Single Mothers Securing Their Homes
A lot of single moms today are independent and taking the responsibility of raising their children alone. Living alone with their kids can make single mothers have more freedom and help themselves become more matured. However, the one big issue that independent single moms are facing is how to have home security so that themselves and their kids would always be safe from harm.
Obviously, securing our homes does not come easy for all of us especially for single mothers. Even with the availability of today’s high-tech gadgets such as monitoring equipment and alarm systems, burglars can still find their way through our homes. In this case, the security of the single mothers and their children are always at stake as they are the most vulnerable ones. On the other hand, with the right information, awareness and doing the right thing, home security for single mothers can still be at hand.
Because we want single mothers and their families to always be secured, we have gathered the most valuable tips for them to practice and always remember. Note that not all of these need the use of expensive devices or gadgets but only awareness which is always the key to home security. So if you are a single mom and living with your kids in an apartment without a man in your household, here are the things you should remember to always keep your home and kids safe.
Tips on Securing Homes and Families of Single Mothers
- Prior to renting an apartment, check the environment and the neighborhood. There are certain locations that are prone to burglaries and frequented by mobsters or gangsters selling drugs and other illegal stuff so try avoid such areas. To know this, ask some people you think you can trust like a grocery store owner or maybe a cop and inquire about the place’ security.
- If you are a working single mom, try to find a home that is near your work. Let’s say even if you can find a home that you think is situated in a nice and secured environment, there is always the sense of security if your home is just near your work area. But what if your apartment is within an unsecured area? Well, you have to take a lot of necessary precautions like what we discuss below.
- Always be aware of the people around you and your surroundings. If you can’t find a home or an apartment situated on a friendly environment and have to settle on a not so peaceful location, always be aware of people’s movements. The alarm system within you should always be on especially if your neighbors are not so keen in getting friends with you. Don’t forget that burglars’ common targets are people who are defenseless. So keep your home entrance always secured and stock on tools that you can use to protect yourselves. The important thing is not to let anyone harm you while inside your premise.
- Always keep your information private. It is normal that you join networking sites such as Facebook. But be aware about the information you input in your profile that indicates you are a single mom. Avoid posting your pictures publicly with your kids and always try to make your online accounts private. Also, change your name a bit and don’t post your real address on the web. Remember that being a single mom makes you always an easy target for criminals who are using the internet to find their victims.
- Alter your web profile a bit to confuse people. Another thing to avoid burglars know that you live alone with your kids, make sure that your profile in any networking site you join are a bit little off from your real identity. Experts suggest that some ways to do it is avoid using your real name on the web. Or instead of using your first name, you can use your initials. Try not to post your home phone number also especially your mobile number so that if criminals would check a phonebook and choose their target, you are not exposed.
- If you leave your house and leave your kids to a baby sitter, give her instructions. Give strict instructions to your babysitter to make her aware about possible intrusions. Tell her if somebody calls you or knock on your door, she just takes their name and don’t open the door. If there is a possibility that somebody would like to intrude, she must call you immediately or call the cop. Also, avoid programming your answering machine with the voicemail that answers you are not at home. If your land phone is capable of call transfer, program it to transfer the calls to your mobile phone or ask your friendly neighbor if you can transfer your call to her home.
- Ask your landlord to allow you to change your full name a bit on your apartment’s list of tenants. Request from your landlord to let you change your real name a little for the sake of securing your kids and your properties on the tenants’ list. As long as the landlord is aware of this, you can still get your mails with no hassles.
- Keeping your home safe all the time especially in the evening. Burglars usually do their thing during the night or even during the day as long as they find the right opportunities. However, the dark is always their protection so in the evening always keep the drapes of your home down to prevent them from knowing who are inside your home. If necessary, keep a light right above your front door. The point here is you are trying to keep the burglars guessing or have doubts to intrude your home.
- Always remember to keep your doors and windows locked all the time. Not only in the evening that your doors and windows must stay locked, even during the day they must remain locked for your family’s safety. So when choosing a home, choose one that has window grills or have home entrance security features. If possible, change the locks of your doors to more solid locks. You don’t want to have a door lock that have been used by previous tenants isn’t it?
- Install an efficient alarm monitoring security systems. Single mothers especially those who are living alone with their kids should not live in homes that don’t have security features or they must install their own. Alarm and monitoring system are efficient components of security measures so choose a system that is hard for burglars to break into.
- Always ready your phone and charge it anytime. Some burglars cut off their target’s landline phone cables before they burglarize their home targets. So in an event like this, cell phones are crucial so don’t let your mobile phone’s battery drain on you. Also, save on your phonebook emergency numbers.
- If you can afford it, install surveillance cameras. Cameras are very important gadgets that can save your properties and your family’s lives. Burglars are also aware about cameras so they will try to avoid your home as much as possible. And if ever they will be able break in, their recorded videos are crucial for the cops.
- In your time of absence, tell your neighbors to consider checking your home from time to time. Neighbors are very important components in every neighborhood that can prevent burglaries on homes of single mothers. They can be your perfect alarm system and if they suspect burglaries to your home they can call police right away.
Home security guidelines are always necessary for all single mothers to take on seriously. Not taking these sincerely, there could be a consequence which any of us would not like to happen. So for all single mothers out there who live alone with their kids, remember that every home security tip is crucial as it can save the lives of your loved ones as well as your properties.