If I read one more horror story about kids being left in a hot car or drowning in a pool while adults weren’t watching them I am going to go insane.

I remember a good mom I once knew, I was in my early twenty’s, and she was younger than I was.  I wanted to babysit her 3 year old son, and she was nervous about it.  She told me that I was not to take my eyes off of him for 1 second.  And I believed her.  I was and still am very literal, so I literally did not take my eyes off of him for 1 second.  And from then on I carried that rule in my mind and later when I had my own kids, I never forgot it.

During the time that I was expecting my first child I read every book I could get my hands on about pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for a baby and a child.  I thought everyone did that.  You mean they don’t?  Who knew?  I would not even take an aspirin for a headache while I was pregnant.  As soon as I found out I was pregnant I quit drinking alcohol and coffee.  I had extreme headaches for weeks due to the coffee withdrawal and I still would not take an aspirin.  Why?  Because I loved that baby from the first moment I found out I was carrying her.  My whole world changed and revolved around that fact.  Nothing else was more important.  Nothing. 

There should be required reading and classes that every expectant person should take.  This includes the father.  After the very first doctor visit for the mom, records should be created to keep track of her and ensure that all of the requirements are met.* 

This is assuming that she actually visits a doctor during the pregnancy.  Which I am certain is not the case in too many instances for various reasons.

Once the required courses are completed, a very thorough exam requiring several hours must be passed.  (I had to take a 3 hour test just to become a massage technician).  I would be willing to wager that even licensed childcare workers are made to take more courses on the subject than any parents of newborns.  The exam results should then be placed in the records kept by the already overburdened Child Protective Services and a copy given to the mother to be presented to the hospital before the baby is allowed to go home.  If for some reason the father does not complete all of the requirements he should not be allowed to care for the child unsupervised.  Yeah right, like we have the finances and personnel to enforce this. 

Required Reading List for Expectant Parents

This list must be updated at least once each year due to increasing knowledge of the subject being discovered and published.

The first book I read was The Mother’s Almanac.  I kept it and referred to it so often it became dog eared and stained.  That book was so informative that I purchased the companion book The Father’s Almanac which was also very good.  I really do not know what the most current and necessary titles are today.  Some type of expert should make up this reading list.

There should be extensive writing and researching required during the required courses just as it is when taking college courses for a career.  Childrearing will become the main lifetime career of these parents, at least it should. 

Anyone with half a brain should be able to come up with a list of topics which must be mastered before a newborn leaves the hospital.  All one need do is pick up a newspaper.  Turn on the TV and listen to any program that is on at any given time and there will be many topics of concern, the TV being a major one.  Drowning, leaving kids in cars unattended, kidnapping, household poisons, televisions falling on babies, childproofing.  The list is literally endless. 

*Requirements having been established by Child Services perhaps.  This is most likely to be the cause of why this won’t happen because it will require financing.