Children's Health Fair

A few years ago, there was a children's health fair here in town. It was actually pretty good. They had maybe twenty booths inside, a dozen outside, and were giving out helmets to the children. ("Properly fitting helmets") They had booths about washing hands, brushing teeth, electricity, fire, and water safety, and lots of other booths. The girls really liked it and seemed to learn a lot.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from the kids pediatrician's clinic saying they were hosting the 'children's health fair' today. Most of the helmets have either been outgrown or abused (or both), and the kids could use some new ones, and I thought it would be a good idea for them to go through all those booths again. Plus it was something I could take them to do that would keep them busy for a while today.

We went over there, and there weren't all that many cars. I thought that was odd. We went up to the second floor, and right out of the elevators, there were two tables set up. The people there welcomed us to the fair. One table had all kinds of printouts with safety tips. I picked up:

• Tips for getting children to wear bicycle helmets
• Safety tips for home playground equipment
• An 'Emergency Contact' sheet
• Tips for choosing the right size bicycle for your child

They didn't really have anything for the kids to look at, just had Tootsie Rolls for them. The second table was resources for children with behavioral and emotional problems. They were signing people up for evaluations. I didn't sign our kids up.

That was it. Not really what we thought we were getting into. After we left, Ruth must have asked ten times when we were going to the health fair. She just didn't believe that we had already been there.

Anyone out there remember who sponsored this thing last time? Are they going to have another?