Parent Savers
Top 10 Theme Park Safety Tips

Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.

[Theme Music]

JOHNER RIEHL: Summer is here and theme parks in state and county fairs are destinations that we all flocked to as kids and though excited to make memories that would last a lifetime. We all want those memories to be of cotton candy and roller coaster and not that moment of horrifying relation that something has gone wrong. Today on Parent Savers we’re talking about the top 10 safety tips for theme parks and fairs.

[Theme Music/Intro]

JOHNER RIEHL: Welcome once again everybody to Parent Savers broadcasting from the birth education center of San Diego. Parents Savers is your weekly online on the go support group for parents from the newborn years through kindergarten.

I’m your host Johner Riehl. Thanks again to all of our loyal listeners who join us week in and week out. Thanks also to those who maybe listening for the first time. As you might know you can join our Parent Savers club and receive access to special bonus content after each new show plus special giveaways and discounts from time to time.

And if you haven’t already please make sure to download the free Parent Savers app available in the Android and iTunes market place and for Windows phones. You can automatically have access to all the great parenting advice and conversations we had on Parent Savers every week. Let’s start this week’s conversation by meeting everyone who is joining us for today’s topic on Theme Park Safety and it’s all familiar faces or at least voices.

So I’m Johner Riehl and I have three boys, a 7 year old, a 5 year old and a 3 year old and we like going to certain theme parks. We haven’t been to all of them yet like Disneyland. We haven’t even made that trip yet.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. We haven’t made that trip either even though we’re so close. Hey everyone I’m Sunny. I am the owner of New Mommy Media which produces Parent Savers, Preggie Pals, The Boob Group and Twin Talks and I have four kids currently under four. My oldest is about to turn 4 so I have to quit saying that here shortly. It’s been like my…

ERIN ESTEVES: Go to phrase.

SUNNY GAULT: My go to phrase.

JOHNER RIEHL: Sympathy inducer.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. That’s right and so yeah theme parks. We haven’t been to a lot because the kids are so young. What are they going to do? But I do have a lot of questions as you know my oldest is turning four and I think he might be able to ride some rides here coming up and we are planning to go to the San Diego county fair this year. We got tickets already.

ERIN ESTEVES: Well I’m Erin Esteves otherwise known as OG Mamasita and I have one child. His name was Cash and he’s two and a half.

JOHNER RIEHL: Great. And he has ever been to a theme park?

ERIN ESTEVES: No.

JOHNER RIEHL: Not yet.

ERIN ESTEVES: Not yet and you know I don’t know…

SUNNY GAULT: Has he gone to the fair?

ERIN ESTEVES: No.

SUNNY GAULT: No. Not yet?

ERIN ESTEVES: I have my own personal issues with crowds so I don’t know.

SUNNY GAULT: Not here because they’re carnies. Crowds and carnies.

ERIN ESTEVES: No but I did get freaked out when we went to the media party at the Delmar fair because they had some pretty freaky carnies.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Well but no I mean so that’s part of what we will talk about is with the crowds and all that and so we’ve got 10 tips we’re going to be digging into later on in the show so thanks everyone for joining us.

[Theme Music]

JOHNER RIEHL: Before we get started, this week we’ll going to look at an app that we recommend for parents and today we’re looking at a really cool one. I really like a lot. It’s called “Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame” and it’s from Sesame Street so the publisher is Sesame Street and you can find it on the iTunes store as well as Android and Google Play and the app icon is just like a little blue monster. I don’t know who it is.

SUNNY GAULT: I don’t think it’s one of the main ones.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah it’s…

SUNNY GAULT: It’s not one I recognize.

ERIN ESTEVES: It’s not the one that does a “Prrrrrrrr” phone? It’s not that guy?

JOHNER RIEHL: I don’t know.

SUNNY GAULT: I don’t…

JOHNER RIEHL: I’m not familiar…

SUNNY GAULT: I don’t know.

JOHNER RIEHL: With the guy.

APP: Tap on the picture.

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s him talking right now and this is from the app and what it is it really teaches relaxation techniques and coping strategies for kids.

APP: This monster is frowning and his shoulders are all crunch up. He’s feeling frustrated because he tried and tried to put on his shoes but he just couldn’t do it. Tap on the monster’s belly to help him put his hands on it.

JOHNER RIEHL: So that was a really cute animation of a monster getting frustrated.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And so know he’s angry and his horns are pointing down.

APP: Slowly on his belly.

JOHNER RIEHL: And kids can tap on the belly, help him take deep breathe.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And they learn to take…

APP: Look the monster is calming down.

JOHNER RIEHL: Three deep breathes to calm down…

APP: Yes.

JOHNER RIEHL: And then they pop some bubbles on the screen and help come up with some different ways for monster to approach the problem and there’s five different problems. It’s all things that really young kids and I know that our four year old has been in ruptured with it and even the two year old can get into it too because they can like to just point bubbles and be distracted. It’s almost like secret learning. They’re on an interactive TV show but they’re kind of learning relaxation techniques.

ERIN ESTEVES: I think it’s adorable and I can’t wait to try it with Cash because you know like you were saying it’s a distraction so if he’s on the verge of a temper tantrum or on the verge of like losing his patience, you can kind of like pull him away from whatever that focus is and give him something cute…

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: And adorable to look at and yeah who doesn’t like to pop bubbles.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah exactly.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. Now I thought it was cute too. That guy’s voice on it though was a little bit annoying. I can’ picture the accent. Let’s play it again. No seriously. It’s not like a real pronounce like I’ll be like oh that’s a British accent. It’s almost sound like he can’t…

APP: He’s much calmer.

JOHNER RIEHL: He does have an accent.

SUNNY GAULT: It’s weird.

APP: Great job. You help the monster take 3 slow breaths to calm down. Now he’s ready to think about a plan for how to…

SUNNY GAULT: He just sound slow to me.

JOHNER RIEHL: Alright so Sunny has a problem with the guy’s voice. So if you’re voice prejudice then this might not be the app for you.

SUNNY GAULT: I think that the concept is cool though. I totally my four year old could totally benefit from it.

JOHNER RIEHL: It’s really cool and I think one of the tricks with finding apps and we love recommending to parents but if you find publishers that you really trust and like and who can you trust more than Sesame Street to be doing things, positive things for kids. It’s a cool free app for them. It teaches them something really cool and actually grownups can learn from that too. Nice relaxation technique, things aren’t going your way let’s take three…

SUNNY GAULT: Your toddler just had a tantrum, pull out the blue monster.

JOHNER RIEHL: Put your hand on your tummy, take three deep breathes and pop some bubbles.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah there you go.

JOHNER RIEHL: So it’s called “Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame” from Sesame Street. Free on IOS and Android. Check it out. Thumbs up from Parent Savers.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yehey.

[Theme Music]

JOHNER RIEHL: Today’s topic on Parent Savers is the top 10 theme park safety tips and we’re talking here in the studio about different ways to keep kid safe and some ideas that from people that have gone to theme parks and I’ll share some experience that we’ve had and Erin will share some of her deep dark concerns and issues about what she . . .

SUNNY GAULT: No one call CPS on the stuff we’re about to talk about.

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s right. So we also reach out…

ERIN ESTEVES: Carnie protective services…

SUNNY GAULT: Carnie protective services.

JOHNER RIEHL: This is another great show, what we did is we reach out to the Facebook community as part of it right Erin?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes we did.

JOHNER RIEHL: We got some of their feedback.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes so what I did was I post to Facebook asking people to submit their tried and true safety tips for theme parks and fairs and so along with those and that of researched that’s how we came to this top 10.

JOHNER RIEHL: And so we got some different categories arriving, health and comfort while you’re there, what if they get lost and also going on rides.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes. You notice I put what to do getting found.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s right.

SUNNY GAULT: Because we all want people to be found.

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s right. We don’t need tips for losing our kids.

SUNNY GAULT: No.

ERIN ESTEVES: No.

SUNNY GAULT: We’ll do that very well on our own.

JOHNER RIEHL: Exactly.

JOHNER RIEHL: So here’s our first tip for riding. Take your child’s picture at the entrance this way if their lost you not only have a current photo but one that shows what they’re wearing that day.

SUNNY GAULT: Yes and there’re some good apps that do this too. We’ve actually talked about some of them on the show in the past but I think you know if you want to make it super simple yeah just take a picture we all obviously have cameras on our phones and actually I know a lot of police officers and they do say that that really does help that that is something that would really help on finding them.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah it’s super easy to forget how easy it is to just take a picture. Especially if you’re just showing up you get a picture of what they’re wearing. The other thing too with what they’re wearing is what we like to do with three kids is sometimes either put them all on the same shirt or put them in the same bright color and I know other parents of multiple kids.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah that was actually a suggestion by Andy Loyd on Facebook.

JOHNER RIEHL: Oh nice.

ERIN ESTEVES: And that’s on the getting found area which is to dress your kids in brightly colored clothing.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah and so like for example we just had a fair at the school and so there’s kids just running around like crazy and [inaudible] but friends bright orange shirt on their kids super easy to find. But so you just snap a picture and you can do it with just the kid and the kids will like it too if it is part of [inaudible] and then you have a current picture which is great.

Next one point park official employees out to your child right away so they know who to go to if they need help. Some experts recommend teaching kids to go to the nearest food stand because they’re easy to find. So this is telling your kids kind of equipping them what to do if they do get lost.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right who can they actually go and approach because a lot of times as parents we you know we harp on this stranger danger. So then when kids are lost they don’t know who to go to you know they don’t want to just walk up to anybody. So if you point out and really make them take notice of what the park employee’s uniforms look like or just direct them to food stands then you know that they’re going to be talking to an employee.

JOHNER RIEHL: Now we even go beyond that with our kids and so now do they know like what the people of Lego-land are wearing like for example but let’s say you’re somewhere and you don’t see anyone that works there go to another family that has kids.

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh great idea.

JOHNER RIEHL: Because they’re going to be the type of people like so you look for other families and you can go find another mommy…

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh that’s a great idea.

JOHNER RIEHL: Probably usually is what you know first choice say…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Find another mommy with her kids or find another daddy and tell them that there’s something going on that you know who to find to if you have problems because parents are understanding and are going to know what to do to help and also are going to know what to do to comfort your kid.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah I think I mean yeah I think I like that idea but then I also just like wow you’re sending them to a stranger what if it’s just that one random crazy family that . . .

JOHNER RIEHL: You’re not sending them out proactively. It’s if they’re scared…

SUNNY GAULT: I know.

JOHNER RIEHL: And after they’re lost.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: And they need somebody to help them.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: As if they’re looking for help.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: It’s not hey go find a family hang out with them…

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh no yeah so oh no it gives them criteria on how to choose who they approach.

SUNNY GAULT: But I feel like there’s more there’s more repercussion if they talk to someone at a fair or whatever you know an employee there’s some like that employee I’m assuming has been taught kind of what to do and I feel like there’s more there’ll be repercussions for that employee if they didn’t do it right. There’s no repercussion for a family that doing it right…

JOHNER RIEHL: Right. But if your kid is lost and can’t find an employer and doesn’t know what or if they’re in a fair and they’re not all wearing the same clothes.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Or like for example yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: The parents of that kid are going to know who to find and talk to.

ERIN ESTEVES: How to…

JOHNER RIEHL: It’s not their responsibility to track you down...

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah I know.

JOHNER RIEHL: It’s their responsibility to help like they do to their kids.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: You so Sunny don’t like it. I standby by on that tip. Control issues on Sunny time.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. I don’t know, I don’t know about that…

ERIN ESTEVES: Okay.

SUNNY GAULT: Maybe I’ll change my mind when I haven’t been put in that situation yet also.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah. I mean and so and I guess we have been moving on more about getting found an I guess a lot this is what a lot of I think the fears are. You have fears of crowds Erin right…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

JOHNER RIEHL: And what is the fear base in?

ERIN ESTEVES: Well the fear is my own where for some reasons I just have this really bad luck of whenever I go into crowds I get physically accosted.

JOHNER RIEHL: Got it.

ERIN ESTEVES: I don’t know what it is. I get groped. I get…

SUNNY GAULT: Really?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah put me in a crowd and someone will feel me out.

SUNNY GAULT: Because you’re a hot momma. Give me some of that Erin.

JOHNER RIEHL: And so I think that it’s easy then that to also think that you might get separated from your kids…

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Like in super crowded places so we got some tips from some of our listeners that came through for getting found as well?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes. So the first one is from Karen Allen on Facebook and she had several tips but the first one was one of the best ways to prevent getting separated is to consider tethering your child. A lot of people us the word leash. I tend to prefer the word tether. Because it has less negative connotations and she was saying that you know as controversial as this specific topic is it’s better than the alternative. The alternative being that your child is separated from you for whatever reason and like you Sunny I tend to think that people are the most part evil. So I would much rather have my child tied to me than…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. We have one of these. So we have I haven’t use it with anyone except my oldest and that was only when he first started to walk so it’s been a while but it you know it when you say leash or tether I think it conjures up these images of like having you know dogs on leash or whatever.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: But I mean they’re really cute like almost like little backpack things that just have a strap.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: You know so that you can control them like my son has it’s an Elmo little you know…

ERIN ESTEVES: Harness.

SUNNY GAULT: It actually almost yeah it’s a harness but it looks it’s almost like a stuffed animal Elmo and they’ll play with this in the car…

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Like it’s kind of become part of our family in a sense.

ERIN ESTEVES: It’s like a wooby.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah it is and so they really like them in fact I think it got something that you can put some like if they have some like toys or something you can even put some stuff in it. And I don’t feel bad. I got in this kind of conversation with my mom the other day. I don’t feel bad about using it at all. Like I know there’re I know this is controversial but I don’t really understand why because you’re only using it in situations where you’re either scared that your child is going to run away from you unintentionally or just because he saw something great or whatever and that you’re going to have to chase him down or that someone could literally grab your child and run away with them.

You know and then a crowded with there is a lot of people talking and people shoving and pushing and stuff like that, you’re silly I think in my own personal opinion. It’s silly to think that you can completely control the situation.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right. I mean in one instance when I was a teenager I would took my niece to the grocery store and the grocery store was literally a block and a half away from our house. I had her in the cart. I turned around turned back she was gone. A woman had come and grab my niece out of the grocery cart and was headed for the door. Thankfully the people at the grocery store knew us and they stopped her.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh my gosh.

ERIN ESTEVES: But so that’s my point is it sometimes people are going to grab your kid. You need to be able to hold on to them.

SUNNY GAULT: What happened to that person by the way like…

ERIN ESTEVES: She started to run. Somebody tackled her and the police took her away.

SUNNY GAULT: But she was trying to literally take her?

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh she had my niece in her hands.

SUNNY GAULT: And it wasn’t like a mistaken identity?

ERIN ESTEVES: No.

SUNNY GAULT: It was like I’m stealing this child.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: See that…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Freaks me out.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And so that makes you leash your kids.

SUNNY GAULT: It does so I will leash my kids…

ERIN ESTEVES: Tether. I tether.

JOHNER RIEHL: Well and so I mean just to play devil’s advocate here and I totally I think that for the right circumstances I totally they make sense. I would never try to talk you out of it but I think that the point is there’s got to be a line somewhere where you’re not tethering your kid.

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh absolutely.

JOHNER RIEHL: And so like we were talking about going to like a super crowded place, you’re nervous or you have a very active toddler that wants to go explore and it is hard, like it totally makes a lot of sense but then I think where that there may be circumstances where parents might see why you need a tether if you’re just at the grocery store it might be a surprising example right. But I could also see like a case for but I think that you know there’s a line and I think that you don’t you wouldn’t go to it all the time, but there’re times that where you would . . .

ERIN ESTEVES: But in a grocery store now you can strap your kid into the cart.

SUNNY GAULT: And you and you probably and you should yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: And that’s you should do. Because a few months ago there was another case where somebody tried to take off with their little kid at the grocery store and that’s so that’s my point is that if you have the tether available it’s in the same way that when you put your child in a car you strap them into a car seat. You’re giving them that extra safety. I see the tether as an extra safety. I’m not using it to teach my son how to walk you know I’m not like when I walk my dog that I give my dog a yank when he start to go a little too far to the right. No. That’s not what I do. I would never pull my child against his will unless he’s darting into traffic.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah. Exactly!

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: Controversy.

JOHNER RIEHL: Alright let’s take a quick break when we come back we’ll talk about more tips including a few more from listeners.

[Theme Music]

JOHNER RIEHL: Welcome back everybody to Parent Savers, today we’re talking about top tips to keep your family safe and on a happy memory track while at theme parks or fairs this summer or any year. So let’s go talk about health and safety. Health and…

ERIN ESTEVES: Health and comfort.

JOHNER RIEHL: Health and comfort right because those are two important things. Sunscreen…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

JOHNER RIEHL: Huge tip, like I know and that especially these days like you can’t even went to school without putting on some sunscreen. You definitely want to remember to have it at the park and have more and keep applying it. Apply it over and over because the last think you want to do is to have a sun burn.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right. So you want to have hats or you want to have the sunscreen clothing that sort of thing.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah. Don’t just rely on the lotion but also just kind of dress with that in mind of covering or have you know jackets or even towels. What we always try to do is travel with like a life blanket especially like we got them you can really get life blankets for babies and just still do it to these days because they don’t take up a lot of room, they can be super versatile, somebody gets wet you can dry them off.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: You can use it just like a sun shade and we still take a stroller to the amusement park even though…

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh sure.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Like because it’s what should be nomads and pile everything under your cart.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And take everything over so sunscreen that’s a big tip. What are some other tips?

ERIN ESTEVES: Stay hydrated.

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s right.

ERIN ESTEVES: You really have to keep in mind that you should maybe boost water intake a couple of days before going to the park.

SUNNY GAULT: Wow that’s a lot of prep.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah. Well you know when you think about you prep…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: For those things all the time. You get tickets…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Or you get that sort of thing so just try and increase your…

JOHNER RIEHL: Anytime you’re doing something to get ready just drink water.

ERIN ESTEVES: Just drink lots of water.

JOHNER RIEHL: Sure.

ERIN ESTEVES: Drink lots of water so you’re amply hydrated.

JOHNER RIEHL: Well and so I think like the hardest part with this is like when you travelled they won’t let you take water through security. And so you end up having to get [inaudible] security and spend all that money but I know that you can be scared that with theme parks that’s going to happen but especially if you have kids with you I don’t we ever had an experienced where they’ve made us the worst thing they would do is make us dump out our water bottles that we are bringing, bringing portable water bottles and you can just refill them inside. Well they have water fountains in there to normally.

JOHNER RIEHL: Exactly.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah and so you bring your own refillable water bottles.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Bring them full. If they have a problem with it when you’re going in you say like I have kids. Usually a theme park is going to understand. They just want to make sure you’re not smuggling in vodka or something like that.

SUNNY GAULT: Damn.

JOHNER RIEHL: And then the worst case is they’re going to make you dump it, take a big drink right then so you’re staying hydrated, dump it, fill it up on the other side. And that’s actually something kids can help too on the other side.

ERIN ESTEVES: Now that was one of the tips too by Amy on Facebook.

JOHNER RIEHL: Oh nice.

ERIN ESTEVES: She said don’t try and sneak stuff in that you’re not allowed. It was just one of those little side notes.

SUNNY GAULT: Sounds like that came from experience.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Some had a big problem with their vodka.

ERIN ESTEVES: I think it was vodka related.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah don’t sneak in vodka. Well it’s funny a lot of parts out here I see like selling beer and stuff too. So if you really need your alcohol fix you can probably get it on the other side but you probably don’t maybe don’t need it if you’re having . . .

SUNNY GAULT: Depends on how many kids are traveling with them.

JOHNER RIEHL: As it the more the more you need or the less.

SUNNY GAULT: The less. The more the more. Yes it’s exponentially [inaudible 00:20:05]

JOHNER RIEHL: I would say for snacks though like we’ve quote unquote gotten away with bringing in our own snacks like a big bag of pretzels and a big bag of goldfish. I think that’s important to help keep your kids snacking and I think that’s really a part by part basis and you never would recommend to against the rules of the park but if you again but if you have kids people these theme parks understand.

And you know I know they want you to buy everything there but you can usually get away with bringing in some snacks and keep your kids happy. And I think that is what’s most important keeping them happy you don’t want your kids whining. Got to keep them comfortable alright you know that’s what we’re talking about.

SUNNY GAULT: Well the longer they stay theoretically the more money you’re going to spend so it’s actually a theme park’s…

JOHNER RIEHL: Exactly.

SUNNY GAULT: Best interest.To throw you a bone.

JOHNER RIEHL: See what totally dialled in at this point is like if we go to like the zoo or somewhere else we’ve got like the bag…

SUNNY GAULT: You know what to do.

JOHNER RIEHL: It’s in the right spot on the stroller and we know - I mean it’s like a process that we are totally dialled in. I know you guys haven’t thought of it yet but like I mean you just okay water bottle going here, this is going to go here…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Bam everybody is on let’s go. So…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah I know.

JOHNER RIEHL: Alright so staying comfortable.

ERIN ESTEVES: So the last one at staying comfortable…

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Leave the sandals at home. Make sure that everybody has nice sturdy shoes on. Sandals are not good for crowds particularly for little tiny toes.

JOHNER RIEHL: This one is so hard because I feel like especially out here I only wear flip flops wherever I can.

ERIN ESTEVES: Ridiculous.

SUNNY GAULT: But I have really comfortable flip flops.

JOHNER RIEHL: I know but think about how much walking you’re going to be doing in park.

ERIN ESTEVES: That’s insane.

JOHNER RIEHL: You’re going to maybe walking four miles five miles more sometime I mean there’s so much walking that’s involved in walking going around going back and forth doing everything carrying things.

ERIN ESTEVES: You need sturdy shoe.

JOHNER RIEHL: And like have you had a flip flop blow out.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh my goodness.

JOHNER RIEHL: You know like the thing is gone…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And then what do you do? So this is hard because I know on hot days it’s you want to wear sandals or your flip flops but usually if you know you’re going to do a lot of walking I think I agree with that. You want to wear good comfortable and don’t wear shoes for the first time.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh yeah don’t break them in.

JOHNER RIEHL: Don’t break them in there.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Because that could lead to some bad things.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and you know there was also mention of water shoes or aquatic shoes for kids. And the suggestion was to maybe take a pair with you if the option of them getting wet is available, if not don’t you know you put your kid on a sturdy shoe.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah. I mean yeah for our kids yeah we they like to wear crocs. They’re so easy you can just slide them in and off but when we go to like big place like that we put them on their tiny shoes. We can always take them off and bring some water shoes. Alright back to getting found. A great tip is to establish a meeting place when you go through each section of the theme park.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right and I think that in your instance on the story you told that would have been really helpful for Quinner, if he knew that I mean fortunately he did exactly what he was supposed to do but you know being able to designate a spot right when you walk into say Tomorrow land or something like that and say…

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: Meet me back here if we get separated.

JOHNER RIEHL: I actually had another experience with this one which I guess is going on our parents of the year column but we were at Lego land and there’s an area where kids can kind of play. It’s in kind of like the back section of the park and I only bring that up because Whitaker was in this contained area and we knew he was there and he was I think 4 years old and so you know we have two other kids and so okay there’s that and so we look and we just can’t find him.

ERIN ESTEVES: Oh god.

JOHNER RIEHL: And he’s not in there and it’s like oh my gosh what’s happening? And so then like I talk to like one of the park employees look my kid was in here and he’s not. And they really weren’t that helpful like and then finally had the piece together from another parent like what he was wearing. He’s wearing a tie shirt.

They’re all wearing shirts with like pretend ties on it oh I saw him with someone walking at towards the front. And then it’s like holy crap what is going on and so I explain that to a woman and she was like yeah and she wasn’t helpful at all and so I booked it to the front of the park and so what it happen was he somehow thought he was lost even though like we were literally right there. Found the employee and the employee walk him up to their lost kid’s area which is at the very front of the park. But I like booked it already it up there…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Because it was like what if that guy doesn’t work here. Right?

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: Well yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And then there was just the guy in a shirt and so I think that in addition for having a meeting place for you, you need to know at the theme park what do they do with lost kids. And that’s easy as like going in the information area or something like that and if they’re doing things otherwise even when you’re buying tickets like hey if the kid does get lost where do you guys take them then you kind of know where to go otherwise you’re just feeling completely lost what I was expecting when I told that woman look somebody saw him with another person going to the front…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah shut the park down.

JOHNER RIEHL: That I felt like boo I thought this park was going to but no and so here is me just running through the park to get to the front and he’s there playing a video game, he’s happy which is good but it was a…

ERIN ESTEVES: Terrifying.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah it was terrifying for sure. Parents of the year ding.

ERIN ESTEVES: That brings us to the next one which is to review your stranger danger rules.

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s right and I think that would have helped if we would have done that for sure. So what are some stranger danger rules?

ERIN ESTEVES: Well you know I think it goes back to the conversation we were having earlier and that it depends on your own parameters of comfort. Whereas you and I feel okay saying if you can’t find an employee, you can find a cop…

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah exactly.

ERIN ESTEVES: Go find a mommy.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: You know Sunny is not comfortable with that so she has to come up with a criteria that she is comfortable with and tell her children that.

JOHNER RIEHL: And make sure her kids know that.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah and it’s tough because having that conversation you don’t want to scare them because it’s very, very likely that everything is going to be okay.

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: But you need to make sure that they’re prepared.

ERIN ESTEVES: See and that’s cultural because in Mexico we scare the kids. In Mexico it’s not you might get lost. It’s someone will take you.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: You know.

JOHNER RIEHL: And a little healthy fear and paranoia…

ERIN ESTEVES: Right but then look at me. It doesn’t always work out.

JOHNER RIEHL: Alright and then yeah we talked about Andy Lloyd’s tip dress them on brightly colored clothing. Here’s another cool tip from Gina Marsh on Facebook and that’s to stamp or write down your phone number on your child’s arm and then teach them you and your significant other’s first and last names.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: Sort of write it on their arm.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: I’ve seen this too and that’s really a good idea because then if the child is lost like given the case of what happened to Whitaker maybe they would have called their phone number right away.

ERIN ESTEVES: Exactly.

JOHNER RIEHL: If he would have had it instead of…

SUNNY GAULT: I like that.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and there are some really cool little stamps that you can order on Amazon and on Etsy…

JOHNER RIEHL: That such kind of fun.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah let me stamp you.

ERIN ESTEVES: You can stamp on you know your bar code on your kids so to speak.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: But also the Sharpies are really handy because everybody got one of those.

SUNNY GAULT: But I wonder if people that have a hard time with the whole tether thing would have a…

ERIN ESTEVES: I know.

SUNNY GAULT: Had a hard time you’re putting a pet collar tag on your kid.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah you know it is funny, so someone who like my instinct is like that the tether is could be [inaudible] on some situations I mean writing a phone number on the inside of someone’s arm…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: May seem like bad.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: So yeah interestingly we all have different lines.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: And where they are. The other thing I would also just point out with first and last name of the parents is also remember what your parent is wearing and so that’s you know if your kids where lost and there is someone trying to help them they’re going to ask what your parent’s look like.

SUNNY GAULT: Well how do you do that though, how do you get your kids to remember what you’re wearing?

JOHNER RIEHL: Just tell them.

ERIN ESTEVES: Well one of the things yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah prep them.

ERIN ESTEVES: But one of the things that Andy had mentioned that I just kind of cut it down short was he’s like you know put everybody in the brightly same colored shirt.

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah. Exactly.

ERIN ESTEVES: So the whole family…

JOHNER RIEHL: That’s the other thing too yeah I mean…

SUNNY GAULT: That you’re in that family.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right hold on but and so here Sunny is different like she’s fine being that person with the tether but not being that like wearing the same clothes.

SUNNY GAULT: No it just it goes back to like if you guys know I’m like I don’t know maybe they still do this at theme parks but it’s kind of a running jet between my husband that you know we’re going to go to a theme park we’re going to get those you know spray shirts with you know do you know what I’m talking about like they…

JOHNER RIEHL: Airbrush.

SUNNY GAULT: Airbrush.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah and so we like to make fun on people that do that. It’s our little thing and so that’s what’s coming up now is that I’m his and his mine and your us…

ERIN ESTEVES: I’m a stupid.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right.

SUNNY GAULT: I’m a stupid.

JOHNER RIEHL: Right. We do this once. We all wear the same shirt it was actually a conversation starter with other people as well…

SUNNY GAULT: Sure.

JOHNER RIEHL: That kind of mean the trip fun and talk to people…

ERIN ESTEVES: But I mean it could be any shirt it could be like you know your…

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: A football fan so everybody got…

JOHNER RIEHL: Charger shirts.

ERIN ESTEVES: Charger shirt .

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh yeah I can see that going that in San Diego he’s the kid with the charger shirt.

JOHNER RIEHL: But not everyone is wearing them…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: In fact in a lot of theme parks you got people from other areas or town.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

JOHNER RIEHL: So anything that the kids can do how describe the parents…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah that’s true.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yes good point. Good point.

JOHNER RIEHL: I think is pretty good. Let’s talk about going on rides too and hear these strategies about people falling off roller coasters.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh my gosh.

JOHNER RIEHL: And there is this assumption right that you know that you know you go and these things are all safe but whether it’s a major amusement parks or the little carnival on the corner or fair like these are dangerous rides and things could go wrong. They don’t often go wrong but they certainly could. So use parental judgement and even if your child meets the height and weight and you want so bad to say yes to your kid that they can go on the ride but even if they meet the height and the weight requirements and you still got a weird feeling are they still not able to get on it quite right or you’re looking at it like yeah he’s tall enough but I’m not sure that he really…

ERIN ESTEVES: There’s no way that this kids could’ve sit still...

JOHNER RIEHL: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Or you know or…

JOHNER RIEHL: Then don’t do it. Come up with something else fun to do. There’s going to be other fun stuff to go around.

ERIN ESTEVES: Go get ice cream…

JOHNER RIEHL: Don’t push your luck on these rides.

ERIN ESTEVES: Right.

JOHNER RIEHL: Because really, really bad things could happen on this rides.

SUNNY GAULT: But can I just state the obvious and that is if stuff comes up and down really easily it cannot be as safe that is something that does not. Okay.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Is cemented into the ground and is made of steel beams and stuff and my mom totally freak me out about that.

JOHNER RIEHL: Like the portable carnival rides and stuff?

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah well and my mom never wanted me to go on rides as a kid and she still kind of freaks out about fair stuff…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: Because it’s just up and down up and down and up and down you know…

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah.

SUNNY GAULT: But she’s totally fine with set amusement parks. Totally fine and I get it.

ERIN ESTEVES: No absolutely.

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah.

ERIN ESTEVES: Absolutely I mean I when I was a teenager the carnival came to town and they had that ride where you sit in it…

SUNNY GAULT: The zipper.

ERIN ESTEVES: Then spins…

SUNNY GAULT: As if the zipper?

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah..

SUNNY GAULT: Right.

ERIN ESTEVES: I think I don’t know…

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah that’s crazy.

ERIN ESTEVES: But I’ll never forget because my brand you ray bands went flying you know 1980s. Went flying and I was so upset that I crawled under the ride after I got off.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh my gosh.

JOHNER RIEHL: Oh.

ERIN ESTEVES: I crawled under the ride looking for them and I grab on to one bar with the left hand and I reach over and I grab on to another bar with my right hand and I got an electric shock.

SUNNY GAULT: Oh my gosh.

ERIN ESTEVES: Yeah and I’ll never forget my dad was screaming at me and nobody wanted to touch me for obvious reasons.

JOHNER RIEHL: Holy cow.

ERIN ESTEVES: And they had the power the ride down and so that I could let go.

SUNNY GAULT: WOW

ERIN ESTEVES: So maybe that explains everything.

JOHNER RIEHL: Oh my gosh that is crazy.

SUNNY GAULT: Wow.

ERIN ESTEVES: So yeah use your parental judgement even though your child may be physically capable…

SUNNY GAULT: Yes.

ERIN ESTEVES: Of going to the ride they may not be emotionally prepared to sit through the ride safely to exit the ride safely.

JOHNER RIEHL: Alright well does are some great tips. Hopefully they were helpful for everyone that is planning trips or maybe going. If you had some other tips to add please let us know on Facebook. Send us Tweets. We’ll continue the conversation for parents of our Parent Savers club after the show we’ll talk a little more about staying safe. For information about the Parent Savers club, visit our website www.parentsavers.com .

[Theme Music]

ALISA DILORENZO: Hello Parent Savers. This is Alisa Dilorenzo, Co-founder of One Extraordinary Marriage were we educate, entertain, encourage and inspire you to have mind blowing intimacy in your marriage.

Today we’re going to talk about scheduling sex. Five years ago Tony and I set out to change our sexual intimacy. We were frustrated with our attitudes towards sex and knew there had to be more to it than we were experiencing because our lives were busy with work, kids and other activities, our sex life was often sent to the bottom of the to do list. It was then that we started the intimacy lifestyle. The intimacy lifestyle is a way for each of you to take turns initiating sex and being pursued.

First step have a conversation on how often the two of you want to have sex each week. Yes you do have to agree on a number. Next you want to split up the days of the week. For example maybe one of you has Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The other one has Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday can be a day of rest or a bonus day.

On your days you have the privilege of initiating sex as many times as the two of you agreed on step one. On you spouses days, they have that same privilege. Yes this puts more structure on your sex life however we all know that when something goes on your calendar it has a much better chance of getting done. No more leaving it to chance. Now the two of you are going to need to spend some time in discussion on what would work for you.

Maybe you block days during the week like we do. Maybe you alternate weeks instead or you come up with some variation that best suits your marriage. Whatever you choose, make the decision to stick with this for 3 to 6 months. After this time visit how it’s working in your marriage. Make sure to check out our bestselling book “7 days of sex challenge” at www.oneextraodrinarymarriage.com/7days enter promo code parentsavers at checkout and save 20% off your entire order. Thanks for listening to the sex talk and be sure to listen to Parent Savers for more great parenting tips in the future.

[Theme Music]

JOHNER RIEHL: That wraps up today’s episode of Parent Savers thanks so much for joining us.
Don’t forget to check out our sister shows:
• Preggie Pals for expecting parents
• The Boob Group for moms who breastfeed and
• Twin Talks for parents of multiple kids.

This is Parent Savers empowering new parents.

[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. Though information in which areas are related to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, Medical or advisor care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.
SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our line up of shows for new and expecting parents. If you have an idea for a new series or if you’re a business or organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com .

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