If you’re a parent who worries a lot about the safety of your family, you are not being paranoid. You’re just being, well, a parent. And that’s understandable, especially if you are often out for work and you leave the rest of your family behind at home.

You cannot just tell yourself to take a chill pill either. It does not work that way. You can’t easily turn off the voices in your head that whisper all possible unfortunate scenarios that may happen to your loved ones while you’re not there to look after them. Those voices tend to be persistent, and they reveal how much you care.

What you can do, at the very least, is to make sure that your house has all the things at your disposal that will elevate its safety level. In that regard, here are some things to add to your home that might help you feel at ease while you’re away.

A reliable gate

If you live next to a busy street, and you have toddlers at home prone to spending hours in your front yard, you need to install a reliable gate made of steel to keep your children safe. It should be high enough that your kids won’t be able to climb over.

A gate also doubles as a physical demarcation that will discourage strangers to venture into your property. It’s like your warning sign for outsiders to respect your privacy.

However, gates don’t have to be totally utilitarian. They can be ornamental too. So pick a design that looks good while also giving you the protection you require.

Heavy-duty door locks

Breaking and entering is a real threat. In the United States, burglaries happen every after 25.7 seconds. That’s a lot of burglaries in a year. Your lucky if you fall prey to it and all you lose are jewelry pieces and some banknotes. But some burglaries go horribly wrong that they result in injuries, or worse, deaths.

Outfit your doors with heavy-duty door locks. You can take it up a notch by matching your door locks with an automatic alarm system. Should intruders try to jimmy the lock of your front door, you’ll be warned in time. You can then call the authorities for back up.

CCTV

Gone are the days when CCTV cameras are exclusively used for business purposes. Now the technology has become affordable enough for normal households to use them. On average, security system installation will set you back $1,500. That’s a good price to pay for putting a stop to your worrying. Now any time you’re away and you want to see what’s going on at home, you can just log in on your home security account and get access to what your CCTVs are recording in real-time.

Smoke detector

Just like CCTV cameras, smoke detectors have made their way into homes. That’s logical enough given how business establishments don’t have a monopoly over fires.

Installing a smoke detector at home will let you sleep better at night. You know that should a fire break out anywhere in the house, you will wake up in time to the sound of alarms.

Fire extinguisher

You had a smoke detector installed. Why not level up your safety game by getting a fire extinguisher for each room in the house too? You do not need anything big and heavy. In fact, you should go for small and portable. The goal is for your fire extinguisher to be handy enough that even your smallest kid can use it if need be. The goal is to spot and stop a fire just when it’s starting.

Electrical outlet covers

If you have toddlers or babies at home, you need those electrical outlets covered. Babies and toddlers are curious human beings. They will poke things into every nook and cranny they can find.

First aid kit

You should always be ready for when accidents happen. You need wound disinfectant and gauze for when someone in the household gets a cut. You need anti-allergy meds should someone inadvertently eats something they should not put in their mouth.

Ideally, our home should make us feel safe and comforted at all times. But the truth of the matter is, homes are not exempt from life-threatening incidents. Some usual suspects include falls, poisoning, fire and burns, airway obstruction, and drowning. It pays to be aware of these common risks. Your knowledge will allow you to be proactive. You can prevent these things from happening. And once you know that you’ve done all precautionary measures you can possibly do, it’s time to get some peace of mind. Let life take its course.