Safety tips for adventurous kids

Hi y'all!

Summer is here, well in a few days at least, and with summer comes different challenges and adventures. If your kids are like mine this means lots of outside time, whether that be at the pool, the backyard or a local park. My children love to explore and challenge me in these months and sometimes it's a little overwhelming but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Safety comes to mind. Because, in all the new adventures, I want to make sure my little ones can keep going. And I'm not perfect at it and we've had our share of ER trips and poison control calls through the years. But most of the time we manage to keep our heads at least afloat.

So here are five summer safety tips that have helped us out.

1. Know your environment. Look and see what the kids might try to explore and check and see if there are any red flags that should be of limits or at least only exlpored with and adult. Sometimes this can be in a house too, especially if it's an older house, lead paint fixtures and areas are definitely red flags to be avoided. We had this happen with a back porch of ours and since then, it's been an off the limits zone until the porch is sealed off from its toxins. 

2. Keep hydrated. I know it's been said a million times but we've been caught it with signs of heat exhaustion and having water nearby helped us tremendously. We usually pack a Nalgene bottle or two full of water, but have in the past or for more extreme outings have used Camelbaks. 

3. Minimize sun damage. We all know that we actually need to get some sun exposure for our bodies to soak up some vitamin D, but we don't need to be overexposed.  Too much sun leads to burns etc, and so one either chooses to cover up or put on sunscreen.  My sunscreen hating kids usually will choose to cover up with a hat and long sleeves over sunscreen, but in places like the beach or the pool sunscreen is a must and they withstand it for those kinds.  As for sun hats we like our wide rimmed boat hats like these from Sun Protection Zone.

4. Be smart with bike safety.  My boys enjoy riding their bikes so much, but we have a few rules for safety that they must follow when doing so.  First, they must have a helmet, and they must be wearing closed toed shoes.  We are fan of Safety Town programs or setups too, this helps a kid get acclimated to the rules of the road as a biker and helps them to be cautious when riding their bike around.

5. The only go up if you can get down rule.  My kids are climbers, but I really try to emphasize the prior concept to keep them safe.  If they can't get down from somewhere without help, then they probably shouldn't try to go up it.  I honestly think this keeps them safe and also builds confidence because if my child has gotten up somewhere I'm not apt to take them down, he has to figure it out himself. Granted if its a red flag zone in the first place, well, down they go and that's another issue all in itself.

Bonus safety tip: The patron Saint for Safety is St. Barbara, so if you want to have some extra help to keep your family safe, asking for the intercession of this lady is right up your alley.

Hope this helps you to have a safe and adventure filled summer!

Memories

Yesterday, it was a day that had its ups and downs.  I think somewhere in there, I realized that when there are certain things that are problems outside my control I get frustrated and usually have some of my not so fine moments. Yesterday, had some of those moments and also some growing bits amongst them too.  You see, my husband was supposed to be home before bedtime, maybe not in time for dinner, he had a haircut after work after all, but he was supposed to be home for the kids bedtime.  Yesterday, however, there was a lot of snow in his travels which caused an accident on the highway and made everything be at a standstill for a good hour or more.  Needless to say, he didn't make it in time for bedtime.

I have gotten better at solo bedtime with three, I used to have to call in reinforcements to help out with two and I'm not sure how three is easier than two in that retrospect, but it is for me. I'm finally to the point that I can do it and I don't lose my head.  The not losing my head thing probably helps everyone have a smoother bedtime, at least maybe. So, anyway, when it was nearing 7pm and the husband was still stuck on the highway, I figured I would be doing solo bedtime.

The thing is that I knew today was going to be a big day, and I was going to be out of the house for most of it which meant that I wasn't going to get Helena's birthday cake made unless I did it right then, at 7pm, past the baby's bedtime. So, we made chocolate beet cake, yes I know I'm weird adding beets to cake and all, right then.  A thought crossed my mind that this would be so much easier if everyone was in bed and I was doing this myself, but then I realized this is okay.  This is what I need and this is what the kids are going to remember...making the littlest one's 1st birthday cake at bedtime while daddy was stuck on the highway.

And believe me the whole time we were making it, they enjoyed it but they were also super concerned about their daddy.  They love him so much, they prayed for him to be unstuck, they thought that we should add a snow plow to our van and go rescue him or add a chain and pull him out. When they realized it was just not snow and that there was an accident and that other people were involved, the boys thought to add the people in the accident to their prayers too. They wondered if they needed an ambulance and if they were going to be okay.  I said I hoped so, and that I was sure the people appreciated the kids' prayers.

So eventually we got to bed, Ephraim fell asleep in our bed with the baby and Ben in his bed.  The boys made me read the story of Jonah, and I had to improvise a little because, well, the baby was barely hanging on at this point, but we made through, and I'm glad.  You see I'm realizing that sometimes in these moments where I'm wishing things were easier, I'm missing the good bits if I forget to notice them.  The end of the day was a good reflection point but also if I look back to another point in the day where I was trying to put back together the couch with its slip cover and realizing I wasn't getting anywhere with the kids jumping and or screaming all around me. I just had to stop at that point, it was hard to let go of what i wanted to happen, having an intact couch, but it meant that I just was going to have to stop and be present...in the mess...in the chaos. When I let go of my expectation, everyone, including me was happier, the couch did eventually get put back together, but not for a few more hours. Anyway, sometimes, my head thinks things have to be just so, and while a clean house or kids put to bed on time are nice,  I think I am realizing through this that its okay to break the mold and just be. Perhaps I just need to throw in the towel more in a good way and have more of these moments.

These giants are attacking my car, maybe if I smile at them they will be friendly.

Creating a giving heart

One thing that is really near to my heart is having a generous spirit.  As advent approaches, the season of giving comes to fruition.  As we all know, our giving shouldn't only be at this time of year but, we all know this time is special.  As Tomie DePaula's Strega Nona says, "Christmas has its own magic."

When I was reading a book about the Strong Willed Child one of the things they said was that it really helps this kind of child to think outside themselves was to involve them with charity work. I think this hit home for me because ever since I was little, I've loved helping those who needed help. In my family, I'm the odd one out who actually gives donations to charities as part of Christmas gifts. I'm just weird like that.  So I want to start giving to others early with my kiddos. Last year we did Angel Tree, and this year I would like to add one more thing the boys can tangibly see as helping someone that needs help.   I was thinking Toys for Tots or Operation Christmas Child.  I honestly like the idea of the latter better because it goes along with what I think of Christmas giving, necessity and fun and personalization with Jesus at the center not just random stuff. Toys for Tots though, is good in its own sense though as it helps people in your own community experience a little joy.  So both have their benefits.  I'm not sure what we will do, Operation Christmas Child has to be done by Monday, so if we do this one, it will be within the next few days.  I would like to do it though, so we will see if we can squeeze it in over the weekend.

So what are your favorite ways or charities that you involve your kids during advent/Christmas time?