Home shouldn’t be a danger zone for the kids

Having children is a wonderful experience and there is nothing more joyful than watching your toddler running around the house full of excitement and life. But how safe are these homes in which our kids run around so freely? There are so many dangerous appliances and even other things that might seem harmless to us lying around and you cannot believe the damage they can cause. From the exposed electricity sockets to the sharp corners around the tables to the crockery or cutlery lying carelessly around. Some of these are brushed off and not taken seriously because we think they don’t matter. Reality hits us when a life changing near fatal or worse, fatal accident occurs. I don’t know if it’s the way of life but the worst always happens from something you never thought was possible or probably overlooked. The good thing is that nowadays many parents are taking precaution and hiring safety inspectors to brief them on what danger zones they are ignoring or not aware of in their homes. In some homes the kitchen cabinets are the deadliest, reasons being they are so accessible to the kids. In them are all sorts of dangerous items like knives, forks, gas lighters and many more. Gas cookers are great and save tons on electricity bills but the tragedy they can cause if not secured properly is unimaginable. They usually have that knob that you turn on and off when using the gas. If that gas knob is not turned off, all a kid has to do is play with the cooker switch and leave it on. The gas will leak into the house and if you don’t have a nose that smells things easily or a maid who just couldn’t be bothered, you’ll be sparking up a match to warm the baby’s food and blowing yourselves up in the process. Kitchens are just a no go area for kids because everything dangerous is in there. If your house is double storied, make sure you have the staircase well carpeted and a safety gate at the bottom and top of it because with that toddler learning how to walk and run around, the steps are the most enticing thing. But without those safety gates he might trip and break a leg, arm or worse neck. Some of these safety measures might sound like a luxury but the expense of not doing anything at all will be much higher. Do not wait for something bad to happen to wake up because that something might not give you a second chance to do things correctly. Those over exposed sockets are something you should take seriously as well. Kids are not aware of danger. They couldn’t sense trouble if it was staring them in the face. That sweet little thing will look at those holes in the socket and assume that the best place to insert that metallic nail you left lying around is right there. These sockets also have switches and its best that you leave them off at all times. If your sockets are so low, you could find a way of placing furniture in front of them so that the kid can’t get to them. But you best believe that in this day and age things are improving so it’s safe to say that you can now have sockets with safety covers installed in your house. Once again forget about the costs because the cost of doing nothing is greater. There is nothing worse than regret or the phrase ‘if only I’d done this’. If you can do something about the situation, do it. Don’t sit around being lazy because all those things you are ignoring are just accidents waiting to happen. cjanzi83@yahoo.co.uk