Teaching Kids About Safety

I was quite tickled the other day when Baby D tried to crawl after his siblings as they rushed out the door to go play outside. Thank goodness my daughter remembered to close the gate, or I'm sure he would have crawled out with them. I can already see the impatience in this little baby's eyes to do the things his siblings are doing. Oh no! Another 'Energizer battery' in the making.

Mamas tip:
1. When your child gets about 3+ years old, teach them how to lock/unlock the door. Their fingers and hands should be strong and skillful enough now to learn how to turn a key. Reason for this is not so they can flee like a refugee, but rather for emergency cases like you pengsan (faint) and they need to let the paramedics in :)
2. When they can open the door:

• tell them when they are allowed to open it and to whom and for what.
• teach them to close and lock it at all times (you'll hear yourself repeating this for a few years). Children are so innocent that they don't know how evil lurks out there. I keep reminding my children how open doors may just be an open invitation to unwelcome visitors. I tell them about the knives or guns these people might have and their intention to steal things or to harm us. Not that I want to scare them (well... maybe a little) but they need to learn that there are consequences to their actions.
  

3. Oh, and one more thing, make sure they know not to leave the keys in the keyhole or anywhere near the door after they lock it (this is if you have a grilled door).