Summer Tips for Downtown

Warm weather means more outdoor activites and in my town we are fortunate to have a cute little downtown area. Now that my kids are older they are able to ride their bikes downtown by themselves. It is not a big downtown with huge buildings, just about three blocks of cute little shops and restaurants. Before they went on their first trek downtown though I had to come up with some ground rules for what they could and couldn’t do.

Here are the tips I came up with for exploring downtown this summer:

Since they are on bikes, we of course went over bike safety first. Crossing at stoplights only, locking up their bikes and not riding them on the sidewalks downtown.

Be aware of your surroundings and do not go where they are not supposed to.

Keep in mind it takes time to get home and they need to be home before it gets dark so they need to be aware of the time so they are not biking home in the dark.

Be respectful of people shopping and walking on the sidewalks. I have seen too many kids goofing off and causing disturbances. I have even seen a driver not paying attention and hit the curb luckily not causing any injuries to pedestrians. Shamsi Law – pedestrian injury attorney – actually has a whole law firm dedicated to personal injuries because it unfortunately happens more than it should.

Carry a small amount of money or preferably their debit card so they don’t loose more than they have to. My daughter especially is terrible with loosing stuff and not putting money back in her wallet.

What are your tips for staying safe downtown?