Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Do you hide your car keys?

We don't hide our car keys (I have to leave mine permanently in the front door or otherwise *I* would never be able to find them). And that's exactly what would happen if we actually did hide the keys to the car - none of the adults who needed to drive the car would be able to find them. Or if we put them where we could find them then any of our kids who was motivated enough to drive somewhere would also be motivated enough and capable enough to find the hidden keys.

I do, however, hide my chocolate. Oddly enough I can usually remember where I've hidden the chocolate

polarbear

No. We don't hide the keys ... though I now have a pepper spray on the keys so I just put it up a little higher. I told DS5 that the pepper spray is to fight off bad guys and he respects that (we have a rental property that I had been showing a lot recently all by myself thus the pepper spray). I do NOT allow either of the boys sitting behind the steering wheel. Not until they are old enough to get their own driver's license. I cringe when I see our friends posting pics on Facebook of their 3 year olds in their laps in the front seat of a car.

We don't have a medicine cabinet either. We just have all the meds in the least accessible cabinet in the kitchen and our boys don't climb cabinets, never did (another thing I don't like on FB is seeing kids sitting on the counter tops ... never did that with mine so they just don't think about climbing in the kitchen) The more serious meds are in our master bedroom bathroom and are put away out of reach. The one thing I worry sometimes is either one of them getting their hands on DS5's Epi pen. I don't want to have it put too much out of the way so it's easy to get to should we need it. At the same time I'm worried they may accidentally use it and get really hurt (especially if the medicine is administered into the wrong part of their body (like fingers or hands). But no locking it.

Kids do crazy things and no sane parent can save them from everything. I watch mine like a hawk but I can imagine hundreds of different things they could do that could get them in serious trouble while under my watch and it most certainly wouldn't be my fault. Can't prevent every accident. That said, if they ever took my car keys, they'd be grounded for life (at least initially! lol) ... if our teenager did it, he'd be packing his bags. That's how seriously we'd deal with it. They know how serious we are about certain rules and it wouldn't occur to them to even try.

If I were religious I would pray for the 8yo boy, who never thought that what did happen would happen.

It may be a good idea to tell your children, sternly, that they are never to touch the car keys, much less use them to drive the car. But it makes more sense to worry about your own driving or that of your teenagers once they are licensed than about car accidents caused by 8yo's, which are extremely rare.

Is there enough for me, too, though?

You really shouldn't have that here if you didn't bring enough to share with everyone, you know...

Absolutely true!

Polarbear, perhaps you could hide your keys with your chocolate? Unless you have one of those key safes, in which case you should hide the key to that with your chocolate.

I don't think I would tell my kids sternly never to touch the keys, much less use them to drive the car, because that would put the thought in their head that there might be some reason to do so!

[insert very rude potty-humor remark here about a location for key-storage.]

We have no car.

Everyday life presents us with many more likely risks than these sorts of remote tragedies. For instance, a few weeks ago, I was chased and threatened with bodily harm by a mentally unstable homeless man (thankfully without DS), in a safe and affluent part of town. That incident was idiosyncratic and is unlikely to change how I behave in my neighbourhood, though it was truly distressing at the time.

Also, people are known to have poor risk perception of remote events...hence the hyperbolic response by trolls on the news websites.

Yeah, I have to hide the chocolate, too.

My teenager ate an entire packet of Pim's the other day.

I also have to hide the cat food (from Mr. Kitty, not the kids ).

That's what I was thinking. Uh, anyway, am I the only lazy person who lets her kid go get things out of the car using the keys?

DD would as soon fly to Mars as start the car. I'm not worried.

Val, my middle kid DD15 would eat the cat food. She still tries a new brand once in a while.

None of mine went for the car keys. Still don't like them using nail polish or paints. Eldest, now 18, makes the biggest mess with those. I prefer that she goes for the car keys - she spills nail polish on the carpet.

Had to hide chocolate from one of our cats - one day he ate a bunch of Hershey's Kisses with Almonds (found a bunch of spit out almonds but none of the foil wrappers).