Le Bonheur Children’s and Safe Kids Mid-South want you and your family to stay safe this Thanksgiving. Be sure to follow these safety tips from Safe Kids tomorrow while cooking in the kitchen.

• Never leave hot food or appliances unattended while cooking.
• Always be alert when you are cooking and not under the influence of medication or alcohol.
• Keep anything that can catch on fire at least 3 feet from the stove, toaster oven, or other heat source.
• Keep the stovetop, burners and oven clean.
• Do not wear loose fitting clothes that can catch fire if you stand too close to a burner.
• If you are frying, grilling or broiling food stay in the kitchen.  If you are baking or simmering, check food frequently.

Preventing burns and scalds

• To prevent hot food or liquid spills, use the stove’s back burner and/or turn pot handles away from the stove's edge.
• All appliance cords should be kept coiled and away from counter edges.
• Use oven mitts or potholders when moving hot food.
• Open containers that have been in the microwave slowly and away from the face.
• Never use a wet oven mitt, as it presents a scald danger if the moisture in the mitt is heated.

Keeping kids safe

• Create a 3-foot “Kid Free Zone” around the stove.
• Never hold a child while cooking, drinking or carrying hot foods or liquids.
• Young children should be more than 3 feet from any place where there is hot food, drinks, pans, or trays.
• Hot items should be kept from the edge of counters and tables.
• Do not use a tablecloth or placemat if very young children are in the home.
• When children are old enough, teach them to cook safely, and always with help from an adult.

We found 5 great tips for parents to keep in mind when serving up the Thanksgiving turkey this year. Take a minute to read "5 Ways to keep Restless Kids Happy During Thanksgiving Dinner" taken from parents.com. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Don’t banish fidgety kids to the corner! Try these smart tactics?from magic tricks to waiter service?to keep them engaged.

Provide a distraction. “From about age five, kids should be ready to sit through the entire meal,” says 2008 Idaho Teacher of the Year and a 24-year teaching veteran Carol Scholz, but they can still use a little help making it to the end. “Have a few quiet activities ready in case they get antsy,” she suggests. Stow project bags with paper, crayons, and stickers under their chairs to pull out when boredom strikes. 
 
Use bribes. “Put a prize, like a whoopee cushion or a pad of Mad Libs, out on the counter and tell the kids that whoever can sit politely at the table the longest wins,” says John Heald, a senior cruise director for Carnival Cruise Lines. “At the end of the meal, surprise them and give every person a prize.”
 
Make the kids’ table cool. “Putting a teen with the younger children helps keep things under control and makes them feel included instead of shunned,” says Amy Dickinson, author of the syndicated advice column Ask Amy, who admits to paying young-adult chaperones $20, “so sitting with the little ones doesn’t feel like a punishment.”
 
Ask them to put on a show. “We taught our kids a few magic tricks, which they perform at the beginning of the meal and again before dessert,” says Sally Swift. “They love the attention, and it gives them an incentive to sit at the table.” Invite them to get creative and put on a skit, too.
 
Get them involved. “I press my kids into service, which makes them feel hugely important,” says Swift. They can toss the salad, carry around the bread basket, and help clear the table. Older children can even pour the drinks.

 

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, it’s easy to point to things for which we’re grateful. We have so many blessings like parents, grandparents, friends, warm coats on cold days and meals when we’re hungry. But how do you instill a sense of gratitude in your child?

Ruth Hamblen, with the Le Bonheur Center for Children and Parents, says gratitude is rooted in the need we have to be connected.

“When children are taught to say ‘thank you’ for even the smallest things, they are recognizing that someone cared enough about them to give them a cookie, pay them a compliment or help them in some way,” Hamblen said.

The kind act or word is a sign of caring, and the grateful response is a sign of recognition of that care, she says. Instilling a sense of thankfulness is an on-going task of positive modeling behavior.

Let your children see:
• you say “thank you” for the person who picks up the bag you dropped at the grocery store
• you give a friendly wave to that driver who “let you in” at that busy intersection

Hamblen also notes that it’s important to say “thank you” to your children for what they do, even if it’s what you expect them to do like picking up their clothes or putting away their toys.

“‘Thank you’ says so much...it says, ‘I recognize that you care about me, and I'm glad you are part of my world at this moment,’” she says.

Next week, Hamblen will share her thoughts on teaching children to appreciate the world around them.