at different times for one thing or another, but I always just tried to do my best to build up my own kids' sense of self confidence. That's really all you can do because, unfortunately, it seems the parents of bullies inevitably turn out to be the ones who will say, "Kids will be kids" and let their kids go on being little jerks.
The child I see in the picture is clearly a toddler ~ looks like a 2-3 year old.
ReplyDeleteSo no comments about the domestic workes issue?
ReplyDeleteI like some of the issues their describing, but this last bit worries me.
"among other fundamental rights."
I am wondering how many Nannies will end up losing their job? Or how many more nannies will agree to work "under the table" becuase of this legislation.