Each year there are an estimated 68,000 injuries related to lawn mowers in the United States. During the summer, tractor and lawn mower related deaths and injuries for children under the age of 18 ranks closely behind water and fire related accidents. Sadly, my family experienced first-hand last year just how dangerous lawn tractors can be.From the time he was old enough to sit in a lap, our three year old son Miles has always loved riding on our riding lawn mower with his daddy. Each week before my husband would cut our grass he would sit Miles on his lap with the tractor blades up and ride around the house. It was considered a special bonding time between father and son. On Memorial Day 2010 after riding around the house a few times, my husband placed Miles back into our house and started his routine of cutting our grass. We had guests visiting that weekend and I was busy in the kitchen getting dinner ready. In the midst of rushing around I didn’t noticed that Miles had ran out the backdoor to try and get his daddy to let him ride on the tractor again. Of course, my husband wasn’t expecting Miles and didn’t see him running towards him. As Miles tried to get his dad’s attention, he must have slipped and fallen down. When Miles fell he didn’t have enough time to get out of the way of the tractor blades. By the time I realized what had happened it was too late. After being air-lifted to the hospital and undergoing four surgeries in one week from severe lacerations to his lower back and leg, I remember sitting in my son’s ICU room crying as I recounted how the accident happened to one of his nurses. I had always been the ‘safety-conscious’ mother. The one in our cul-de-sac that always made her kids wear helmets, elbow and knee pads, and watch out for cars. I was the mom who was vigilant about keeping track of where my kids were at all times. So how could this happen to us?
In that moment, I can recall the tears in the nurse’s eyes when she told me that each summer they lose multiple children to lawn mower accidents. In fact, there were three other children in ICU at that moment fighting for their lives as well who had all sustained injuries from lawn mowers or tractors. While we were watching our son slowly recover just hours after my conversation with his nurse, we heard sobs down the hallway as one of those children did not make it through the night. It was at that moment that I made a promise to myself that I would become an advocate for safety not only for lawn mowers accidents but for all safety related issues for children. It only takes a second for a tragedy to occur. Remember that lawn mowers and gas or manually-operated machine can be very extremely dangerous for anyone to operate. But most of all, remember if you have small children to secure your house and doors while operating lawn equipment and to always be on the lookout for children or adult while mowing. My son is now part of the 68,000 children that were hurt last year from lawn mowers and tractors. Don’t let your child be part of that statistic!
Parents today have a lot on their plates. Juggling the demands of work, home, and other responsibilities leaves many parents feeling like they do not have nearly enough time with their children. But even small acts of kindness, protection, and caring- a hug, a smile, or loving words- make a big difference to children. Research consistently shows that babies who receive affection and nurturing from their parents have the best chance of developing into children, teens, and adults who are happy, healthy, and competent. Research also shows that a relationship with a consistent, stable, and caring adult in the early years is associated in later life with better academic grades, healthier behaviors, more positive peer interactions, and an increased ability to cope with stress.
Parents know their children best- their unique behaviors, interests, and abilities. But no parent can be an expert on all aspects of infant, child and teenage development or the most effective ways to support a child at each stage. When parents are not aware of normal developmental milestones, interpret their child’s behaviors in a negative way, or do not know how to respond to and effectively manage a child’s behavior, they can become frustrated and may resort to harsh discipline or emotional withdrawal.
