Making a child friendly deck can be an easy chore when a tiny amount of common sense is incorporated in the design and good, practical childproofing measures happen on the back end of the construction process. If you have a child, building a kid friendly deck will be an important part of the design process. In order to handle both adults and kids, the deck itself has to be roomy enough to accommodate the entire family, but it will also need to have some additional safety measures as well.

If babies or toddlers are present, or will be, including a railing system is necessary if the deck is to be elevated above a foot or so. Accidents can occur and a fall from a few feet can make for serious injury, so the proper way to prevent the problem is to plan for it and take the offensive. If a deck is elevated and stairs are in the design, take care to be sure the entrance to the stairs is designed to work with a child gate.

When selecting materials for the decking, make sure to pick materials that are rounded and smooth. If the deck wood has sharp edges, make sure to sand it down and inspect it periodically to prevent splintering.

Consider building an overhang. With tiny children, a canopy or overhang is a great idea. The blazing sun is not a child’s friend when they are sitting out all day, so a little overhead protection can help in addition to sun block.

If little children will be on the deck, go for a design that helps discourage climbing, if you can. Railings should be carefully thought over and it’s likely with an elevated deck these ought to be included if kids are on hand. Make sure the railing slats are close enough together to avoid small arms and legs from getting stuck or at least close enough to protect from a child from being able to slide through.

A deck can be a great addition to any house for any family, but if very small children are present or will be, it’s a very good idea to incorporate some thought into the plan. A deck safe for kids will need some safety measures, but then a few steps taken up front can prevent problems down the road.

Retirement planning is best done earlier for one simple reason: You’ll be able to comfortably save more money. Comfortably being the key word there. For most people, putting two hundred dollars per month into a retirement savings fund for 20 years is much more comfortable than putting one thousand dollars per month in for 4 years. Either way banks you the same amount of money, but you’d feel the financial strain of missing one thousand dollars a month much more than a measly two hundred.

As you’re planning retirement you may run into some unanswerable financial questions. For example, you know you’ll probably need some sort of medical attention after you retire, but how much, and how much will it cost? Questions like these present stumbling blocks while planning retirement because they represent a true unknown value. One thing you can do however, is find out from a financial planner what the average cost of health care is, and base that part of your retirement budget on that figure.

An important factor in planning retirement is deciding where you’ll live. Will you stay in the house you’re in now, or would you not be able to afford it. Keep in mind that when you’re 75 years old, you’re not likely going to want to climb up a ladder and clean the leaves out of your gutters. Because of these kinds of factors, many people planning retirement choose to live in a retirement village. These areas are much like any other neighborhood, except that you will have better access to in-home support services, just in case ailments, like a sore back, get to the point where you’d really rather not attempt to pick up a dime off of the floor.

A great option for planning retirement and one that’s been steadily growing in popularity is purchasing a mobile home as soon as you retire. If you’ve spend your younger years working hard and not getting a chance to travel as much as you’d have liked, a mobile might be right for you. With one of these, you’ll be able to catch up on all of those vacations you missed.

All in all, planning retirement may seem like a bit of a chore now, but you’ll thank yourself when you turn 70 years old and find yourself exactly where you want to be.

Summary:

When you retire, would you like to take a vacation once a year, or twice? This is just one simple question that, for a lot of people, they don’t know the answer to. Planning retirement early is essential in working out the details of your golden years so that you’ll be able to live comfortably.

My first glimpse of Ireland reveals gently rolling lush green hills highlighted by a pattern of shadow and sunshine. The fluffy clouds thicken as we near the shore. A stark white lighthouse sitting atop a stone base sits alone in the middle of the sea. It marks the entrance of a channel that directs us into the Rosslare Harbour. I snap a few pictures. My excitement is rising.

A red lighthouse sits on the end of the dock. It grows in size as we approach.

Seamen are working below preparing the ropes to fasten us on our arrival.

Intent on watching the churning water and ever-increasing detail on the shore, I am surprised when our tour guide calls my name and tells me to hurry back to the van ready for departure. I do not want to leave the railing and miss the moment when we touch land. This is my first arrival in Ireland. I don’t want to miss it!

I also do not want to cause a problem with our group. I quickly choose based on the outcome I hope to achieve and reluctantly turn away from the action. No point in incurring criticism unnecessarily.

I carefully make my way down the very steep narrow stairway to the lower level where the van is parked. There is a steady stream of people and for a moment I am claustrophobic, fearing that if we bump the docks and there is a sudden jolt, I will be cast headlong down the stairs and end up in a heap of people at the bottom. I block this negative thinking, concentrating on my footing. Leaving a space of several steps ahead of me, I use both hands to hold a firm grip on the handrail and cautiously descend. Thank heaven for shoulder straps on my purse and camera.

The others are all there when I arrive. I climb into the last seat and close the door. After the fresh sea air and the freedom of wandering about the ship, I feel even closer and more confined than ever before.

I can feel the vibration of the ship’s engines suddenly thrust into reverse. I imagine the churning water foaming as the propellers work to slow us. My right hand instinctively clutches the air in memory of using the throttle on my own power boat. Slowly back, then forward, I would carefully adjust the speed and direction for a gentle landing.

Engines start to rumble all around us and in less time than I would ever have imagined, our van is moving forward. The offloading is efficiently and quickly done. I would have been left on deck if I had stayed to watch the landing. For a moment in my mind’s eye, I can see the green van pulling away and leaving me stranded before I even set foot on Irish soil. Suddenly, I am thankful to be exactly where I am.

I began rough-housing with him almost as soon as he was able to start playing with me. Tossing him gently (careful of his/her neck if you play like that), at first, and reacting with great over-exaggeration when he’d hit me.

My method of madness (madness according to my wife) had (and still has) a purpose. Utilizing my physical education, methods of teaching and behavior modification background, I began teaching my son self-defense.

As of writing this section of the article, the last time we “played Heeya” at six years old Hunter ducked my swipe, punched me hard twice, head-butted me in the gut. As I tried to sit on the couch feigning injury (he knows when I’m faking) he jumped onto the couch on his hands and knees and b-checked me onto the floor then jumped onto my back ….A proud father laughed and made grunting sounds.

Here are the principles I combined:

——————————————————————————–

MAKE IT FUN

I know some of you instructors don’t want to treat self-defense as a game, but it’s a lot less of a game than the two martial arts schools my family and I checked out. 90% of the time was spent doing non-martial arts oriented relay races. About the last 15 minutes of class was spent executing martial arts oriented drills. As a physical educator I was appalled at the lack of activity focus.

Okay done ranting. Martial arts can be fun. Martial arts games can be played while still teaching the young student the seriousness of what he/she is learning. I have yet to have an incident wherein my son has hit another child. “Only do this with daddy and people trying to hurt you or take you away son.” Goes a lot further than some of you might think.

PROMOTING WANTED ACTIONS WITH WANTED REACTIONS

By reacting in a manner in which the child finds entertaining, you motivate the child to continue to execute the wanted actions.

USE A HOLISTIC METHOD OF TEACHING

Now before the religious folks start worrying about what that means, all that means is to start with what the child already does and refine it. Starting with the part method of teaching would be counter-productive especially in the area of motivation.

BE FLEXIBLE

Remember anything you do with your child and anywhere you do it can be a self-defense lesson and fun with a little imagination. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve embarrassed my poor wife “playing” with my son in the checkout line at Sam’s Club.

——————————————————————————–

GAMES

——————————————————————————–

HEEYA

My son named the pretend fight game. I’d get into an over-exaggerated fighting stance shouting heeeeeeeyaaaaaaa and that’s what he decided to call it. In the beginning, trying to just get him to block and punch straight was tough so when he did that I over-reacted to that falling down, pretending to be hurt, pretending he stopped my punch.

As his skills improved I reacted less to less correct movements. If he swung wildly for example I wouldn’t react. I might even tell him “punch straight son”. When he did the more correct movement I over-reacted once again. Bending over in great agony from his tremendous punch to my body. Jumping up and down on one leg after a swift kick to my leg. As of the date of writing this section he still needs work on his kicks. I’m still in that over-reaction stage from just about anything he throws right now with his legs or knees.

He Has Periods of Executing Various Tactics

Presently as of writing this section he likes to run into the kitchen, then charge me. I don’t dissuade him from this activity. I let him knock me down sometimes and we ground fight. Sometimes I side-step and tap him with my foot. How is that working out? Sometimes I run into the kitchen and charge him. He side-steps me and executes one of his few kicks.

BED HEEYA

Whatever the child wants to do is fine. It’s up to you to make a training session out of it. Sometimes my son wants to play heeya on the bed. He ducks and slips my swipes and, on his own, started dropping to his hands and knees on the bed and head-butting me in the gut. I let him do this two or three times then side-step and catch him before the hits the floor (don’t be a moron it’s up to you if you want to do that I’m not telling you to) Often I’ll throw him onto the bed (see the previous parentheses). Sometimes when he head-butts me or kicks I fall onto the bed. He’ll either knee drop me or kick me while he’s standing.

This reminds me I often tell people my job is to teach people to beat me up and of they don’t do a good enough job show them how to do it better. Try putting that on a resume.

PILLOW HEEYA

Again named by my son and one of the few games I get to play sitting down. On first glance this could seem like a waste of time, but remember the bean bag drill in my martial art drills ebook Bringing The Martial Artist out from Within? Similar idea. Just not so many variations when you’re “playing” with your child.

This time my son stands at a comfortable distance and we throw two pillows at each other. If your child catches you off guard don’t get mad or even look upset. You want him to do that remember! Motivate the action.

“OOF, good job son!”

Which reminds me not to glance at the TV anyway unless the show comes back on and we’re just “playing” during commercials.

My son tries to dodge or catch the pillows I’m winging at him pretty good. Usually I throw one pillow then the other right after the first so he has to stay well balanced and ready. Lately he’s been wanting to kick the pillow coming at him. Do I say no no just dodge? Of course not! I throw them more toward his feet.

When I was teaching martial arts full time as well as tutoring, I often didn’t have time to workout with anyone but my students. Because of this, my physical skills began to decline. So I began placing myself in more challenging situations with my own students. Sparring them with my hands down and much closer to their striking range, for example, forced me to continue to improve even with lower skilled level students with which to train. Using this same method, when my son throws his pillows at me I make sure I was in a more challenging position to evade or catch the pillows. Forcing myself to move faster with better reaction time. This method can apply to all your “playing” and training situations.

HULA JUMP

Doesn’t help the boy too much but gives dad a great strike taking workout. I was laying on the couch when some hula dancers came on TV. Hunter climbed to the top of the back of the couch and said,

“Mommy watch me do the hula jump!”

At which point he jumped off the back of the couch and landed on my stomach (see the first set of parentheses). Don’t worry, my ebook on internal energy strikes has drills in it to teach you to take strikes even better than you do now. I also have a downloadable low cost video clip released on taking strikes and developing reflexes to hit back even if you’re hurt.

The one thing not covered in the ebook or clip is how to take strikes while you’re laughing hysterically while looking up at your kid whose ready to jump onto your gut.

CONCLUSION

The point of all of this is to help you to think and create training situations which may not exist during formal training in order to improve your child’s ability to defend himself/herself and to improve your child’s future love for martial arts.

Use your imagination, think. You don’t have to be in a training area to train. You don’t have to be lined up all in a row to train in the martial arts and in self-defense. You can train anytime and anywhere you want to with a little imagination.

For all kinds of martial arts and self-defense drills see my printable ebook Bringing the Martial Artist Out from Within

http://KirkhamsEbooks.com/MartialArts

Diamond Head might be just another extinct volcano, but it’s also the best place to orient see the breathtaking landscape of Oahu’s southern reaches. From the top of Diamond Head all of Honolulu and beyond is laid out for you. The coast, the beaches, the other landmarks, like Pearl Harbor and downtown, the neighborhoods, valleys and ridges. And because it’s so close to Waikiki’s hotels, it’s a very popular hiking activity. The hike up Diamond Head is less than a mile and takes less than two hours.

It’s all part of Diamond Head State Park and it’s easy to get to. Just take TheBus (#58) from Waikiki or drive down Kalakaua Avenue to Monsarrat, by the Honolulu Zoo. This turns into Diamond Head Road. Tell the bus driver you’d like to get off at Diamond Head’s entrance.

Go in through the little tunnel entrance. There’s a parking lot, an info center, rest rooms, and a little kiosk. The trail up brown and dusty Diamond Head starts here.

The hike up to the top of Diamond Head starts with a walk across the floor of the volcano, and then the trail becomes gradually steeper and rocky, which winds its way up to the first lookout and half-way point. This might take about 20-30 minutes, and from here you can see the Windward Coast of Oahu. But the best is yet to come.

After you climb a concrete stairway you’ll come to a 225-foot tunnel that’s cut into the mountainside. It’s a good place to get out of the sun for a few minutes and get ready for the next flight of stairs.

On the other side of the tunnel is another flight of steps, slightly longer than the first, but after that you’re practically there. Actually, the lowest level of the Fire Control Station Diamond Head. Go up the spiral stairs to the top of the station and you can exit to the observation station at the summit of Diamond Head. Straight ahead is the broad blue Pacific, the green slopes of the Koolaus, all of Honolulu and beyond, as well as a bird’s eye view of Waikiki.

Stay, take lots of pictures, have a light snack and some water. Re-apply your sunscreen and revel in the moment. After your hour or so hike up, your 30-45 minutes trip down will be much, much easier. But watch the time: The gates close shut at 6pm.

Diamond Head State Park is open from 6-6 all year. There’s a $1 admission for walk-ins, or $5 per carload. If you want to try and avoid the tour groups, come early in the morning or after one’ish in the afternoon.

Bring comfortable walking shoes, water, sunscreen, a sunhat, a camera and a friend. A flashlight is handy for the tunnels, and you could use a towel to help block the sun, fan yourself, or wipe down your face with some cool water. And binoculars would come in really handy.

Find out more information: http://www.allergymatters.com/acatalog/Climatotherapy.html

Visit us on facebook: