summer safety

Whatever your plans are for this Memorial Day and into summer fun, here are a few tips to keep your adventures as safe as they are enjoyable.

Every 10 days, across the United States, a child dies while unattended in a hot car. It only takes a few minutes for a car to heat up and become deadly to a child inside. As summer temperatures rise, more kids are at risk – the death toll this summer has already exceeded 20.

Camping season is in full gear and America’s parks and wilderness areas are filled with city dwellers trying to get some peace, quiet and fresh air. Here are a few tips on how to make your trip not just safe, but really fun.

As parents, we often have conflicted feelings about safety: On the one hand, we can sometimes be too cautious, overestimating our child’s level of risk of a particular danger. And at the same time, we can completely dismiss certain hazards, assuming our child would never be affected. This is especially true of one particular kind of accident. 

My dad has always loved big shiny toys. Cars, grills, televisions and tools never fail to bring out his inner child. However, he has never cared much for big owner’s manuals. In fact, he can hardly be bothered to read the heating instructions on frozen dinners, much less read the small novels that come with most electronics today. 

The calendar tells us that summer starts on June 21. But for me, summer starts on Memorial Day weekend, when I join aunts, uncles and cousins at the beach to open our old family cottage for the season.