Child Safety

Keeping my kids safe is what I consider my biggest job. Sometimes I do a great job and other times I could use a little help. For instance, my son was recently complaining about his foot hurting. Upon inquiring what had happened he explained to me how he had jumped off the last couple rungs of his bunk bed ladder and hurt his foot.

I knew that he must have sprained his ankle. I told him to try to walk it off. A couple of weeks went by and he would once in a while make a comment in passing that his foot bothered him. In the meantime, he played soccer games, went skiing...you get the picture right?

After one particular futsol game I decided, after he pointed out once again that his foot hurt, to take him to the doctor. He had been sprinting and running just fine during the game and my guess was they wouldn't find anything.

The x-ray came back okay and next on the docket, an MRI. Imagine how horrible I felt when the MRI was read and we were told that he had an impact fracture and that he was lucky we brought him in when we did or he may have to have had surgery.

Mom of the year award goes to.....

And then it gets worse. The doctor asks him how he hurt his foot. Fully expecting him to say that he had jumped off his bunk bed, he admitted that in addition to jumping off his bed he had been jumping off the neighbor's storage garage roof! I had no idea...once again...stellar mom award right this way:)

So, in honor of national child safety day that was this week I wanted to remind myself of some good child safety tips.

1. Always use an approved car seat or safety belt if they are old enough. Avoid letting them ride in the front seat until the age of 13.

2. Insist bike helmets be worn when biking and other helmets used as intended. My nephew hit his head snowboarding last year and his helmet helped him minimize the high amount of trauma he experienced. Be the example and don't budge.

3. Teach kids to use sidewalks and to try to stay out of the road.

4. Teach older children texting and talking on the phone while driving is not okay. Don't be scared to take electronics away if needed. It is better that they not injure or kill someone because of a text.

5. Talk to your children about inappropriate sexual behavior and what to do if they ever find themselves in a bad situation. 

6. Be open in creating an environment in the home where kids feel safe to express concerns or ask for clarification on sensitive subjects. 

7. Know where your children are and who they are with.

8. Teach about internet safety. Not to give out personal information, never to meet anyone from the internet, not viewing questionable material, safe sites to search on, etc.

9. Install protective software on every computer and keep them in public family areas.

10. Have an emergency place to meet in the event of a disaster. 

11. Teach children not to go with anyone you haven't personally approved or have a "safe" word the child knows and asks for from anyone claiming to take them home.

12. If you have children that tend to wander get a Where's Yo Baby Child Monitor. When I found this product I think I oooh'd and ahhhh'd out loud. What a great idea. The panda hooks onto the child's belt loop, shirt, shoe and the wrist alarm hooks onto mom or dad. The distance is set and if the child wanders further than the allotted distance, the parent arm alarm goes off alerting the parent to look for the child. Amazing right? Nothing beats a parent watching their children closely, but like I said earlier...sometimes we could all use a little help:)

There are many more, but for now this is a good start.

Happy parenting!