We have made Trick o’ Treating safer than being around water

So, I love Halloween. Anyone who knows me knows it is one of my favorite holidays. I dress up in all kinds of costumes for swim lessons the week before Halloween. The kids get special treat bags. I create a space for special Halloween pictures at the pool.

It is a week that I go all out for.

In fact, this year, we created our own very special way of celebrating!!

We are celebrating a week of Whale-o-Ween!!

With Halloween fast approaching, over the past few days I have been seeing some posts in Moms Groups on social media, talking about what safety measures moms are taking with their children when they go out trick o’ treating.

Then I was having a conversation with one of my swim moms about this same thing. Her children are 7, 4 and 2.

I asked her a few questions.

Question: Would you put a costume on your 2 year old and then allow her to walk up to a door to get candy ALL BY HERSELF?

Answer: Of course not. I would walk with her and hold her hand.

Question: Would you put a costume on your 4 year old and then allow him to walk up to a door to get candy ALL BY HIMSELF?

Answer: Maybe. It would depend on how many kids were at the door at the same time because I would want to be able to have a clear line of vision to see him the whole way. It would also depend on how long the driveway or path to the door was.

Question: Would you put a costume on your 7 year old and then allow him to walk up to a door to get candy ALL BY HIMSELF?

Answer: Most likely but again, I would need to be able to see him the whole time.

Question: Would you allow any of the kids to walk on the road or the sidewalk independently, going from house to house??

Answer: For sure not the 2 year old or the 4 year old. They would have to be holding someones hand. The 7 year old can walk by himself but he would have to stay with us. I wouldn’t let him walk too far ahead of us or go up to a house that we weren’t right with him at.

Question: Would you ever take the kids to a neighborhood or area that you knew to be unsafe and let them walk around unattended or without you watching them?

Answer: Seriously?? Why would you even ask me that?? Absolutely not. That would never happen.

Question: When you get home, do you dump out all the candy and go through it to make sure it is safe?

Answer: Yes. I have to because the 7 year old is allergic to peanuts. Also, I want to make sure nothing has been messed with and the wrappers are on properly.

I already knew what her answers to all the questions would be before I asked her…but I needed to hear them.

I also needed her to hear herself say them out loud because my point in asking them was important.

As parents, we will take our children out trick o’ treating and we will take all the precautions to make sure that they are enjoying this time in their childhood SAFELY.

We walk with them, holding their hands.

We diligently WATCH them when they approach a house, where we may or may not know the people at the door.

We do not take them to unsafe areas and if we accidently ended up in one, unknowingly, we would not ever let them out of our sight. In fact, we would probably just leave.

We look at each piece of candy in their bag to make sure it is safe, that is has not been tampered with.

We even put lights on their costumes or their candy collector so that they can be seen.

We do all these things to make sure an accident doesn’t happen and that our children lives are never in danger.

Now, to make the point for asking all these seemingly “silly” questions.

I have seen parents take their 2 year old child, their 4 year old child and even their 7 year old child to a pool…

Put some kind of flotation device on them…

Give their child, WHO IS NOT AN INDEPENDENT OR SAFE SWIMMER, full access to the pool…

With no rules, no guidelines, no parameters in this environment that is inherently UNSAFE…

And then sit down on a bench and stare at their phone for minutes on end.

How does this even make sense??

Drowning is the #1 cause of accidental death in children under the age of 5.

Not trick o’ treating.

DROWNING.

And yet, many parents put more care and attention to safety for their child for this one fun night out each year than they do when their child is around water, be it a pool, the ocean or the bathtub.

I desperately want this mindset to change which is why we have to talk about these things. We have to make these “silly” comparisons to open our eyes as parents to where we need to make adjustments to our children’s safety.

I want parents to be as committed to active watching around all water environments as they are on Halloween night.

I want parents to be as committed to teaching their kids how to wait before entering water, just as they must wait their turn for candy.

I invite you to join hundreds of parents, just like yourself, who are applying The Watching Initiative in their homes, any time their child is in or around water.

Let’s create a WATCHING revolution!!

Let’s make sure that we are as diligent about keeping our children safe around water as we are about keeping them safe while Trick o’ Treating.

The Waiting Whale family and I wish you a very fun and safe time with your children.

Happy Whale-o-Ween!!