Our grandson has just turned one and is starting to walk more. As exciting as that is, it also reminds me that I need to do even more babyproofing to our house! With the help of several wonderful Extension publications these are the steps that I have taken so far:
- I have purchased baby gates for the stairs going both up and down. Even with a door that closes it could still be opened by a toddler. The basement baby gate can be moved to the bottom of the basement stairs when we are playing in the basement.
- Latches have been attached to my kitchen and bathroom closets where I keep cleaning supplies.
- Medications have been moved from a lower drawer in my bathroom to a high cabinet.
- Furniture has been moved away from windows.
- Cords for the computer, television, phone chargers etc. are out of reach. This includes keeping the baby monitor far enough away from the crib that it can’t be grabbed.
- The cords on the blinds have been securely attached to the wall.
- I discarded the car seats that I had stored in our attic from our kids. They now come with expiration dates and are made much safer! That was the same for the crib that we used raising our kids. The slats were too far apart so I opted for a new portable crib that is easy to set up.
- I keep my purse off the floor when I am babysitting so there is no risk of getting into medication I keep in there.
One thing that really helped me was to look through the house at a toddler level. By getting on your hands and knees you can see things that might interest a toddler that you don’t notice when you are standing up. I want to have a child friendly house where our kids feel comfortable leaving our grandson with us and they know that we have done everything we can to keep him safe. Here are some resources with even more ideas for babyproofing.
http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=C1049#title6
http://umm.edu/programs/childrens/health/about/child-proof-your-home
http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/safehome.htm
We just got home from one of our favorite places to vacation, the mountains in Colorado. The weather was deceivingly cold. Even when the sun was out and our skiers and snow boarders came home with many spots that needed to be warmed up! Fortunately we didn’t have any cases of frostbite, but I thought it would be helpful to review how to dress for the cold weather and what to do when someone does show signs of frostbite or hypothermia.
This is the time of year when the garden has stopped producing and it is time to think about storing your canning equipment. If you spend time in the fall to clean and pack your canner and supplies your equipment will be ready to go when your produce is ready to harvest in the spring.
Its fall and time to visit your local pumpkin farm to get pumpkins and gourds to decorate your house. Carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds is a tradition for many families including ours. While you are there getting jack-o-lanterns why not get a pie pumpkin as well. These are the pumpkins grown for use in pies, breads and bars. They are sweeter and have less water in them than the traditional carving pumpkins which tend to have a stringy flesh.
The leaves on the trees are turning beautiful colors outside our windows reminding us that fall is here and winter is on its way! Is your home ready for winter? Doing some simple tasks now can reduce your utility bills and keep problems away.
My family loves pie! My son, who lives on the east coast, firmly believes you can’t find a pie there that equals what you can find in the Midwest. With berry season here, you may want to consider making some extra pies now to freeze for later use.
We talked in an earlier blog post about the challenge of summer food stains but there are other stains that challenge us in the summer months. I thought we would address some of these as well.
