Summer is in full swing, which means plenty of afternoons spent floating in the pool or burying our toes into the sand. Nothing says summer like spending 24/7 in a swimsuit, cannon-balling into whatever body of water is available to you. But for those of us with little ones underfoot, those relaxing moments have us spending more time toting gear, getting splashed in the face, and cleaning sand out of every single thing we own.
And then there’s also the issue of keeping your kids safe while they paddle around. Maybe your children have been swimming all summer long, but that doesn’t mean they’re clear from danger. Kids need constant supervision around water, whether it be a pool, a waterpark, or the ocean. So, before you hit the H20 next, read these tips for keeping your family safe…so that you can actual enjoy your day in the water!
Set Rules. Think carefully about how your family talks about water and swimming. We want our children to learn to swim, but we must also stress the importance of waiting for an adult before diving in. Establish a set of rules for the pool, whether it’s yours or a public one, for your family and visitors. No running or rough-housing in or around the pool. No glass, electrical, or breakable objects should be present, and be sure to restate rules regularly and enforce consequences when broken.
Nominate a Water Watcher. Even if you’ve enrolled your kid in swimming lessons, don’t assume it’s okay to leave children unattended in the water. They might be good floaters but mom, dad, or a trusted caretaker should always be the first line of defense. Nominate an adult “water watcher” in your party—have that person wear a bracelet or necklace as a physical reminder of who is in charge of watching the water. A simple rubber band around the wrist or a Hawaiian lei can do the trick. When the water watcher needs a break, they must find a replacement and “pass the baton” to another responsible adult.
Be Selective. Make sure that any pools your child might have access to are well secured with a safety fence on all four sides. This simple fencing can prevent up to 7 out of 10 drownings in children under the age of five. If a house serves as the “fourth side” of a fence surrounding a pool, it’s a good idea to install an alarm on the exit door to the yard and pool. You can also place window guards on windows. This way, you’re alerted anytime little bodies head towards the water. If you are headed out on vacation and renting a condo or house with a pool, be sure to ask if it’s properly fenced.
Skip the Floaties. While it may seem safer to stick puddle jumpers or water wings on the kids, such inflatable flotation devices give kids a false sense of security. For babies and toddlers, it can make them think they can jump in on their own and float. Such devices also instill incorrect muscle memory—being vertical in water is considered “drowning position.” Of course, when out on a boat or swimming in open water, encourage the whole family to wear life vests. Even strong swimmers can be caught off guard!
Stay Close. Park your beach chairs or lay pool towels within arm’s reach of little ones. Even if the water is shallow, you don’t want your child to fall in or be taken under by an unexpected wave at the beach. They’ll also feel more content and comforted knowing that you’re close by.
Pack A Kit. Prepare a waterproof bag or tote full of common first aid items, such as band-aids, sunscreen, antiseptic, bug spray, lip balm, bottled water, and more. Bring the kit to the pool, beach, or other outdoor event. This way, you’re prepared for anything.
Tidy Up. Make sure your pool water stays clean and clear for safe swimming. Maintain proper chemical levels, filtration, and circulation. Regularly test and adjust the chemical levels to minimize the risk of earaches, rashes, burning eyes, or other serious problems. And always clean toys up and out of the water when finished swimming, as kids may be tempted to try and retrieve them later. Baby wading pools and buckets should always be drained immediately after use.
Get Schooled in CPR All parents and caretakers should have current CPR certification. If something goes wrong, performing CPR could be the lifesaving step.
Summer is here! Schools and colleges are out, the weather is warm, the pools are open, and the fruity drinks are flying. A lot of people love summer but ultimately end up doing the same old stuff. Why not make this summer a little different? Here are some awesome things you should definitely do before the end of this summer!
Go for a picnic. It seems a little old-fashioned, but a picnic can still be a lot of fun. Put some food in a basket or a cooler, go find a grassy spot somewhere, plop down, and have a meal. Take your friends or your family along and make an experience that you’ll remember. Just be sure to avoid the ant hills!
Unplug and go connect with your real life friends. Everyone is on the Internet these days. Some people will keep their face pointed directly at their phones even when they’re outside. Sometime this summer, make sure you set the phone down, step away from the computer, and experience life without the Internet. Make sure you stop by and see your friends. Catch up; do things that you used to do before the Internet became a dominant force in our lives. Your brain will thank you because sometimes, you just have to get away from the web.
Go find your nearest body of water. Water is an amazing thing and you can do a lot with it. Go visit a body of water this summer, be it a lake, an ocean, a river, or something else. Go fishing and swimming. Lie on the beach or go for a boat ride. There are a hundred things you can do once you hit water. Visit one and enjoy yourself!
Walk somewhere. We have legs that we are using less and less these days. Do your body, your cardiovascular system, and your health a favor and pound some pavement this summer. Find a park or a trail and walk around. If you live close enough, hoof it to your local shopping center. Whatever it is, just get off your behind and walk around outside for a while. Did we mention that the sun gives away free vitamin D?
Try something you’ve never tried before. When we were kids, summer was the time of exploration. We took the time off of school to try a lot of new things and begin to compile the experiences that would eventually become treasured memories. Why does it have to stop now that we’re grown up? There are a lot of things left to experience and you have three whole months to do them! Go skydiving or water skiing. Take a road trip to a place you’ve never been before. The possibilities are endless and they’ll be your treasured memories years from now.
Start a garden. There is almost a primal satisfaction in making things grow out of the ground. A lot of people plant gardens and you should too. You can grow flowers, vegetables, fruits, or even herbs and spices. Finding what to grow can be fun and weeding your garden can be oddly calming and therapeutic. Plus at the end of the season, you can pick what you grow and use it for indoor decoration, as food, or to spice food. That’s a win-win!
Go on a vacation. This one is self explanatory but nevertheless it’s important. The routine of day-to-day life can be stressful. Going on vacation allows you to get away from all the stress of your every day life. You can decompress, recharge, and give yourself a mental and emotional makeover. It also doesn’t hurt that vacations are fun.
Have a BBQ. Fire up the grill and the smoker because it’s summer! There is no better time to have a BBQ and invite your friends, neighbors, and family over. It’s a fun time and it’s a great way to bond with the people you care about. BBQ is also delicious and with all of the other activities you’ll be doing, it’ll be easy to keep the weight off too.
Do some house work. There is no more snow on the ground which means it’s a lot safer to get up on your roof and finally clean out those gutters and re-shingle the roof. Your yard could probably use some TLC too and the siding on your house is probably in need of a good power wash. We’ve no doubt you have a to do list and there is no better time to get it done than summer.
Attend a parade. Parades are a celebration. It’s people celebrating ideals and holidays. The feeling of going to one is generally uplifting and joyful. You get to see the artistic talents of the community through floats and presentations and you’re shoulder to shoulder with people who feel the same way. It’s a good time and worth checking out.
Go see some fireworks. In the United States, we have a special day specifically for this event every year. Granted it’s our Independence Day, but until kids learn the value of the holiday in school, it’s known as the day where tens of millions of people across this country get together and fire things into the sky. A good fireworks display can be beautiful and breathtaking. It’s an experience you can’t miss.
Go hiking and camping. Enjoying the great outdoors is always a good suggestion. Grabbing the old tent and sleeping bag, trekking out to the middle of nowhere, and sleeping there can be a liberating and refreshing experience. You’ll be away from civilization, away from the Internet, and bonding with nature. It’s great exercise too!
Get yourself some fruity drinks. One of the best things about summer are the fruity drinks. Smoothies are amazing and there are hundreds of places that sell them. If you’re into making them at home you can find thousands of recipes. For adults, adding a little alcohol to them is never a bad idea. The Piña colada was invented for this time of year. Do yourself a favor and make yourself a nice big smoothie.
Volunteer. It’s never too late to help those in need or to volunteer in places around your community. Volunteer to be a life guard or to help clean up trash out of your local parks and woods. It’s your community, so why not help keep it safe and clean? We’re sure your local church and school have an activity list long enough to fill your entire summer if you so chose.
Have a garage sale. During the winter, we’ve no doubt that you stocked up on stuff during the holiday season. That means it’s time to climb into the attic, venture into the garage, and dive into the basement to find all the old junk you don’t need anymore. You could throw it away, but one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Drop it out on the lawn, put some for sale signs on it, and make yourself a few bucks while you remove some clutter from your house.
Attend a bonfire. Bonfires are a lot of fun. You find a friend with a house in the middle of nowhere and build yourself a fire that Running Man would be jealous of. Grab the kids and some s’mores ingredients. Call up that hippie friend we all have that can strum practically every hit from the 70s on an acoustic guitar. Make a party out of it. As humans, we’ve always bonded over fire. Why not be a part of the proud tradition?
Visit the zoo. Going to the zoo can be a fun activity, even if you’re an adult. You can visit the animals and learn a little bit about wildlife. If you have kids then this is practically a mandatory event. There is practically an entire day’s worth of activities to take part in and going to the zoo isn’t all that expensive either.
Find a movie drive in. This can be difficult one to accomplish because so many drive in movie theaters have closed down. If you’re up for it and you can find one relatively nearby, it’s totally worth driving out a couple of hours. There is something that is just fun about lying on your car or the bed of your truck while you watch a movie on a gigantic screen. It’s an experience that won’t be around for much longer, so it’s recommended you try it at least once.
Take a nap in a hammock. Homer Simpson makes taking a nap in a hammock look fun because it is fun. It can be a challenge to find a hammock and find a place to put it up. It’s worth the effort because it’s the next best thing to going camping. You’re sleeping outside with nature and hammocks can be pretty comfortable if you set them up right.
Watch a sunset from an epic location. Everywhere is within an hour of a great spot to watch a sunset. You may have hills in your area that you can climb where you can watch the sunset over your town. You may live near a beach where you can watch it happen over water. Sunsets are among the most popular computer and cell phone backgrounds ever because they’re absolutely gorgeous. You’ve seen the high resolution photos, but there really is nothing like experiencing the real thing.
Go to an outdoor concert. Summer is a great time to go see an outdoor show. A lot of artists tour during the summer and most large cities have an outdoor venue. There are even a boat load of festivals available where you can go see acts from multiple genres. Outdoor shows have more freedom than indoor shows and there is nothing that isn’t enjoyable about sitting in the grass with a beer and listening to music you enjoy.
Pick some wildflowers or fruit. Everything is growing back and that means flowers and fruit. It doesn’t really matter where you live—you are within 30 minutes of a place where you can go pick some flowers in a field or find some wild fruit bushes or trees. Grab a basket and go pick some flowers!
Enjoy some summer sports. There is no doubt that winter sports are the most fun to watch, but summer sports are the most fun to play. Find some friends and a baseball diamond and have a game. Tennis can be fun if you only have a couple of people. Horse shoes, badminton, and volleyball are also fun. It’s a great way to connect with friends and it’s good exercise!
See a summer blockbuster. Some of the best movies come out over the summer. You’ll see them in commercials on TV and your coworkers will be talking about them around the water cooler. Grab the family and head on over to the local movie theater to enjoy it for yourself. Summer blockbusters are often the talk of the town. You’re going to hear your friends spout quotes, Saturday Night Live will play parodies, and it’ll get referenced a hundred times anyway. You may as well see them so you can get the jokes.
There are thousands of things to do over the summer, but the important thing is that you enjoy yourself while you can. Soon the snow will be back, flu season will be in full effect, and you’ll be craving that strawberry daiquiri or firing up the grill. As the old saying goes, get it while the gettin’ is good!
Dogs and humans have been living side-by-side for about 15,000 years, so you might think we know each other pretty well. But there’s more to dogs than fetching and playing dead. Here are some little-known facts about man’s best friend so you can find out why your dog acts the way he does.
1. The “smell” center of a dog’s brain is 40 times larger than yours.
Dogs can smell thousands of times better than humans. Their noses have millions more scent receptors—for example, a human nose averages 5 million while a Dachshund’s has 125 million—making them useful in sniffing out drugs, dead bodies, bed bugs, explosives, and more.
2. No two dog noses are the same.
A dog’s nose is the equivalent of a human fingerprint, with each having a unique pattern of ridges and creases.
3. Dogs dream like people.
If you’ve ever noticed your pooch twitching in her sleep, this probably means she’s dreaming. Researchers found that dogs have similar sleep patterns and brain activity as humans, and that small breeds tend to dream more than large ones. Psychology Today suggests they’re probably imagining familiar activities like playing outside or chasing their tail.
4. Dogs are as smart as a two-year-old baby.
According to canine researcher and author Stanley Coren, your toddler and pup are about on par when it comes to brains. He also explained that man’s best friend can count, understand over 150 words, and even trick people or other dogs to get treats. Intelligence varies based on breed—Border collies are the smartest.
5. Tail wagging has its own language.
If your dog excitedly wags their tail, it means they’re happy to see you, right? Not necessarily. According to Discovery.com, dogs wag their tails to the right when they’re happy and to the left when they’re frightened. Wagging low means they’re insecure; and rapid tail wagging accompanied by tense muscles or dilated pupils can signal aggression. This is how to determine your dog’s energy level.
6. Puppies are born blind and deaf.
Newborn dogs are still developing, according to Psychology Today, so their ear canals and eyes are still closed. Most puppies open their eyes and respond to noises after about two weeks.
7. Dogs have a “sixth sense.”
In a 2010 poll, 67 percent of pet owners reported their pets acting strangely right before a storm, and 43 percent said their pets behaved oddly right before something bad happened. The top clues? Whining, erratic behavior, or trying to hide in a safe place. There are even reports that dogs can sense illnesses, like cancer.
8. Dogs only have sweat glands in their paws.
Even though they sweat out through the pads of their paws, their main form of cooling down is panting.
9. Your dog’s feet might smell like corn.
Some pet owners might notice the faint scent of corn chips or popcorn lingering around their dog. This is called “frito feet,” and it happens when sweat and bacteria builds up in the paws.
10. “Dog breath” is actually unhealthy.
You might expect your dog’s mouth to smell like, well, dog. But persistent bad breath can actually be a sign of dental disease or other health problems. If you don’t already, have your dog’s teeth examined by a veterinarian every year.
