“Children see magic because they look for it” but their exploration and yearning for magic sometimes takes them to places we would not want them to go near. Take flyscreens for example. Australia has already witnessed its fair share of deaths when it comes to children toppling over from windows.
So what do you do in order to prepare your home for children? I mean make it really safe for them. Let me take you through a few tips I learnt in the great school called Life and those that I picked up from association with my clients over last many years.
Flyscreens
Let me reiterate the importance of Flyscreens. You think children have no business going anywhere close to the windows but I feel you have no business keeping your windows unsheltered. I am especially talking of those windows which are easily accessible to a child.
There was this client of mine who would complain smilingly “I don’t know when and how Harry beats me to the window….it is as if he grows those really big feet and rushes to the window before I can blink”.
I wish parents were as expeditious in resolving this problem as they were in figuring it out. Flyscreens or reinforced screens will do quite well. You can even try wonderful retrofits that run rings around the market today; they help you in keeping the aesthetic beauty of your windows alive
Stairs
While talking of child safety, one can never overemphasise on the need for accident-resistant stairs for children. I know there is no way you can resist an accident and it is why they are called accidents. Is it still too tall an order to put those safety gates at stairs?
Choking cords
Give due thought to the blind cords. They can asphyxiate your toddlers like nothing else…..Well, probably! There are cord safety devices you can buy cheaply from the market.
Electrical fittings
I can go on talking about the electrical fittings and still get a feeling of not having cautioned enough. Visualise these: your child tripping over a naked electrical wire or putting his busy, curious fingers in one of the stray outlets.
Even the thought is so flabbergasting, is it not? Be prepared for such mishaps. Make sure you have safety covers on outlets and power boards.
Chemicals
And yes, lest I forget, keep those dreaded chemicals and toxic weaponry (for insects and pests) out of the reach of children. They cannot tell milk from Carboxylic acid and do they care for the smell.
Can you share an experience which made you even more prepared?
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