Learning About Snow Safety

Woohoo! We’re having a blizzard. Hurray. Time to play.

Actually, it’s time to send the kids out to play while I hide at the computer. Why not? The kids, at 11 and 8 years old, are old enough to play safely in the yard, right?

Guess again.

They have so many bright ideas about fun activities in the snow; and, most of the time, I just let them play.

Sledding down our steep driveway could be risky, but I let it go. The kids think it’s a blast, and it’s only moderately dangerous. Of course, I make them stop when we expect cars or the driveway becomes a sheet of ice. I probably should insist that they wear a helmet, but, but (alright, there is no good reason.) Bottom line, I allow the kids to take some risks.

Today, I found my 8-year-old son digging an igloo out of the 4 foot snowbank. I suppose I could have worried about him drowning in snow, but that didn’t concern me. I would have let him continue; EXCEPT, he was tunneling through the snow without snowpants or sweater and with a wide-open coat. See, I wasn’t too worried about collapsing tunnels and smothered children, my concern is that the real snow danger over here is hypothermia.

I hustled my son in the house to change into appropriate clothing, and after two more false starts, finally had him properly attired for some winter fun. Meanwhile, my older daughter showed me what a responsible young lady she is as she voluntarily shoveled the entire, long front walk.

Okay, so now I figured that at least I could count on the nearly-teen girl to play safely in the snow. Right? Wrong.

When her friend came in and asked to borrow a camera to take a picture of the near-teen buried in the snow, I wasn’t concerned. I denied the request, but only because electronics and wet snow just aren’t a good combination. I wasn’t thinking: daughter buried in snow = danger. Having said no, I assumed that was the end of it. However, half an hour later the friend returned to again ask us to come out and take the picture. It turned out that my daughter had stayed buried in the snow the entire time, hoping for a picture.

Later, she said she was quite comfortable. I think she was OK since she was dressed in warm, water-repellent layers and at 22 degrees it wasn’t that cold. Perhaps she was fine, but the first symptoms of hypothermia are feeling sleepy and losing good judgment. So, another kid was hustled in the house to warm up.

Before sending children out to play in the snow, be sure to review the American Academy of Pediatric’s Winter Safety Tips. As you can see, kids are never too old to learn about snow safety.

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