Child Safety Day for Accident Prevention (Germany / Austria / Switzerland)

Dear users and authors,
today is the annual Children’s Safety Day organized by the Federal Working Group (BAG) “More Safety for Children” e.V. to raise awareness and prevent accidents. Are there any events on this topic in your area?

Protecting children from accidents is certainly a noble goal, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out, no matter how much effort you put into prevention.
I speak from years of experience with my three children and five grandchildren. Here’s just one example of something that happened to me once.
My youngest daughter was about 18 months old at the time; I was holding her in my arms and wanted to put her in her crib because it was bedtime. She was bouncing on my arm like a rubber ball—I was really having trouble holding her—when suddenly she slipped over my arm, slammed her forehead against the radiator, and cut open the artery on her forehead. Thank God, it could be closed with staples, but I was done for the evening. The next example: my oldest and my middle daughter got into a fight over a straw; they were about 8 and 6 years old at the time. The end result was that I had to take my middle daughter to the hospital because, in a fit of anger, my oldest had rammed the straw into the mucous membrane at the back. I could tell you plenty more stories like that.
It’s good and important to prepare children for these situations and make sure nothing happens to them, BUT unfortunately, you can’t always prevent it. They’ve all grown up healthy anyway :-) because when you show children by example that there’s no point in taking unnecessary risks, they automatically learn how to deal with danger.

Love, Inge

I haven’t heard of any events right here in our immediate area, but we’re a bit on the outskirts, so it’s possible that something is happening in the center of Cologne.

I didn’t know such a day existed, and there aren’t any events on this topic anywhere near me either.

It’s always been true—and still is today—that you can’t completely protect children from accidents. As an adult, you can do everything you know how to do, but you can’t anticipate every possible situation. You’re usually wiser in hindsight. I suppose you need a bit of luck, too.

Best regards, Ina