The little visitor

My daughter usually goes next door to play with my neighbor's kids (there are 3 of them, aged 3, 6 and 7). I've often been over there, too, but mostly when there's just ONE adult over there busy as it is and I didn't want the full burden of ONE MORE child to watch to be on his/her shoulders. I have made it clear that they're always welcome to come over, too, but today was the first day any of them came over just to visit. This happened when my daughter came home with the youngest child, Lilly, in tow. My daughter, Jennifer, previously had set out her dollhouse and a toy vacuum cleaner to play with, so they sat on the ground to play with that. Even though I had a headache, I didn't mind watching them. After all, they've already watched Jennifer on plenty of occasions. It's only expected I return the favor.

The children soon became bored with the toys; they wanted some good clean fun. I smiled as I watched them try to climb BOTH trees in front of my house, remembering how I was ALWAYS climbing trees when I was a kid. (Shoot, what's childhood WITHOUT climbing trees??) But all the same...I started to worry, too. What if Lilly fell and hurt herself? And then her mom came charging at me, screaming bloody murder?

Yikes.

My smile disappeared and I became nervous, watching them with a careful eye as they climbed. I told them not to swing on a branch on one tree, but with the other, they seemed to be okay and KNOW not to do anything reckless to try to get higher.

At least, that's how it looked.

I scanned my memory for any articles I might have read about what to do to make sure kids visiting at your home don't get hurt, and maybe it was my headache, but I couldn't remember anything. (I made a mental note to check the 'Net.) But coming from a family of 7 kids...well, I already KNOW that kids are gonna get hurt no matter WHAT you do to prevent it. I mean, you could turn your house into Fort Knox and they'll STILL find a way to get hurt. (Unfortunately, my daughter is the adventurous sort. The many scrapes and bruises she has attests to the many times she's fallen off of her scooter after trying a stunt or slipped when trying to climb the tree or fallen while running through the house.) You can watch them and watch them, but it seems like no matter WHAT you do, kids still manage to get hurt.

Still, I'd do everything possible to make sure a young visitor can't get hurt. I'd admonish them not to jump on beds, keep scissors and knives put up, and check on them often to make sure they weren't trying to mix a homemade version of dynamite, or something like that. (Ha!) I am still going to look up articles on this type of thing, and maybe talk with some other parents on how to handle this situation. (There are still things about parenthood that I just don't KNOW!) Maybe that will help me to figure out the best ways to ensure visiting children don't get hurt so easily (at least!), and make me rest a little more at ease while I watch them at play.