Commentary: Home safety from a mom’s perspective Published June 19, 2015 By Kimberly Woodruff Staff Writer TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- As the mom of a 9 year old boy, I can honestly say that safety is a priority in our home. I have always heard if you have a little one, you need to get down on their level and look for safety obstacles. So, when my son, Jonathan, was a baby, that's exactly what I did. Crawl around every room of your home and you will be surprised at all of the safety concerns you'll find. My list was extensive. I covered all the electrical outlets, put child locks on the cabinets, tucked away electrical cords, put clips on the window blind cords, padded sharp corners, put up baby gates and constantly picked up tiny things off the floor so he wouldn't swallow anything. I made sure his toys were large enough he couldn't put them in his mouth -- believe me, he tried. Making sure the bathroom didn't pose any dangers was a priority for me as well. I knew I didn't have time to fiddle with child locks in the morning to get through my daily routine, so I hung a pocketed shoe rack on the door and put items we used every day in the top pockets. In the lower pockets, I placed fun toys for him to find when he was exploring. Once the little ones are toddling around, things get exciting. I never considered the strong need to keep the doors locked until my little guy opened the front door and took off running toward the street. Luckily, I had kept our home alarm "door open beeps" engaged. When I heard it go off, I was able to catch him before he was out of the yard. After that, I kept the deadbolt engaged, both for my sanity and his safety. It also works well for keeping out the bad guys. Life was good. And then he began to climb. How I survived that stage without a cardiac incident is totally beyond me! The climbing stage of toddlerhood made me crazy with worry. The first thing I did was anchor all the furniture and the big screen TV. I saw a video of a child pulling a TV down on themselves and promptly bought the anchor kit for our TV. Most stores that sell TVs carry the kit. The anchors were easy to install, and I had peace of mind when my child scaled the bookcase like Spiderman. About the same time he began to climb, my son quickly figured out all the child proof locks in the house -- Ack! Being awakened at 6 a.m. on a Saturday by the noise of banging pots and pans was somewhat of a nuisance, but that didn't bother me as much as the thought of my son possibly coming across something harmful like cleaning supplies, medications, knives, lotions or hair care products. You haven't lived until you spend the day trying to clean up a large bottle of shampoo spilled on the bathroom floor -- bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! Even though I locked up chemicals and medications, I always drew a large sad face on the bottle and the top of the lid with a marker. When I was a kid, my parents used stickers, but a marker works just as well. We told Jonathan the sad face meant "NO," so if he did happen upon something dangerous, he would stop. Just in case though, I had the number to poison control posted by the phones and on the refrigerator. The number is 1-800-222-1222 and it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have a dog and a cat, so it was important to teach Jonathan about being safe around them. I never left him unattended with the animals when he was a baby. We love our pets, but they are animals, and you can't ignore that fact. We also taught Jonathan to never approach an animal that he didn't know and certainly not to touch it without the owner's permission. Our rescue cat was already declawed, so we didn't worry about scratches. He still had sharp teeth, so we taught "soft touches" to prevent bites, and never had any trouble with the animals. As my son has gotten older, there are still dangers, but they've changed somewhat. I don't have to worry about him drinking cleaning fluid because I am raising the pickiest eater on the planet. I do have other worries, however. For his ninth birthday, all Jonathan wanted was a skateboard. He got one, along with a helmet, padding and a lecture about how and where to ride safely. Our neighborhood has a nice place for the kids to ride and we go out and supervise. In addition to boarding, swimming is another activity Jonathan loves. Every year we sign him up for water safety classes. Last year, the Tinker Youth Center held ZAC camp and the children learned about water safety as well as drain safety. Even children who are good swimmers have died by getting their hand stuck in the pool drain, so it is a good idea to put a gate on the drain if you have a pool at home and teach your children to stay away from it. A fence around the pool is another important safety feature. Some alarm companies can even set the gate up with an alarm to alert parents if a child has gotten in the pool. Always apply sunscreen when the kiddos are outside to prevent sunburn. Lastly, there's fire. Believe me, at some point most little boys do get fascinated by fire. I can't speak of little girls, but I remember I never had a fascination with fire when I was young. In our house, we keep matches and lighters locked away. Sometimes, I light a candle at the dinner table or for a special occasion, but it is extinguished once we're through. I like the battery-powered candles more and more. Cooking is always supervised. We are teaching Jonathan how to microwave foods safely. Smoke detectors are a must in any home, with or without children. Knowing that fires can happen for any number of reasons -- like faulty electrical lines or the house getting struck by lightning -- we have an evacuation plan that everyone in the house knows. This list of safety dos and don'ts is pretty long. Perhaps I'm a little overprotective, but that's my job. Adult supervision is the best thing we can give our children. I keep a fully stocked first aid kit, sunscreen and plenty of hugs and kisses for those times I can't prevent the bump or scrape. I always tell Jonathan that my main job is to keep him safe because I'm the mom.