A Little Thursday Afternoon Rant

If anyone is actually reading this, I am probably going to catch some flack for saying what I am about to say but if you are a regular here, you know I don't care. And if you're not a regular, consider yourself warned. If you're dumb enough not to see common sense when it's right in front of you, the joke's on you.

It has been nearly a week since the passing of the Fourth of July and with every coming day that I sit here on the computer browsing my regular haunts, I am seeing more and more photos posted on Facebook, message boards, and blogs of way-too-young children sporting sparklers or lighting some other fireworks-type of pyrotechnic. What amazes me is how the parents of these children have posted these photos in a way to give an unspoken statement of the typical proud parent mantra of "Look what Little Johnny can do!"

Seriously, folks, what on God's earth are you thinking!

Now generally, I try not to judge other people and their parenting skills because, as a parent of a child with autism, my experience is that my husband and I are subjected to outsiders' stares and whispering on a much grander scale than the average parent. However, when a child's safety is at stake, hand me a gavel because someone needs to put the smack down. When I see photos of your three or four-year-old holding a lit sparkler, it does not conjure up thoughts of "How precious!" in my head. It makes me think you're a moron who has placed your child's safety on the back burner in exchange for a little bit of holiday fun and photos.

Come on, people! Educate yourselves! If you really think sparklers are harmless fun and safe for young children to handle, I encourage you to click HERE for the Center for Disease Control's statistical facts on fireworks. If you choose not to click, I'll just give you a teaser and clue you in on the fact that those "harmless" firecrackers and sparklers are the most injury-associated type of firework on the market.

By the way, considering my stance on vaccines, you'll probably never see me touting the CDC again!