Ahhh, spring! The flowers are blooming, the skies are blue, the grass is green and the swings are squeaking…

It’s National Playground Safety Week and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) would like to remind all of us (little kids, big kids and adults) to be careful when we’re out on the playground.

The CPSC recommends the following safety tips:

• Adult presence is needed to watch for potential hazards, observe, intercede and facilitate play when necessary. Strings on clothing or ropes used for play can cause accidental strangulation if caught on equipment.
• Preschoolers, ages 2 - 5, and children ages 5 - 12, are developmentally different and need different equipment located in separate areas to keep the playground safe and fun for all.
• Nearly 70 percent of all playground injuries are related to falls to the surface. Acceptable surfaces include hardwood fiber/mulch, pea gravel, sand and synthetic materials such as poured-in-place, rubber mats or tiles. Playground surfaces should not be concrete, asphalt, grass, blacktop, packed dirt or rocks.
• Check to make sure the equipment is anchored safely in the ground, all equipment pieces are in good working order, S-hooks are entirely closed, bolts are not protruding, there are no exposed footings, etc.

Read additional tips at the CSPC’s National Program for Playground Safety web site.

Children up to 8 years old should be in a child car safety seat, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recommended guidelines. Curious about what seat is best for your child?

Here are the general guidelines for car seats from the NHTSA.

• Rear-facing seats: in the back seat from birth to at least 1 year old and at least 20 pounds
• Forward-facing seats: in the back seat from age 1 and 20 pounds to about age 4 and 40 pounds.
• Booster seats: in the back seat from about age 4 to at least age 8, unless 4’9” tall.
• Safety belts: at age 8 and older or taller than 4’9”. All children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat.

Still not sure about what type is best? Visit boosterseat.gov, enter your child’s weight, height and age and it will give you a seat recommendation and installation instructions.

Read more about child car seat safety…

Can’t find your birth certificate? What about your dad’s death certificate?

Thankfully, there is a way to get an extra copy. The National Center for Health Statistics features an online directory for each state’s vital records department - the department you’d need to contact for extra copies of birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates.

Click here to visit the directory, then choose a state (you’ll need to choose the state where the certificate was first issued, not where you live currently). You will need to then contact the agency or agencies listed and you might have to send a copy of a photo ID and also pay a small fee ($10-50).

Don’t need an extra copy right now? You might someday. Visit the Vital Records page and bookmark it for later.

Need to replace other important documents? Click here for a brief list of which agencies to contact for those replacements.

Looking for a fun activity that doesn’t involve the television? Here’s one great idea that will keep everyone entertained and also includes an educational element.

Make an emergency escape plan.

Why should you do this? Every family member needs to know how to get out of the house in an emergency. Older kids especially need to be able to do this on their own, in case you’re not able to help them first.

Here’s a few steps to get you started:

1. Have your kids help you draw a floor plan of your residence. Tell them to mark two parent-approved escape routes from each room.
2. Have your kids designate a place for family to meet outside the house. (If you choose a neighbor’s house, make sure all family members know the neighbor’s address and phone number. And be sure to tell the neighbor they are ‘it’!)

WHN TIP: Neighbors too far away? Have your kids choose a favorite tree away from the home and on the lawn as your meeting place. Remind them to stay there and wait until the firefighters say it’s OK to move. Make sure the spot is away from the road and driveway - first responder vehicles will drive on these.

3. Have your kids place a copy of fire escape plan in each bedroom. Make sure the plan is easily accessible.
4. Continue reading…

Made your escape plan? Share your tips in the Comments section below!

Although certain nursing homes have proven to be negligent and repeatedly harmed residents, they still remained in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs and received no further restrictions or penalties other than small fines, according to a recent New York Times article and a report by the Government Accountability Office, which is part of Congress.

Worried about the quality of a loved one’s care?

• Read our Be Prepared - Senior Living for general senior living evaluation tips and questions to ask the management staff.
• To find out certification information about a certain facility, you can start by using Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare. Please know that this site only lists homes under the Medicare program.
• Consider contacting your state’s health department. Your state might also have further restrictions and certification requirements for senior living facilities.
• Remember to ask neighbors, other patients, doctors, nurses, friends and family members about their genuine opinion about the quality and care provided at this facility.

When the temps rise, I love to open the windows and let in warm, fresh air…unfortunately I’m also opening the opportunity to becoming a burglary victim.

Crime tends to increase and decrease with the temperature. Prepare for the warm weather; take some time to evaluate the security of your doors and windows. Start to think like a thief:

• Are the locks adequate?
• How easy is it to remove the screen from the outside?
• How easy would it be to climb through the window? A doggie door?
• What entrances are hidden from view? (Think about adding additional lighting to these areas).
• Should you think about installing alarms? Extra locks? Bars?

Read our Be Prepared - Home Theft article for additional steps you can take to protecting your possessions and your home, regardless of the temperature outside.

Many homeowners hit by the Nor’easter storm this weekend are discovering they’re missing adequate coverage - sewer-backup insurance, according to today’s Wall Street Journal.

Chances are your own policy might not have this coverage as well. According to WSJ, only 20% of homeowners have paid for sewer-backup insurance, which is available by adding a rider to your homeowners’ insurance policy and costs usually about $40-50 a year.

So, do you really know what you’re covered for? First, have a general look through your policy. Second, make an appointment with your insurance agent to talk about your policy, especially if you haven’t reevaluated your situation for quite a while (meaning 2 years or more). Talk to your agent about these additional riders and ask if you should be adding additional coverage to your existing policy.

• Ask Your Agent About Your Coverage
• Purchasing Flood Insurance
• Hurricane Katrina: Insurance Lessons Learned

A good doctor is hard to find.

If we needed to find a new doctor, most of us (51%) would turn to our friends and family for a recommendation, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. But, if you’d like to do a quick search on your own, today’s neat site is a great resource.

The American Medical Association’s DoctorFinder is an online tool that provides you with basic professional information on virtually every licensed physician in the United States, more than 690,000 doctors. Search options are available by location, name and specialty.

You can also use the Doctor Finder to see if the doctor in question is up to date with current board certifications, where they attended medical school and also their office contact details.

Looking for other doctor visit information? Read Be Prepared - Doctor Visit or click here for additional links and resources.

Identity theft complaints involving victims under the age of 18 have nearly doubled, according to the Federal Trade Commission. More and more parents are finding that their children are victims of identity theft, many falling into the traps set by Internet scammers.

With this in mind, the technology magazine, CNET, just launched a online safety guide for kids and parents called “Living with Technology: Keep your kids safe online.” It’s a very thorough guide with tips on how to help kids surf safely, articles on current legislation and proposals, and more information on “developing safe and smart Internet citizens.”

Along with the CNET guide, here are additional resources and activities to share with your children or to take a look at on your own:

Kids and Online Safety

• CNET - “Living with technology: Keep your kids safe online”
• WiredKids.org (site operated by WiredSafety.org - a nonprofit online safety and education group)
• NetSmartz Workshop (educational resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited and Boys & Girls Clubs of America)
• Internet Keep Safe Coalition (nonprofit which receives funding from corporate sponsors)

Preventing Identity Theft

• Be Prepared - Identity Theft
• Federal Trade Commission
• Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

“Mom, I’m bored!”

“There’s nothing to do!!”

As the school year comes to an end, you’re probably thinking about how to keep your kids busy during the long summer break.

So we’ve pulled just a few resources that might help you on your search for the ultimate cure to boredom:

Camp

• American Camp Association - offers a “Find a camp” search engine
• Camp Fire USA - offers a camp directory
• Use a search engine to search for a specific type or location of camp (e.g. “basketball camp milwaukee,” “math camp florida”)
• Your local community education programs, centers, churches or schools might offer academic-based, athletic-based or overall programs for children. (WHN TIP: Some might offer reduced tuition options if you apply by a certain date. Check with the program and apply early if you qualify.)

Child Care

• Choosing Child Care
• Other Child Care Articles and Topics (choosing a babysitter, choosing a nanny, child car seat safety)

Family Travel

• Be Prepared - Car Travel
• Be Prepared - Air Travel
• Hotel Tips
• Going on a Cruise

Have a resource or summer activity idea to recommend? Post it the Comments section below!