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Take a little time to discuss ways that they can stay safe, have an action plan for contingencies, and most of all, don’t panic when things happen. Your sense of calm is how your kids see the world, so be the stabilizer when they need you to be there for them.
Keeping your child safe is the top priority of any parent and is always on your mind. It doesn’t matter how old your kid is. Their safety is always present in your mind and can be stressful in some situations. The best strategy you can take for your peace of mind and calm is to spend time preparing and educating your children about precautions to take.
From keeping them safe from a seasonal illness such as influenza and the common cold to more severe diseases like chickenpox, there can be a lot on your plate as a parent. The good news is that while COVID-19 has made life more inconvenient for everyone, the bright side is that it has slowed the transmission of several infectious diseases.
While winter and early spring have traditionally been issues with communicable diseases like the flu, influenza rates were extremely low this past year. There is no doubt that this is partly due to social distancing, mask-wearing, and hygiene that everyone is adhering to, but it’s still no small feat.
In part, keeping people separated to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus has had the added benefit of minimizing exposure to seasonal and traditional childhood illnesses like chickenpox.
Accidents Will Happen
Sometimes it doesn’t matter the number of precautions we take. Our kids can get sick or, through inattention, cause something to go wrong. In other words, you can take all the precautions you want to, but in the end, accidents and illness will happen.
Like with teenage drivers, there is an overwhelming amount of research that says distracted teen drivers have over 300,000 emergency room visits per year regardless of what you do as a parent to assist them. They still have to make wise decisions.
You can educate your teen of the dangers of distracted driving, from too many people in the car to using a cell phone while driving. In the end, they have to make good choices and focus on their driving.
Besides minimizing the risk of exposure to disease and injury, taking care of your kids’ health is more than mask-wearing and keeping them distanced from others or teaching them to be more attentive when driving.
Some Other Precautions To Take Especially Away From Home
Getting regular medical check-ups, as well as dental exams, are critical. If you need to find a new doctor or dentist outside your plan, a simple Google search can offer a list of qualified professionals. Just make sure that you perform a localized search rather than a broad search in your query.
For example, let’s say you need to find a dentist while on vacation. If you are in Illinois but live in Nebraska, it doesn’t benefit you to search for a local dentist near your house. Instead, a localized search may look something like “dentist Winnetka open today.”
In this example here, you’ve included what you want, where it needs to be located, and its availability. The search results will bring up a local dentist in Winnetka that is open and available to treat your child rather than offer a search result for your hometown in Nebraska.
Life Returning To Normal
Look, soon enough, we’ll be able to travel and get out of the house with some level of safety and a return to a sense of routine. That also means that typical childhood illnesses may skyrocket as a byproduct, so being informed and prepared is crucial for their health and your sanity.
The precautions you’ve taken before the COVID pandemic, the adjustments to our daily routines during the pandemic, and the safeguards we focus on as parents when things open back up again are great lessons for us as well as our children.
Understanding how to find a medical and dental professional when you need them, especially when you travel, is an excellent strategy for you as a parent. For parents of older teenagers, what you can do to educate your kids on necessary precautions is your best strategy. Still, in the end, their safety is going to be determined by their attention, focus, and a little luck.
As things become normal again, it doesn’t mean that we should lose our focus on our children’s wellbeing.
