My Mom Taught Me To Use Protection

When I was a kid, my mom made us wear bike helmets. Back in the 80s, they were just starting to come out and so my mom, being a good mom and all, wanted us to be safe, so of course we were the only kids on the block who HAD to wear helmets (there were absolutely no exceptions of course). Admittedly, I hated it and always felt like a complete dork. Oh, and we of course had to wear them when we went sledding, which now that I think about it, would be a good idea for my kids, but do I ever remember? Of course not.

I do however remember to have the kids wear helmets when they ride their bikes. It is one of the things in our household that is not open for discussion - it is a pure must. Grounding from ones bike has occurred a time or two for the kids to realize we actually do mean what we say.

I am grateful my mom insisted we wear our helmets because it was so ingrained in me that now my kids know the drill, because you never know when this might happen to your kid's head when protected with a helmet:

I am extremely grateful I am showing you this picture of a helmet, and not her head.

I didn't really think about her helmet much when she came home from school last week and her whole arm and shoulder were scraped up to the hilt when she wiped out trying to avoid a truck backing out of a driveway. As I was rearranging the girls' helmets in the garage yesterday, I noticed the huge gash, several cracks, and numerous marks on the helmet and immediately felt a rush of gratefulness for all of our repeated remindings to the girls to "Go get your helmet on!"

I don't even mind that I need to buy her a replacement helmet. It is worth every penny.

and yes, I'm aware of the veiled reference to other things in my title, but hey, it got you to read my posting, didn't it?