Last Friday I took my 10-year-old daughter to a "Father Daughter" dance at her school.  It was a great experience.  Mostly it was the fathers setting around watching the girls run/play/dance with each other, but still a lot of fun.

Toward the end of the dance my daughter and a couple of her friends took one of the helium balloons being used for decoration and inhaled the gas from it. They thought it was funny the way it effected their voices.  But then they started running around getting more and more balloons.  It was still cute to hear them chattering away in "chipmunk" voices, but due to the number of balloons they were huffing it started to get a little weird. I don't think they were taking enough to hurt them in any way because they were still getting plenty of oxygen, but they were starting too look like little drug fiends.  

So I didn't know exactly what to do.  I did not want to ruin their fun.  I did not want to accuse them of being drug heads when they were just playing around.  But it was just one of those situations where I felt a little uncomfortable with what they were doing.  And since my daughter was the only one there with one side of her head shaved I felt like the other parents may have already been judging her actions a bit differently than the rest of the crowd. 

What would you guys have done.

I've never had that happen, but for some reason I've thought about it. I think I would have let my kids do it a couple times and then stopped them and for no other reason than something feels wrong about it. A completely arbitrary line based on nothing.

(03-06-2017, 12:19 PM)michaelsean Wrote:  A completely arbitrary line based on nothing.

That is where I had a problem.  I have always had a rule about disciplin with my children.  I feel that whenever i demand they do something I should be able to give them some explanation other than "Because I say so."  I feel that stuff like that is what causes kids to not respect authority.  They don't see it as something being done for their own good.  Instead they see it as just an abuse of power.

(03-06-2017, 12:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: That is where I had a problem.  I have always had a rule about disciplin with my children.  I feel that whenever i demand they do something I should be able to give them some explanation other than "Because I say so."  I feel that stuff like that is what causes kids to not respect authority.  They don't see it as something being done for their own good.  Instead they see it as just an abuse of power.

Seems you had the same feeling I would have had that something doesn't seem right, but in the end you probably made the correct call in letting her do it.  

Was this their first experience with helium?  I ask, because I remember the first time I encountered the phenomenon as a child....we couldn't do it enough, thinking it was so funny.  I partied some, but never became a fiend.....I wouldn't worry too much about it.  That kinda thing is like farts as a kid....just too funny to get enough of.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. Something seen through your eyes isn't the same as through a child's. To them its just innocent fun.

I guess if you really wanted them to stop you could have told them too much helium is bad for them and kind of white lied about it.

(03-06-2017, 12:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: That is where I had a problem.  I have always had a rule about disciplin with my children.  I feel that whenever i demand they do something I should be able to give them some explanation other than "Because I say so."  I feel that stuff like that is what causes kids to not respect authority.  They don't see it as something being done for their own good.  Instead they see it as just an abuse of power.

This is where I believe you are going to get opinions differing from yours. I do not feel the need to explain to my kid why they should follow my commands. Call me old fashion or whatever but they need to respect me and trust that no matter what I'm asking of them I do it for a good reason. One example is for safety reasons. If they are in a dangerous situation and their safety is in jeopardy if they do not comply immediately and instead question why every time they could get hurt. If later after complying they ask why I have no problem explaining. Having a 9 and 7 year old I get questioned all the time why I ask them to do or not do certain things. We still have teachable moments where as a result of not listening to myself or my wife bad things happen, people hurt, stuff gets broken.

In your situation you could have asked her to stop as there were obvious visual cues that the helium was effecting them in ways that you were unsure whether or not they were harmful to her health. She may have or have not liked your reasoning but she needs to respect that it's coming from you.

just Make sure they know the proper and safe way to remove the helium from a balloon(i.e. Do not stick the balloon over your head). I believe it gets boring before it gets dangerous.

I would have joined in, because I think it is funny as hell. I also would have made her/them have a time period before doing it again and explain that is so they don't lose oxygen in their blood (just to keep them in check about it. 3 or 4 minutes or so between balloons).

(03-06-2017, 07:03 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: I would have joined in, because I think it is funny as hell.  I also would have made her/them have a time period before doing it again and explain that is so they don't lose oxygen in their blood (just to keep them in check about it.  3 or 4 minutes or so between balloons).

Totally agree with this approach. You don't want to ever sit around and do nothing or you will develop a habit of doing so. If you were concerned, you should have slowed it down a little. Parenting is a tough job. We want to be our kids friends and protector. You did ok Fred. However to post it on here, your conscience tells you otherwise. Sometimes we just have to figure out the balance. Your child sucking on helium by no means says she will grow up to be a meth head or a crack smoker (are those the same? I don't know). However, helium, although not flammable, makes everything it comes in contact with more flammable. So, there was a 1/1000 chance something bad could have happened. Of course you might not have known that, but your concern was valid.

People just love playing with helium and like Wyche said if it was the first time I would just chalk it up to kids being goofy.

We had a helium tank in the warehouse at Best Buy for merchandising sales and even adults couldn't resist playing with it every now and then when they were making balloons.

(03-06-2017, 12:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: That is where I had a problem.  I have always had a rule about disciplin with my children.  I feel that whenever i demand they do something I should be able to give them some explanation other than "Because I say so."  I feel that stuff like that is what causes kids to not respect authority.  They don't see it as something being done for their own good.  Instead they see it as just an abuse of power.

Solution:

Girls...that's enough with the balloons. Go play something else now.

Why daddy....we're having fun.

Too much is not good for you. Go on now.

[img][/img]

Toast and little Crueton at the dance

10 going on 18. She's a cutie, and apparently still likes to see Santa.

It is possible for helium bubbles to enter the bloodstream and cause a stroke.
However, it generally only has happened under higher pressure, such as straight from a tank.

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As long as she was getting enough oxygen in between huffs and not sucking from a high pressure helium container (which she obviously wasn't), then she was okay. But you get parenting points for for concern, IMO.

(03-10-2017, 09:14 AM)Bengalzona Wrote: As long as she was getting enough oxygen in between huffs and not sucking from a high pressure helium container (which she obviously wasn't), then she was okay. But you get parenting points for for concern, IMO.

ahh I remember working at wendys we had one of those large containers to fill balloons.. but we would hit it before asking customers for their order in drive thru...

(03-08-2017, 11:00 PM)fredtoast Wrote: [img][/img]

Toast and little Crueton at the dance

Nice pic....you have a beautiful little girl there....nothing like them, I have two boisterous young daughters of my own.

(03-10-2017, 09:00 AM)Rotobeast Wrote: It is possible for helium bubbles to enter the bloodstream and cause a stroke.
However, it generally only has happened under higher pressure, such as straight from a tank.

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(03-10-2017, 09:14 AM)Bengalzona Wrote: As long as she was getting enough oxygen in between huffs and not sucking from a high pressure helium container (which she obviously wasn't), then she was okay. But you get parenting points for for concern, IMO.

Betty Buzzkills.

:sad:

On the other hand, helium is the gateway drug.

(03-11-2017, 03:31 AM)Benton Wrote: Betty Buzzkills.

:sad:

On the other hand, helium is the gateway drug.

To Ether, right ?