A trip to Grandmother’s house is fraught with treats, adventures and very real dangers. Grandparents love their grandchildren dearly, but often fail to prepare their homes for the exploring and destruction that children bring. If you’re on your way to Grandma’s house, be prepared to keep your children safe.

Inside

Inside your parent’s home, there are the kinds of dangers you very carefully removed from your own. Grandparents are unlikely to crawl on the floor in search of enticing wires or dropped coins. They may be completely unaware of the mothballs on the floor of a closet or the cleaning supplies casually stored under the sink.

Your parents might be unaware, but you aren’t. When you arrive with your children, make a sweep of the house. Open cabinets and peek in closets. If you see something dangerous, either shut the door and declare the room off limits or resolve the situation. Pick up and move small items and breakables. Hide cords and unplug unnecessary items. Block the stairs with a baby gate you brought specifically for that purpose.

And while you are doing your baby proofing, explain to your parents what you are doing and why. It’s been many years since they have had a baby or toddler who enjoy eating the flies off the windowsills or throwing handfuls of dirt from the potted plants. As a final resort bring a play pen or enclosure of baby gates to keep your little one away from temptation when you’re not able to watch him like a hawk.

Outside

Outside of the home can be just as dangerous as the inside. Unprotected swimming pools, flower beds, porches and unfamiliar pets present potentially serious problems. If your parents have a swimming pool without a gate, keep your children inside or allow them outside only when you are present. Don’t assume your parents can move as well as you can if there was some sort of emergency.

Help your child meet any animals, and stress that she not pet the dog or give him hugs. In fact, leaving the dog in a room away from your child is probably the safest option. Animals that live with grandparents are often spoiled and will see no harm in hopping in your toddler’s lap or jumping up for attention. They are also unfamiliar with little ones and might snap if cornered or “petted” too enthusiastically.

Educate

Be sure to educate your parents on things that have changed or they might have forgotten since their own days of child rearing. You know your child best, and your parents should respect your knowledge and preference. Spoiling is not the same as endangering. Let your child lavish in her grandparent’s attention and affection, but keep a close eye on her to be sure she does so safely.

A great deal of attention is paid to the working mom. She is given special status for working and raising children. It is the mom who gets accolades for her hard work and dedication to too many activities and commitments. But she is not the only one working and raising children in a home. It’s time to pay a little respect to the working dad.

The Working Man

As long as stereotypes have ruled our lives, men have had the important job of leaving the house everyday and bringing home a nice paycheck. According to the stereotype, he’s supposed to bring in enough paycheck to pay all the bills, keep everyone fed and comfortable and allow the mommy to be at home raising the kids without having to even think about an office or commute.

Women didn’t like the stereotype, so they changed it. Now men leave the house every day and head to work to bring home a decent paycheck and women have the option to leave, too. Sometimes women stay home, and on very rare occasions the father will stay at home with children, but this is most definitely the exception. In this country, men work. And that work and the paycheck it brings are a special kind of loving gift to a family.

Finding Balance

Some men buy into the Working Man theory so strongly they forget to balance their work with their families. After all they are working to support and show their love for their families, so they keep at it for long hours. But most children and wives will agree that while money and the security it brings are essential, they are not the means of loving expression they seek.

A family includes the dad. And if that dad is spending all of his time at work, he is missing out on the pleasure of his wife and children, and they are missing out on his company. A family is not complete and is not as fulfilling without all of the members.

Take Time…

So working dads must make a conscious effort to take time away from work. Leave the office at a certain time. Declare weekends work-free days. Turn off the laptop and phones until after the children are in bed. Take the family on a weekend getaway. Even if you just take an hour after dinner to play outside with your children and visit with your wife, not only will your life be richer, their lives will be more positively impacted as well.