Tossing baby in air can cause severe damage

Dear Annie: Could you please educate people about the dangers of tossing their babies and toddlers up in the air? — Father of Five

Dear Dad: Forceful or violent shaking, bouncing and tossing can cause brain or spinal damage in infants. This is known as shaken baby syndrome.

However, very gentle tossing (less than a foot in the air) is usually safe, provided you don’t drop the child or hit his head on the ceiling or a light fixture, which happens more often than you might think. Pediatricians are divided on what age is OK, but the more conservatives say to wait until the child is at least two years old.

Dear Annie: “Puzzled in Gary, Ind.” asked why lesbians are attracted to older women with white hair. There could be another reason: the assumption that a woman is alone and might have assets to steal.

This happened to my friend “Sue.” A pair of women began attending her church and wrangled an invitation to stay with Sue while “waiting for the paperwork to be finished on their new house.”

They remained in their room when I visited. If I called, one of them answered the phone. If they left the house, they took Sue with them. After two weeks, Sue knocked on my door, quickly put her Bible in my hands and rushed back. In the Bible was a short note asking me to help her because she was afraid of her “guests.” I promptly called Sue’s son and daughter, who came to evict the intruders. These women had been trying to “help Sue” with her finances and were working on having their names added to her accounts. — California

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Email questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, write to Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. To find out more about Annie’s Mailbox and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.