Summertime and the living is easy! Unless you have kids out of school and have a lot of time on their hands. Yet, you still have to work or have a lot to do and aren’t able to keep an eye on them.
When your kids are just starting to get independent, they do still need some structure or at least follow some guidelines to stay safe. To make sure that your kids don’t end up finding themselves in a difficult situation, you’ll need to take some precautions.
Sure, you trust them to make good decisions, but sometimes it pays to make sure a bad decision doesn’t become a problem.
All this to say that you need to take some extra measures to make sure they are safe when you aren’t able to be there. In this article, I will go over several ways to keep your family safe during the summer holiday.
Have a security system
You really should have a security system for your home anyway but it is especially important if your kids are going to be home alone. Find a security system that connects through your wifi to give you the option to monitor from a laptop or phone.
It is handy to be able to check in on the house when you get an alert that there is somebody at the front door, for instance. Summer is an opportunity for thieves as they assume people are on vacation so having a security system is ideal.
Another benefit is that you can have smart locks as part of the system. In case your kids lock themselves out, they don’t need to have a key to get back in. They just need to use the password to let themselves back into the house.
These days, there are a lot of different smart systems that connect the entire home and they aren’t as expensive as they used to be.
Keep the pool enclosed
Having a pool is essential to be able to keep cool during those sweltering days. And they are great at keeping the kids active and busy without having to take them around to different events when you are busy.
Yet, at the same time, they are potentially very dangerous. When the pool is not secure, it can be dangerous for your neighbors as well. Make sure that the pool is gated and locked so that nobody can use the pool when there isn’t an adult present.
Make sure that your kids always have an adult present when they want to use the pool. If you are not home, then having a security camera that shows you the pool area that can be monitored remotely is a good idea. There are also pool alarms that sound when the surface of the water is disturbed and pool safety covers to keep your kids from swimming when no adult is around to supervise.
Give them a phone
A youngster having a smartphone is a double edged sword. On eht one hand, it makes it easier to monitor your child and allows them to stay in touch with you. On the other, a phone can be abused.
Allow them to have a phone to use to send you texts when they get to where they are going and also allows you to track them to make sure they are where they say that they are. You can change the settings to make sure that they aren’t using it for playing video games all day or surfing the net.
It can also be a good tool to teach them to be responsible on their own. If you are worried about how they will use the phone, make sure that you are explicit on how they are to use it. And make firm boundaries if they abuse the privilege.
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