An Impromptu Safety Lesson

This winter, a house about a mile from us exploded because of a gas leak in the house. The house was completely flattened, but fortunately, no one was hurt. A few days after the incident, I drove by the house with the kids in the car, and I pointed it out to them. The mess was shocking! The roof literally sat in the back yard surrounded by nothing but rubble. The kids asked questions about gas leaks for days, and I reassured them that our house was unlikely to explode, but also explained the importance of leaving the house immediately if someone smelled gas.

On the way home from preschool today, out of the blue, Ben asked, "Can we drive by that house that blew up again?" I told him that they had already cleaned up the house and it was just an empty lawn now. He asked me again what had happened, and I told them all about the gas leak and how important it is to get out of the house immediately if you smell gas.

When we got home, I winced at the strong odor of gas that met my nose as soon as I opened the door. I quickly told the kids to get out of the house, and I peeked inside one more time to see if I was imagining the odor after our conversation in the car. No, I could definitely smell it! So, I
shut the back door and brought the kids to the far side of our back lawn, which also happens to be our emergency meeting place in case of a fire. Grabbing the kids' extra jackets from the car, I spread them on the ground so they could sit while we waited.

Pulling out my cell phone, I called Josh and then the gas company. Josh got here first, and the kids started screaming at him to get away from the house. Because Hannah had to leave for preschool in less than 30 minutes, he watched the kids while I walked to the gas station to get lunch for everyone. Grateful for the warmer weather, Josh and the kids enjoyed their picnic lunch in the lawn while we waited for the gas company.

"What happens if there is gas in the house?" Hannah asked anxiously.

Ben cheerfully replied, "Then the house would BLOW UP and the wood and bricks would go ALL over!"

Hannah burst into tears. "I don't want my Magic Tree House books to burn up!" she wailed.

A man from the gas company arrived shortly, and his meter didn't detect any sort of gas leak. However, when he checked our furnace, the ignition coil never came on. He acknowledged that I may have smelled the puff of gas put off by the furnace while it was trying unsuccessfully to turn on. Before he left, he let a tiny bit of gas out of a valve so we could know definitively what it smells like, and the odor was unmistakable.

So, we are thankful that we did not have a gas leak, and we are all safe. The heater only needs a small $35 part that Josh can install himself, so the repair will not cost us too much, and the weather has been beautiful so we are not missing the heat while it is off until Josh can fix it later tonight. Additionally,the kids got a little lesson in what to do in case of an emergency, and Hannah was particularly excited because she would have a fun story to tell her class this afternoon...

Emergency!

What should you do in an emergency? How do you call for help? And, what is an emergency anyway? Those are the questions we answered on Friday, partly in preparation for a field trip to the fire station later this month.


We started out by figuring out how to identify an emergency and learning when NOT to call 911. Then, we learned the numbers 911, and Hannah practiced writing the numbers on paper.

While she wrote, I gathered together two toy phones, our cordless phone, and our cell phone, and we used them to practice dialing the correct way on different phones. (Don't worry - we didn't call for real!) I showed them how to wait for the dial tone on a land line and how to dial first and then push the send button on a cell phone.

Then, we rehearsed what to say when the dispatcher answered the phone. They practiced speaking loudly and clearly, answering questions, giving their address, and staying on the phone until the operator tells them to hang up.

Hannah spent half of yesterday running around the living room pressing the numbers "9-1-1" again and again on the toy phone! Thankfully, she also understands that she can't do that on the real phone unless there is an actual emergency.

As a side note, if you are looking for an easy way to teach your kids their address, this worked very well for us. Obviously, I won't share our real address online, but this is what we did (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells):

"House number, and our street, city, and our state. That is what my address is. It's what I need to know!"

After discussing 911, we talked about what to do in a fire. I found a ton of great fire safety tips online, and the kids colored various pages about firemen, smoke detectors, and how to get out and stay out of the house during a fire. Now, they know to check their doorknob for heat and how to crawl low to the ground if the house is smoky.

But, their favorite safety lesson, by far, was learning to stop, drop, and roll. They practiced again and again, especially when I played "Stop, Drop, and Roll" - a song on a Veggie Tales CD that uses a bit of humor to teach kids what to do if their clothes catch fire. They rolled around the house for about 10 minutes straight!


I know this can be a bit of a heavy topic, but I think the kids had a lot of fun. And, I feel better knowing that they at least have a basic idea of what to do in a real emergency, though I hope they never have to put their skills into practice.