When I got home yesterday, standing in my driveway was a little toddler who was obvoiusly lost. At first I thought it was my own daughter, but I quickly realized that it was not, and then I noticed the little Jack Russell dog in my yard. After parking my car, I scooped up the dog and approached the little girl, who took my hand when I said, "Let's go find Mommy." I began looking down my street for a frantic mother, and about two blocks later I found her and reunited her with her daughter and her dog. She explained to me that she had just gone into her bedroom for a couple of minutes to change a soiled shirt, and came out to find that her little girl had gone outside and let herself and her canine partner out of their back fence gate. Within 5 minutes, little Madison had followed the dog down the block, across the street, and another block to my house. The mother was so scared, and who knows how far the little girl might have gone or what other dangers she might have faced, had I not been in the right place at the right time (truly a divine intervention, if you ask me).
So this leads me to the point of today's post: Childproofing your yard.
If you have a child at home, go outside right now and check the following items:
- Is there a lock on your back gate? If not, please go get one and install it today!
- Secure all pools, ponds, and fountains
- Secure all outdoor furniture, swing sets, jungle gyms, etc. to make sure they won't fall on your child
- Secure all grills, propane tanks, smokers, and fire pits
- Make sure that your lawn mower, weed trimmer, and other garden machines cannot be turned on by your child
- Remove all rakes, shovels, trowels, pitchforks, and other garden tools from reach.
- Fill in any holes to avoid trips and falls
- Secure or remove any fertilizer and garden chemicals
- Be certain that your child cannot get inside your trash can, composter, or recycling bins
- Cover any exposed outlets with chilproof plugs or boxes
- Make sure that clotheslines are out of the child's reach
- Check any hanging plants, plant hooks, and garden ornaments to make sure that they cannot be pulled down or fall from their mountings onto your child
- Check with you local garden center to make sure that your grass, shrubs, and trees are not poisonous - including any mushrooms that may pop after rainstorms
- Clear your yard of any broken glass, debris, cigarette butts, and animal feces (children put anything in their mouths!)
Finally, check out the following links for more tips and infomation:
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/safehome.htm
http://blissfullydomestic.com/multiple-bliss/childproofing-your-home-series-pool-and-yard/
http://www.ehow.com/how_4527260_child-proof-yard.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/AE/AE16600.pdf
http://www.securityworld.com/ia-262-childproofing-your-backyard.aspx
http://www.thehomeknowitall.com/the_home_knowitall/2008/04/childproof-your.html
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