There’s no real way to prepare for accidents: The best you can do is to be alert to life’s dangers and risks. This is more difficult to accept as a parent, because you want to believe that you have the power to protect your child from harm at all times, even though deep down you know this isn’t always possible.
But in an alien environment, knowing how to protect your child presents special challenges. That is why in this month’s tbjkids, you will find advice on ways to stay safe and healthy in Beijing. With the cold season looming, prevention is the best medicine, and every little step counts! So stock up on winter accessories for your kids to keep those paws warm, or define your own style by recycling old sweaters and making your own mittens out of them.
Should somebody catch cold, you might see if one of the home remedies weíve featured in this month’s It Takes a Village column works. Or you can just read it for fun and stick to your own time-honored household treatment. And if the problem does happen to escalate, fear not: Our feature on dealing with health emergencies (“From Antibiotics to Air Ambulances”) contains practical tips on what to do if such a critical situation arises.
We’ve all stumbled, fallen down, broken skin and made mistakes from time to time, and weíre still here: We recovered, grew stronger and learned how to handle the situation better the next time around. It’s probably best that these lessons are learned as a child anyway, but that doesn’t mean parents should stop worrying, or that they ever will. And to that end, we hope this issue of tbjkids will help alleviate some of your inevitable worries.
