5 Kid Safety Suggestion for Kids Playing in Parking Lots

Offbeat Mama, an online blog about parenting against the grain, has a blog post about suggestions for kids to play safely when your "yard" is a parking lot. To read the full article click here. 

5 suggestions for playing safely when your "yard" is a parking lot
Guestpost By ASHLEY

It's April 2011: my two-year-old is snoring in the backseat. I follow the landlords into the apartment complex, noting the "Slow! Children at Play!" signs at both entrances. I spied the little nook where everyone's bikes and outdoor wheeled toys were jammed together. I ask if there are other families — yes — and are there any noise complaints — no, but the bar across the street can get riled up at peak times. After two years of being parents in college-oriented complexes, I was ready for a place that seemed more family-friendly. Except for the weird amount of grass between the ten buildings, it was perfect.

Oh, how I've wished for more grass! I grew up in military housing, where the houses are duplexes and everyone's yards are smushed together into these huge patches of grass. We ran around with bare feet and more than once ran into the wrong back door. But here? Two of the buildings have smushed patches behind them that could count as yards — one unit inexplicably has a back door, even — but it's not in a place where the kids can really play safely and supervised. What's the alternative? The parking lot? With cars?!

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