Toddler

When walking through the store the other day, my daughter saw a package of those dishwasher gel pods and yelled "candy!" They had swirly bright colors, came wrapped in a see-through bag, and to a child looked delicious. I told her they weren't candy and then she asked for a lollipop. I was avoiding the candy aisle for that exact reason -- kids always want the sugary stuff when they see it. But beyond indulging in too many sweets, kids are getting their hands on these highly toxic gel pods used for both dish and laundry detergent and eating them. Some kids have been hospitalized.

Senator Charles Schumer is calling for action.

Sen. Schumer thinks a child protective lid and warning label should be on the packaging and he's requesting it to the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission. Part of me agrees that they should be in more secure containers. It was reported that thousands of kids across the country thought exactly what my daughter thought -- it's candy -- and after eating it became very ill. But there are so many things kids can eat and get sick that aren't in child-safety containers. Tide did take action and are redesigning to put their product in a double latch lid. But it makes me think. Should everything dangerous be terribly difficult for a child to open? Isn't it up to us as the parents to keep things out of our kids' reach?

Sort of. And yes.

Any parent knows we all do the best we can to keep our kids safe, but even then stuff happens. Our kids are Houdinis, show magical strength, and do the unthinkable when we blink for one second. Plus, we can baby-proof our own homes and surround everything in non-toxic foam padding and the minute we're at Grandma's there's an open bottle of bleach waiting to be ingested.

Okay, not really, but you know what I mean. If we can put the dangerous stuff that is known to make kids want to put it in their mouth -- cleaners that look like yummy bites -- in safer containers why wouldn't we? Sometimes even us super-human parents could use a little help, too.

Do you think they should put these pods in child-proof containers with a warning?

Image via Amazon