Keep Kids Safe at the Playground

More on summer safety! Playground accidents are the leading cause of injury to children in elementary school. Each year, in the United States, approximately 150,000 children ages five to 14 go to the emergency room with accidental injuries involving playground equipment -- and three out of four playground accidents occur on public playgrounds, including school facilities, as opposed to backyard play equipment.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the ground should be covered 12 inches deep with shredded rubber, hardwood fiber mulch or fine sand, extending at least six feet in all directions around the equipment. This lessens the chances that severe injury occurs WHEN a child falls. I say when, because they will fall. Medical experts say that I child who falls more than 10 feet risks spinal cord injury, paralysis and/or death. These guidelines apply to all types of playgrounds, home, school and parks. So check out your own areas for safety.

Also, I've posted plenty of recalls for clothing with drawstrings on this blog. About ten children per year die from injuries involving playground equipment, mostly from strangulation when a piece of loose clothing or jewelry gets caught on equipment or the child's head gets stuck between climbing bars. Parents should be vigilant. For outdoor play, children's clothing and outerwear should be free of drawstrings and should fit snugly to minimize the risk of getting stuck in a piece of equipment. Do not allow kids to wear helmets, necklaces, purses or scarves on the playground or engage in any pushing, shoving or crowding around playground equipment.

The CPSC Playground Guidelines Handbook is available by calling 800.638.2772. At school, you might want to take a look at the school playground and, if necessary, discuss the CPSC guidelines with school officials.

Water Safety for Children

Swim season will be beginning soon. It's actually already started in Florida. I have signed my kids up for another round of swimming lessons starting next month. We don't have a pool, so they don't always get to stay up to date with their swimming skills.

Here are some water safey tips to keep in mind to keep your kids safe during swimming season.

• Never take your eyes off your children while they are swimming, even for a moment. Consider using a buddy system for the children as well.


• If you're in a group, take turns with other adults being the designated "water watcher" to keep eyes on the children.


• While supervising, avoid distractions, like phone use and/or reading or talking.


• Maintain visual contact with the children and the water.


• Teach children to swim beginning at age four.


• Don't rely on water wings or other inflatables.


• If your child can't swim, stay within arm's reach at all times.


• Use only U. S. Coast Guard approved personal flotation devices.


• Tell children to stay away from drains and tie up long hair to prevent entanglement.


• Keep gates to pool areas latched.


• Look for life-saving equipment at the pool.


• Learn infant and child CPR. Contact your local Red Cross for local classes.


• Make sure children stay within designated swimming areas in the ocean, lakes, and rivers.


• Never allow diving in water less than nine feet deep.


• Never leave children alone in the bathtub.


• With younger children, keep toilet lids down, and doors to laundry and bathrooms closed.

Remember me?

Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it? Thank you for hanging in there and reading the blog, over and over, while I am recovering from the worst case of asthma I've had in years.

I have now officially been sick since March 8th. My allergy doctor is befuddled. I've been coughing and coughing, and taking every prescription he can think of that might help me. This started the day before I left to visit Alabama (so I can't blame those people) and has only gotten worse over time.

I like to tell Tim that it's due to global warming, and it probably is. The trees and flowers started earlier this year with pollen, it got hotter faster, therefore helping the fungus and mold to proliferate as well.

I'm on Claritin AND the dreaded Singulair for allergies, taking a mega-strong antibiotic (again), plus all my regular meds for asthma and the daily "rescue" meds. And prednisone - my third course of it.

Sorry to go on and on, but this is just one reason I've not been on blogging regularly. I promise to be better.

Thank you!

We are the New Leading American Economic Indicators

It would appear that our family might be a new leading economic indicator that economists and families might want to follow. Everyone is saying the recession has just gotten started or that it hasn't bottomed out yet. Well, I beg to differ.

Tim and I have spent the last two years living with my parents. There we said it for all to hear! Now media is reporting that it is a new trend for families with job loss or economic worries to move back in with their parents to get back on their feet. As this is coming out as a reportedly growing trend, we are moving back out into the unsheltered world, one paycheck from the street again. Things are different. Before we had a house with a half acre of land. Now, we have no real estate, no savings and no retirement, having used every bit of it to survive and pay our bills on - sans house. We actually sold our home just before the real estate crash, thus allowing us a pool of money that has been drained by our never ending bills from the old life. But, we have managed to keep paying those bills, not even late once, thanks to these parental living arrangments.

Now, with the new job Tim procured a few weeks ago, we do have enough income to get back into our own little place. And that is what we are in the process of looking for in Huntsville, Alabama. Tim has found employment in a city that seems relatively unaffected by the economic troubles around us. All is not completely rosy - they do have state income tax at 5%, Florida's is 0%. And they charge sales tax on groceries! 8%! Florida's charge 0% - so this is going to put a hurt on our food and other budgets right away.

I would not have chosen to leave Florida, but I choose to try to get back on our feet as an independent family again. I know my parents will be happy to have their space back, their organization back and the quiet, unassuming lives of retirees back. But they'll miss watching the grand kids going to school and growing up. I know we'll be happy to have control of the air conditioning temperature back - probably more than anything! But we are thankful to have had a soft place to land and to not be homeless. Family is good for that.

I will hope that we are the new economic leading indicators, seeing that our employment is improving, we are now moving out of parental homes and hopefully going to start rebuilding savings and retirement, just in time for college!