Water Safety and Kids

Happy Friday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know after a long week of kids and work and anything else that makes life "grand" you are all ready for the weekend to be here. I know I am. So on the schedule for this weekend in my house we are heading for Rend Lake, it is right outside of Mt. Vernon, IL. It is a really great place to go with the family, it has a "beach"' small resort and miles and miles of water yea!!!!!
Me and two of my three kids go there almost daily here lately, my poor hubby is slaving away at the Recruiting office trying to get people to join the ARMY and here we are spending the hot humid days at the nice lake. :( Sorry honey, but i still love you. Today is a short day for him at work, so he will be able to go also....!!!!

Which brings me to the point of the above rant....Water Safety........!!!!!!!!
When you are planning a trip to the lake or the pool with your children ALWAYS remember that no matter how safe you think they are, they're not. It only takes a second of you being distracted to lose track of what is going on in the water.
1. Always use sunscreen on yourself and your children. The higher the better, when we go out I use the sport type spray (50 or higher) it seems to work well for us.

2. When your at the lake or pool be sure to have your children take breaks out of the water in the shade so that the exposure to the sun is minimized. Always re-apply the sunscreen when they come out of the water. I know people hear this over and over, but it needs to be done to help prevent burns on children(and adults to, I recieved a real nice red shade of color on my shoulders yesterday when our sunscreen spray decided to stop working at the lake...lol). Take an extra bottle or spray just in case, I will from now on...

3. If you are going to be out for extended periods of time drink WATER, you can and will dehydrate in the heat a lot faster than you will sitting on the couch in a nice air conditioned room.

4. Always make sure your children wear a life jacket or another type of safety device when in the water, even if they have had swimming lessons. In a lake it is really important that they do this. Even in the shallow parts of the lake just off the bank children can step in unseen "sink holes" and slip under the water and we all know lake water is not the clearest of water to be trying to look into if your child goes under.

So just a few ideas for your weekend fun to think over before you let your child make a run for the water, after all it is sssoooooo much fun to play in the water. I should know, it's our favorite thing to do in the summer.

Take care and enjoy the water!!!!