Mom, advocate, hot mess
Allison Zinnick
December 31, 2023
Hey friends.
Please have a conversation with your kids about ice safety. We are having unseasonably warm temperatures in Alberta, and across Canada.
As a result, ice is thin and unpredictable. We’ve already lost several lives over the last few weeks due to ice accidents, including a group of teens in Ontario.
‘It really has rocked us’: Ottawa teens dead after fall through ice from same school
I need you to learn from my mistake. As much as I’m nervous to share, because people love to come for parenting these days, it’s an important lesson.
My son and his friend asked to go to the park, which happens to be next to a storm pond. I don’t usually let my son go alone but since his friend is older, I said yes. When they got home, my son was drenched from head to toe. He had fallen through the ice of the storm pond and his friend managed to pull him out.
When I went to look, there were tracks and footprints all over that storm pond, looked like sled tracks too.
Storm ponds are actually very unpredictable. Even in the dead of winter with temperatures in the minuses, you’re not supposed to go on them. Almost every major municipality has a website dedicated to this, with information campaigns to educate and spread awareness. These are working ponds with pipes that constantly surge water underneath. It means that the ice is unpredictable and dangerous. Yet you still see people playing hockey on them. But I digress – I am not sharing this message as a lecture. I’m sharing so that you talk to your kids about ice safety. It’s just not worth it.
Both boys are fine and we learned a lesson today. I wanted to share to serve as a reminder for kids in the area to avoid the pond.
Thank you for listening.
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