Protect Your Kids From Real Dangers

I spend a lot of time thinking about safety.  Especially when I'm by myself, but with my husband as well, I remain consciously aware of everything around me: animals, people, their direction of travel, the security of the path I'm walking.  As I approach my car, I look underneath it and as I get in, I take a peek in the backseat.  When I go into a public bathroom, I make sure no one follows. 

This is not paranoia (paranoia is when I check for baddies in every closet and under the bed upon arriving home).  These small precautions give me a step up on possible dangers.  If a situation were to occur, I would have a few more precious seconds to react; plus, being so obviously aware of my surroundings keeps me from looking like an easy target. 

As kids get old enough to learn about being safe out in the world on their own, parents can begin to teach them.  But until that time it is a parent's responsibility to keep their children safe.  And that brings me to the incident I witnessed over the weekend. 

Preschoolers, Independence and Chores

I came across this topic on the Parents Magazine website, and liked the article overall.  Many parents wait until their child is older to begin assigning chores, but this brings problems.  First, children want very badly to be helpful and grown-up at Preschool age.  Parents who wait lose their child's natural enthusiasm.  Secondly, a child who is eight or nine and suddenly being assigned chores is apt to resent it.  After all, she hasn't had to contribute through chores all her life, why should she have to begin now?

But I do have a few points to add about safety.

In the opening of the article, the author says her own 4 year-old climbed out of bed one recent morning and tried to make a frozen waffle...in a frying pan on the stove.  I'm sure this was a heart-stopping experience for the author, but it may have been possible to avoid it.