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Holiday Safety Tips

My name is Annie and I am a mom of a goofy two-year old daughter and have a sweet boy on the way. The holidays are a great time to spend important time with family, take a break from our daily schedule, and fill our homes with decorations and smells of delicious meals. But as a parent, busyness also fills the “holiday warm and fuzzy” feeling. For me, I have to wrap up law school finals and also balance decorating, attending parties, buying presents, sometimes traveling, sometimes cooking (thank goodness my husband is an awesome cook), and finding time to celebrate with my family.

While day-to-day safety becomes routine with my daughter, there are some tips I’ve learned that help me make sure my sweet, loving, but also curious and sneaky two-year old stays safe during the holidays. Hopefully some of these tips can help other parents. While we learn as we go, we also learn best from other parents (and for me especially my own parents) about how to keep our kids safe.

  1. Mall Chaos: Can we all agree the mall around holiday-season is total chaos? I try and go only once! Add your child into the mix and you have to be on red alert for your little one, especially the curious wanderers. I’ve heard of parents loosely tying balloons to their kids’ wrists (to spot them), using noise making shoes on their kids, having rules about how many steps away they can be from their parent, and even laminating parents’ contact information for their kids’ pockets or bottom of their shoes. Whatever works best for you and your child, make sure they are in your line of sight in the mall crowds.
  2. Decorating: If you decorate your home for the holidays, make sure whatever is in a child’s reach is safe. Small or sharp items (like small ornaments or ornament hangers); lights or candles; and toxic decorations (like mistletoe and holly berries) should be out of the reach of kids.
  3. Traveling: Traveling over the holidays often becomes inevitable. Also, packed cars are inevitable if you’re squeezing presents into the car along with your bags. If you have a trunk that is open to the main cabin of your car, make sure it is packed with heaviest items on the bottom and with nothing that can slide out of the trunk and onto your child.
  4. Sharing Toys: It’s important to remember that kids, especially family members, will show off and share some of their new toys. Make sure the toys your child has access to play with are appropriate for their age and they can’t access dangerous parts like batteries.
  5. Home Away from Home: Speaking of traveling—make sure you do quick checks in homes other than your own. If you spend the holidays away from your own home, or at parties in others’ homes, make sure to check that things like cleaning supplies and medications are out of the reach of kids.

 

So from one parent to another—Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Part of showing love as a parent is showing them how you keep them safe.