"I'm a safety girl!"

(Kudos to anyone who can guess what movie the title of this post is from!! No, it has nothing to do with the kind of safety we're talking about today!)



Hi everyone! Safety has been on my mind lately. Safety and protection. I think this is a good time of year to refresh ourselves on some important safety matters.



We've been experiencing some gorgeous weather in northern IL lately, and if you're like me you've got your windows wide open!! There's nothing quite like that fresh spring breeze blowing in your windows. But, remember that this time of year is a burglar's favorite time of year, too! Open windows are like a welcome mat to 'bad guys'! It's a good idea to close your windows, those on the first floor at least, when you leave your home and at night. We sleep on the first floor, so we close all the windows in the house except for our bedroom windows. (If someone wants to try to sneak in that way, he'll be unpleasantly surprised!)



I also like to leave the security door open and let the air flow in through the screen door. Here, I make sure that I always lock the screen door. Yes, someone could rip the screen and unlock the door, but the point is to make it as difficult as you can to buy yourself some time.



It's the time of year to landscape, but we want to be sure that the items we put in around our homesteads are helping us and not helping someone with ill intentions. Walk around your home and make sure there are no trees whose limbs are close enough to your house windows to allow someone to climb right in. If they are, trim them back! Make sure no bushes are planted in a way that blocks windows and allows someone to sneak in unnoticed from a neighbor or passerby. Make sure that all ladders are hidden away in a locked garage.



If you use a firearm for protection, I suggest that you, and all the members of your family practice shooting it. This is a great opportunity to teach kids the proper use of guns, instead of learning from music, movies, and video games that it's a toy or something 'cool' to use. The shooting arts are a great, enjoyable skill and shooting together is a great family activity. Taking a gun safety class as a family is a great thing to do. There have been many instances where a young child has had to use a firearm to defend himself or his mother and siblings when his father was not home. (Lots of examples in the NRA's 1st Freedom Magazine--The Armed Citizen articles.)



If you don't use firearms, I suggest that you figure out what form of defense you will use in your home. If it's knives, how about giving young children a pocket knife and showing them how to whittle as a way to use the knife properly and know how to handle it. The knife could be kept in their room by their bedside, where they could use it as a means of defense if necessary. You could go through self-defense classes as a family. Great exercise, bonding, and training all at the same time.



While my children were growing I expected them to be respectful and kind to everyone they came in contact with. But, they were instructed that if anyone tried to take them then 'all bets were off'. They were expected to yell, kick, scream, hit, bite--whatever they had to do to insure their own safety and survival. Since we as parents can't be with our children every second of their lives, they need to be taught that their safety is their job!



My point is, our safety is our responsibility. There was a letter to the editor in the NRA magazine in which the writer explained how she realized that having a concealed carry gun license, and not carrying the gun, was like a doctor having life-saving skills and not using them if he was out and there was an emergency. What an insight! We all need to be prepared to defend our lives (and property) and the lives of those around us.



Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader





P.S. And, ladies, when you're shopping your purse should be on your shoulder not in an unattended cart! 3 times in the past few weeks I've seen women setting their purse in their cart and walk away. They're only asking for trouble by doing that!! Make the bad guys work hard for what they want!