Beware of Bees
One of the benefits of living in a more rural area is the beautiful scenery and privacy offered by our wooded lots. Some of us hire landscapers to maintain these lots, but a lot of us enjoy doing our own yard work. Yard work is a great opportunity to work together as a family outside, and to get some fresh air and exercise. Even kids can help with some tasks. Be cautious though, when assigning tasks to your children, and always be aware of where they are.
My son loves to help with yard work, as he loves being outside. He is now eight years old, and one of his jobs is to push the wheel barrow down a hill into the trees to dump the piles of leaves and pine needles. This is a great job for him, as he loves anything with wheels, and he doesn't have to do any heavy lifting.
This summer, my husband and son were in the yard raking, and moving pine needles. Mark was weedwacking and had sent Sean down the hill with the wheelbarrow. Suddenly he turned to see Sean running toward him crying. Sean had gone down the hill and unfortunately disturbed a family of bees who had made their nest under some leaves. There were about a dozen bees on the back of Sean's legs. Fortunately Dad had recommended long pants for the yard work project, to protect against mosquito bites! Mark managed to brush off most of the bees as he rushed Sean into the house. Sean escaped with only two stings, which healed pretty quickly.
I guess the lesson of this story is just to be cautious when working outdoors, and be aware of the wildlife around you!