There’s something about myself that I haven’t ever told you guys.
Are you sitting down? {Well, dur, you probably are if you are on your computer!}
Okay, here goes nothing…
I. am. super. paranoid. and. neurotic. about. random. things. that. probably. really. aren’t. that. big. a. deal.
Like for example, I love roller coasters, but once I’m on one, all I can think about is “what if an earthquake hit RIGHT NOW? This coaster would crumble and I’d be thrown from it.”
Or, before I fly anywhere, I worry myself sick that I might die in a plane crash. I’m not so worried about me dying, just the fact that my kids wouldn’t have a mom anymore.
When we are on the freeway, I freak out when people brake in front of us and I don’t think Ben is braking fast enough. WHAT IF WE GET INTO A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT?
When Ben is out of town, I make the kids sleep in my room. What if the house catches on fire in the night and I can’t get to them?
Most people would say I’m paranoid. I like to think I’m cautious. 😉
One of the many neurotic tendencies I have is to worry the children will get hurt, or worse, will do something that will cause death.
Having a 2 story house has only exasperated this paranoia of mine. I worry they will fall over the half-wall into the foyer. And I especially worry about windows.
Or, more specifically, that they will open a window on the 2nd floor, and will then proceed to fall out of said window. And will die.
Most of my worries end in someone dying. Very glass-half-empty would you say?
Anyway, for a few bucks I found the most awesome window locks. Ever.
I got them at the hardware store but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them at Walmart as well.
Basically, you put it where you want it, then you just turn the little knob until its secure.
I’m extra paranoid that the kids will try to take it off, so I turned the knob with a pair of pliers. These suckers are not going anywhere.
I installed it high enough that they can still have a little breeze action if they’d like, but low enough that their noggins can’t fit through the window opening.
When you open the window, it hits the lock so it can’t go any higher. Best. Idea. Ever.
I know what you are thinking…
“But what about a fire? How will they escape?”
Well, considering we don’t even have any fire ladders anyway, I guess their options could be a) die in a fire, or b) die from jumping out a 2nd story window.
If the kids really REALLY need to get out of a window upstairs, they can climb out of the office window. It has a roof below it.
So anyway, for a few bucks I’ve given myself immense peace of mind knowing the kids can’t kill themselves falling from a window.
Just don’t get me started about them jumping on the trampoline or riding their bikes in the street… 😉
Oh my! I thought I was the ONLY one that thought that way….my hubby says I’m a FREAK and how in the world do I come up with these things….hehehehe So glad to know I’m NOT alone!
Our last house had a second story and my greatest fear was my son falling out of it….we got Vivent….it alerts us to whenever a door or window is open:-) Ahhhh piece of mind!
Just wanted to share ..a person can survive a fall from a second story window but any higher and not so much. I worked for fire and safety during college and my boss would have me reserve his hotels rooms no higher than the second floor for this reason. Then I became paranoid about public buildings .
I think this explains why you never let me drive when we go places together. It all makes sense now. 🙂 This is a great idea…our boys have a second story window in their room, and I caught the older one trying to get out on the roof to get a toy that he’d thrown up there. FREAKED.ME.OUT. Thanks for the smart idea.
They work great on sliding glass doors too. Had to install them when we got a pool and my youngest was little.
You are awesome!
I am like you when it comes down to airplanes. DON’T LIME THEM!
Awesome and I’m totally with you on this paranoid thing. I have weird paranoia about my kids swallowing weird things like needles or batteries. I can’t believe I just told you that….Also, you should bury your trampoline so if the kids fall they won’t hurt themselves too bad. Like this :http://www.trampolinesking.com/In-Ground-Trampolines.html
I am the same way! I hate airplanes, I worry everytime I get in the car, and my hubby too thinks I’m a freak about safety. You can never be too cautious! I’m glad I’m not the only one out there!
Oh I’m the same way and it gets annoying at times. It doesn’t stop me from doing things but rather I can freak out in my mind right before I do something scary. When I get on planes it’s the worst.
I am so glad I am not the only one that does this! I thought I was crazy! I don’t live in a 2-story house, but I am afraid someone will break in his window and take him during the middle of the night. Scary stuff. And I let him sleep in my room when my hubby is gone too.
Okay, so this story might add to your paranoia, but here goes anyway…
In 2010, I nannied for a family with three small children (twin two-year-olds, a boy and a girl, and a four-year-old girl). Right before I started watching them, the kids were home with their mom, playing in their parents’ bedroom. Well, their second-story room had a little sunroom/sitting room off of it with those old-fashioned windows that you crank the handle and they swing out. Apparently the dad hadn’t told the mom that he had left the windows open (they never turned the a/c on in that house!), and while the mom was in the other room, the 2-year-old boy leaned against the screen and fell out of the second-story window and landed on the wooden deck below. LUCKILY he fell out the side of the room with the deck because if he had fallen out the other side, he would’ve fallen two floors to the basement patio. Anyway, he had to be airlifted to the children’s hospital and stayed for a few nights while they ran tests. The doctors said it didn’t cause any permanent damage and all he had was a nasty cut on his forehead (no broken bones or anything!). Fast forward two years and he is extremely behind in his speech and language compared to his twin sister. Think the fall from the second story window had anything to do with that? Seriously, though, he was pretty lucky, but can you imagine if it had been the nanny there with him instead of his mom? Horrifying. But the nanny probably would have been watching him a little closer…
Long story short, it’s definitely worth it to invest in window locks!
I think you and I could be kindred spirits. My husband often calls me the Safety Nazi. I don’t care though. My kids are more important to me than anything else and I am not willing to risk their safety. It only take a second. We had a neighbor who’s little one fell from the second story window…simply a miracle she is still here today. You do what you need to do girl!
I’m glad I’m not the only one. On Saturday we went to the SF Giants Fan Fest. I was sitting down in the stands thinking that if there was an earthquake right now…..
You are so funny! Loved this post! And by the way…they make drugs for this type of stuff! Ha! Hugs and blessings, Cindy
These would be nice if you wanted to sleep with a window open on the first floor too so no one could climb in the window!
Smart!!! I also fear the worst in most situations. I need to look into these for my kids’ windows. Thanks!
I always worry about the . . . What if there is a fire? Will my kids be able to escape? Will the firemen be able to get to my kids in a timely manner if I have locks on my windows?!
But I also have boys who open windows and toss crap out of them and I had a cousin who ran into a window screen than fell right out and he and the screen dropped 2 stories.
So I live in a teeter totter “what if” life. I don’t want them falling out of the window, but I also want them to escape or be rescued if there is a fire. AAAAHHHHH
No win situation!
It’s really not weird or unusual to worry or be paranoid. It’s all the people who don’t worry and arn’t paranoid that I worry about. You know?
I still tell my kids to buckle up. Even the soon to be 30 year old!
~Bliss~
So, I’m not the only one!! YAY! When my son was small and we were in big, crowded places (like Disneyland) I used a leash. Yes, I know what people say, but darn it, he was my BABY! He’s 24 now and I can still conjure up all kinds of scary things 🙂
Allison-
You aren’t crazy, and I really appreciate you sharing these window safety tips. I have friends who lost their little boy last year when he fell out a second story window. It happens. Thank you for sharing this product with others. We currently live in a one story house, but believe me, if we move, I will be getting those clips!
I always like to think there is a reason that God makes Mom’s think like this…we are there to protect…
Heidi
Ha- I thought I was the only one!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I tried those window clips a few months back but they did not fit well on whatever type of windows I have. Instead we ended up cutting a piece of wood that fits just snugly enough to stop the window from opening but not so tight that it couldn’t be opened in an emergency like a fire. The wood is painted the color of the trim and isn’t noticeable at all. On the lower floors it gives me an added feeling of security too. Keep taking care of your kids and don’t worry about feeling neurotic! You are surely doing a great job!
Oh, my! I thought I was one of the very few neurotic mothers out there. I felt like you were writing my thoughts verbatim when I read your post!
I am so fearful of my children getting hurt that literally everything gets analyzed in my mind, and it usually involves a death scenario.
Husband: We are getting the kids bikes for Christmas.
Me: But what if they fall? What if a car hits them? Maybe we should buy helmets along with elbow and knee pads, and gloves so they won’t scratch their hands when they fall.
Then an imaginary news program goes through my mind, “Lucy’s children died today after being hit by a car, if only she hadn’t bought them bikes for Christmas.”
It goes much further than that for the bikes, second story bedrooms, burglars, fires in the middle of the night, bullies, choking on food if I”m not right there watching them eat, pools, living by rivers or lakes, eating genetically modified foods, but I’ll spare you.
I am loving all of the concerned mommies out there! I purchased these locks for all of our windows (we live in a one story) because I like to open the windows in the evenings before bed and am afraid someone might climb in the window and hide in my house without me knowing it?! Crazy, right? They are an awesome, inexpensive invention 🙂
Thanks for posting these window locks. We live in a two story house and I’m always worried about the kids falling out the window. I looked for them when we first moved 3 years ago and couldn’t find them guess I need to look when I go out this weekend.
Eric Claptons little boy died whilst falling out of a window that did not have the proper window safety guards required in NYC. Saddest song ever written.
These little clips ALSO come in handy if you have one of those annoying windows that SLIDES DOWN when you open the window! And to brace an old fashioned slide in adjustable window screen for windows that don’t have fitted screens–or the ones where they DID have fitted screens but SOMEONES KID decided to use the window as an ESCAPE HATCH and actually placed a picnic table (end table size) in the foliage under said window and used it to CLIMB OUT OF. And in of course. And of course he BROKE the fitted screen frame in the process. No screen for HIM! How OLD was this kid you ask? Musta been oh dating age right? Nope. Was about—9. First floor window too. Right next to MY bedroom window.
And yeah—Your kids have ALREADY figured out that there is a roof just waiting for them to climb out on.
But–they rarely get hurt doing what YOU worry about. We have had–stitches from running toddler head thru barb wire fence sledding BECAUSE the kid changed the sled course to make–kid you not—moguls. A different kid got stitches and a trip to the OR to have his ARTERY repaired after he chased a pool ball that fell and he slammed into the pool table. The Middle Child–a girl this time!–fell on a rock wall and tried to tell me that she was badly hurt. I looked and her hand seemed FINE. Go put a bandaid on it I said. She turned to go and the palm flexed and suddenly I was looking at the model of “Bones of the Hand” from my Phys Anthro days. Um–CAR TIME KIDS! The GRANDKIDS have carried on the “Tradition”–the little girl was chasing a BOY at an indoor padded playground; ran into a PADDED piece of play equipment and broke ALL of the bones in her foot. She was—-2.
Did I mention I have a horrid fear of flying? And–ice? And I FELL on ice—and got really really hurt?
No?
No ones kids have EVER gotten hurt walking around with a lollypop stick tho. In case you were wondering.
Thank you! Thank you. This will become so helpful. My 7 year old son has autism and this will give me piece of mind that he wont sneak out the window.
These locks are fantastic. I love them!