certified dogboy

The sharpest, best-trained pilots make worse decisions when they're tired or sick or stressed out, so there's two of them. The most dedicated and experienced air traffic controllers garble an instruction over the radio sometimes, so pilots are trained to always repeat clearances back to catch misunderstandings quickly. The best and brightest maintenance mechanic still overlooks a screw or misconnects a wire once or twice in her career, so aircraft systems are built with two or three or four layers of redundancy, and pilots are exhaustively trained to deal with failures safely. 

AUTISM RESPONSE: Rubber ducks and other rubber bath toys can accumulate mold on the inside because of small holes underneath where moisture becomes trapped. The mold often goes unnoticed because it's not visible from the outside.

Squeeze all the water out of the toy at the end of bath time. My parents would make us kids do this ourselves to instill "clean up time" and "taking care of your shit," and then they would do an extra, just-in-case squeeze with grownup dexterity on anything they though we might not be able to squeeze effectively. If needed, give the toy a good whack up-and-down to encourage water from the extremities to move toward the hole.

If a toy can be disassembled, do that at the end of every bath.

Any cloth or foam toys should be hung up to dry so that air can circulate around all sides.

Large toys (like a water-safe baby doll) should be oriented with the hole facing down to let water drip out.

Try to have the toys live somewhere well-ventilated in-between baths (mesh bag, open basket with holes, etc.).

Check toys every so often for mold. Give them a good sniff and hold them up to a bright light. If they smell weird or have any dark patches that can't be accounted for by the toy's inherent design, they are probably moldy and should be thrown away.

Beware of prime suspects: Toys with odd or angular shapes, large toys with too-small holes or just 1 hole, toys with rubber or plastic that is so stiff an adult cannot easily squeeze it.

Give your kids cups, bowls, colanders/sieves, and ladles in the bath. This doesn't really stop mold, but it lets them practice drinking and fine motor skills without too much mess, uses stuff you already have, and may distract them from slurping out of the tub toys. Yes, it's fine if they drink a little tub water.

I know people will say their kid will be heartbroken if they have to toss a beloved-but-moldy toy. Bearing in mind that I'm not a child development expert, I would say it can be an opportunity to explore the concepts of change, loss, coping with undesirable situations, and caring for the health, safety, and cleanliness of ourselves and those around us in a low-stakes way. I absolutely remember a few tub toys having to go, and while I was sad, I was not traumatized by it in the least.

Try framing it as "[Toy] is moldy and icky inside. It is not the kind of icky we can clean. If we keep using [toy], it can make us sick, so the best choice we can make is to say goodbye to [toy.]" Maybe give them a day to say goodbye/grieve, thank the toy for all the good times, etc., before it goes in the trash (preferably in a bin the kids can't access).

Black Kids deserve to see themselves in every genre. Follow FLY on Kickstarter to help their stories take flight. Launching June 9th on Kickstarter

happy new year -------------_--------------------

If you are in this country and took the job, which I hope you didn't, now is definitely the time to look into a pro-bono labour rights lawyer. You're definitely eligible for back pay of any tips withheld and probably more. If you're in any progressive state there's a good chance your rights go beyond this. Regardless, federal regulations:

On a personal note I am seeing red over the situation. Fuck them for the audacity to pull this shit. Fuck them for being manipulative, abusive bosses.