Insights from the Editor

We've been teaching our 3-year-old, Graeme, a lot lately: How to use the bathroom, how to count to 10, how to share and how to say "please" and "thank you." We've even been teaching him how to dial 9-1-1.

This last lesson seemed a little premature to me--until I knocked myself out cold with only Graeme around for support.

We were playing freeze tag. Graeme was "it," and I was keeping just ahead of his reach navigating the ladders, ramps and slides of an elementary school playground when I banged my forehead on a steel crossbar. I woke up a few moments later laying on the ground, bleeding profusely and generally disoriented. Graeme was standing over me with his normal, whimsical smile. No one else was around.

Fortunately, my haze lifted as soon as I wiped the blood out of my eyes and I was able to call for help on my cell phone. But this accident could have gone differently.

Had it been worse, what would Graeme have done? Would he have used the phone and called 9-1-1? Could he have unlocked it to make a call? Would he have wandered off, putting himself in danger?

I don't know the answer to either question--I'm not even 100 percent sure what my 6-year-old daughter would have done. But I'm going to find out. Emergency bootcamp is under way in the Kelley household. Here's our action plan:

• Teach both kids how to operate our cell phones and land lines. If they can use a handheld gaming device, they can figure out a phone.

• Make sure they know what constitutes an emergency and how to call 9-1-1.

• Teach them our address, names and emergency phone numbers.

My daughter is actually an old pro at knowing emergency numbers, contacts and addresses. But putting that into action may be a challenge. So, we're going to practice and role play, something recommended by child safety experts. We haven't actually done that before, but now we have a real scenario to use as practice.

How to make a family emergency plan

How to set up a home fire escape plan.