The world is full of weirdos.  Just today I was driving down the street and I saw a guy standing on the sidewalk wearing a motorcycle helmet no motorcycles around but there he stood motionless with a helmet on.  Just a few blocks up I saw another man in an oversized cowboy hat shouting at a mini-van…an empty minivan.   I will admit that when it comes to wierdos I’m paranoid.  So when I sat down to read the latest Parent’s Magazine tonight my eyes went straight to an article on personal safety.  Distraction is a constant when you’re a mom.  When your toddler darts away from the cart you become an easy target for a purse thief, when you’re focused on the trouble someone started in the back seat you become an easy target for a car jacker, and when you’re heading out the to the park before anyone else gets there you make yourself vulnerable.   Yes, it’s yet another thing to worry about but none of us are much good to our children dead.  I learned my lesson about personal safety long before I became a mama:My last semester of college I took a self defense course and honestly it was the most useful class of my entire education.  The techniques and skills that I learned will be with me forever and hopefully help me to remain safe.The class was full contact and taught me how to be alert and aware of my surroundings and how to fend of an attacker if I needed to.  About three weeks into my class I was walking across campus in the middle of the day breaking all the cardinal rules of self protection.  I was on my cell phone focused on my conversation, looking at the ground and paying little attention to my surroundings.  As I cut through a packed parking lot I became aware that someone was walking behind me.  Not a big deal it’s a crowded campus we move like cows in a herd.  I slowed down a bit to let the person pass me but still they lingered in the blind spot off my right shoulder.  I could feel someone staring right at me.  So I veered to the right and squeezed between cars to get to the next lane.  It was an inconvenient way to go and my shadow followed.  By this time my heart is racing and I’m no longer paying any attention to my call.  I get near a building and stop to “fix my shoe” the shadow stops somewhere behind me…I wait…heart pounding…no one passes me.  I end my call and glance around quickly.  I  don’t see the offending party.  But I still feel the eyes on me.  I stand back up and begin to walk…he’s coming closer I can feel him.  I whirl around coming face to face with the man who has been following me for a good 5 minutes and shout loudly “Can i do something for you because I don’t know you!” Everyone within a good 30 yards turns to look.  Shocked the man says nothing and heads away quickly.  This time I follow him across the busy commons area taking in his description. I walk up to a campus police officer and tell him that a man carrying an empty book bag (who in college has an empty bookbag?  You either carry your books or load a ton into a bag) has been following me.  I give my description which matches the description a campus rape suspect.  Only three weeks into my self defense course I benefited from what I learned.  Here are my tips for being a DON’T MESS WITH ME Mama: 

• Take a self defense course.  Find one at the Y, organize one for the ladies in your church, check local Karate schools.   Chose a class that is full contact and not just videos or speeches.  You need to feel the force of an attacker to really understand how to react and protect yourself.
• Lock doors immediately upon getting into your car or arriving home.
• NEVER ignore you’re intuition.  Don’t worry about being offensive.  Better to be rude than dead.
• Don’t overload yourself with groceries or shopping bags…we all do this.  Don’t!
• Keep your head up and walk with purpose.
• If someone is bothering you get loud.  Attackers do not want to attract attention.
• Safety in numbers.  Crowds and kids irritate our mom radar but you’re safer in a crowd of strangers than you are at the park alone. 
• It’s an Oprah special favorite…NEVER go to a 2nd location.  Better to be shot where you are than driven to a remote location and assaulted and murdered.  
• If an attacker threatens you with a gun…run away.  Most criminals can’t hit the broad side of a barn let alone a moving target.

For more information on personal safety check out your city’s police department website or the article in the March edition of Parent’s Magazine.