Electronic Cigarettes

Have you guys ever heard of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes?  I must really be out of the loop because I had no idea these existed.  They come in flavors even! 

I'm not a smoker anymore.  I tried it when I was 15 years old for the first time and thought I was cool but didn't care for the taste (cigarette burps - gross).  Then I started when I was 23 for a couple years.  I stopped when my nephew made me feel really guilty about it and never smoked since.  Kids are good for that.  Our kids stopped my husband's cigar smoking he used to enjoy occasionally (on our front porch because I don't allow cigars or cigarettes in the house - don't even own an ashtray).  They asked him to stop and he did. 

I just had no clue that there were actually electronic cigarettes!

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Second Hand Smoke & Kids

I have asthma and the triggers are varied. It can be an odor, exercise, or it may just be time to take my medicine again.

I was in line at a drive-thru a few days ago with my window down. I was next in line to place my order. The man in front of me had his window down with his arm hanging out of his window - holding a cigarette. Despite the distance between his cigarette and me in my car, despite the fresh air in between his car and mine, I got a whiff of cigarette smoke and had an asthma attack right there. That was all it took. Hey, if the food doesn't kill me, some stranger's cigarette will!

Now imagine if you are a primary caregiver or babysitter who is smoking around children. One whiff of smoke is all it takes. It doesn't have to be the actual smoker smoking at that time either. I can walk through an area where somebody had smoked previously and have an asthma attack. I can smell cigarettes on a person (let's face it, smokers smell like smokers) and have an asthma attack. Are you doing this to your own children? If you are a babysitter, are you doing this to the kids who you are entrusted to care for and protect?

Something to think about. As an adult, you have the right to make the choice on whether to smoke or not but children have very little say in what you choose to do or what they are forced to inhale because of it. I hope you choose to protect their lungs from current and future damage.

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