This post brought to you by Kajeet. All opinions are 100% mine.
Give your kids some freedom and keep your peace of mind with these summer safety tips!
Summer is just about here. For my family that means no alarm clocks for a few months, camping expeditions, road trips, and later nights spent outside. As my kids are getting older, they’ve been eager to stretch their wings more when it comes to playing in our neighborhood. For years they were limited to our backyard and driveway, but now at almost 8 and 5, they want to go play with other kids. But, they are only 8 and 5 and having them roam the neighborhood makes me nervous. Las Vegas is a very transient town and our neighbors change often so I don’t always know them all. I don’t, however, want to keep my kids locked up inside unable to play in the evenings with friends. My husband and I had to sit down and establish some summer safety tips for outdoor play.
Tip 1: Know Your Neighbors
I know – I just said I don’t know all mine. But I have made an effort to meet and get to know the parents of kids my kids want to play with. We’ve had their kids over to our house to play. I get phone numbers for all the parents – just in case. You don’t have to be best friends, but having other eyes and ears watching for your kids is great.
Tip 2: Set Boundaries
My kids have physical boundaries they must stay within when playing outside. There are harsh consequences if they go beyond those boundaries like no TV for a week. Here’s the trick, though, you have to do surprise inspections of the neighborhood to make sure they stay in the boundaries. When they know you’ll be coming around to check, they stay put.
Tip 3: Consider Getting a Cell Phone
So we’ve had this discussion before about kids and cell phones. In general, I don’t think they need one at 8 and 5. But, I think I need them to have one so I can find them when they are out running around and not at someone’s home. The problem is that cell phones can be an expensive tracking device, but I recently discovered Kajeet, a pre-paid wireless provider that specializes in cell phones for kids. You buy a phone right from Kajeet or you can bring your own phone. Service plans start at $4.99/month. That’s not too bad of a price for peace of mind. Parents have complete control of the phone – who the child can call, how much time they get, etc. In fact, through June 17, there is a special discount offer on the website – 20% off all phones (except the Samsung Galaxy S4) with promo code PROUD.
Do you let your kids play in your neighborhood? What ideas do you have to help keep them safe?
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