This post was sponsored by Kidde Fire Safety as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Since we’ve moved several times over the past few years (and most recently, from Memphis to Charlotte), my girls have experience getting accustomed to a new house – and truth be told, they seem to love it.
While many things change when moving into a new home, one thing that never changes in our family is the importance of everyone’s safety within our four walls. I may not be an expert, but when I think about how to keep kids safe, I like to think practically. Below, I’m sharing three ways we really emphasize safety to our girls in our home.
No Running Indoors
You may think this not a serious safety rule, but it is in our house because of a freak accident that happened a few years ago. My oldest had a habit of leaving toys all over the floor and not putting things away when she was done playing (but that’s every kid, right?). On this particular day, she ran through our living room and slid on a toy on our hardwood floors, fell and started screaming in pain.
I didn’t even think it was anything serious because it’s not the first time she had fallen on toys, but when her screaming didn’t stop after a bit, I felt like something was wrong. As it turns out, she had fractured her leg right above the ankle and had to be in a cast for over a month. Nowadays, we are very serious about the no running in the house rule and we also make sure there are no toys or anything that could cause a fall lying on the floor at any time.
Keep Doors Locked
We never really ran into any issues with this until recently. My 5-year-old has always been overly cautious, even as a toddler, and we never felt worried about her getting into too much trouble. My three-year-old daughter, on the other hand, has proven to be a little daredevil the older she gets, so we’ve had to be even more cautious (than I already was!) with her. She has tried to open exterior doors and has zero fear about going outside, even if she’s alone.
Because of this, we’ve had to be abundantly clear that she is not allowed to unlock or open any exterior door without asking permission. I reiterate that all doors need to stay locked daily, and not just to keep her inside, of course – my girls also know that we keep our doors locked to prevent uninvited people from coming in. With that said, our girls do know how to unlock our doors because we want them to be able to get out in the event of an emergency. Which brings me to my next topic, fire safety.
Teach Fire Safety
One thing we’ve made clear to our girls is that fire is not to be messed around with – it’s a serious danger and they should be very mindful and aware of it. Kids are very receptive to things they see and hear, so it’s important that they realize the seriousness of fire, even if it’s in a setting where the fire was intentional (like a campfire). Helping them understand why they need to be careful around fire also opens up the conversation to discussing fire safety in the home. We believe it’s important to go over how to react in the event of a fire, but in a positive way that doesn’t scare our young children.
Since October is National Fire Prevention Month, it’s a perfect time to discuss fire safety with your family and the ideal time to make sure all of your smoke alarms are functioning properly in your home. Kidde is a brand that we trust in our home and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of fire safety products. Kidde offers smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that help prevent injuries and alert people to danger near them earlier.
Now is a great time to ensure your family is on the same page when it comes to fire safety and confirm your fire safety essentials are in proper working order. If you need to upgrade any of the smoke or carbon monoxide alarms in your home, Kidde’s fire safety products can be found conveniently at The Home Depot or Walmart.
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