Is there a point where it is hot enough. . .

[Jean in Newcastle 174,774]

that you just want to throw caution to the wind? I live in a pretty safe neighborhood. Most crime here is car prowl/theft. There is the occasional opportunistic b & e. There hasn't been a rape or murder here in years, according to the local paper. But normally I do close and lock the kid's windows at night because they are over the garage where it would be easy to climb up and into them. And I always lock the slider to the back deck because the dogs are in their crates at night and couldn't deter someone who came in through the back yard. (And truth be told, even if they were out there there is a 50/50 chance that they'd lick them to death before they bit them).

 

But it is hot and we don't have a/c. I feel so tempted to leave those windows and slider open. . .

[Parrothead 6,958]

I would. It is so d**n hot in this house I'd do anything to cool off. I'm awake at 2:36 because it is too hot to sleep.

[Hathersage 16]

Can you have the kids camp out downstairs? I think it would be way to hot to sleep in their rooms.

 

And yes I would open up the house.

 

ETA: I think heat exhausion is much more likely than someone breaking in.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Hathersage

[keptwoman 95]

We open up the house, also sleeping under a damp sheet (I put ours in the washing machine for a rinse and spin) can really help.

[Melissa in Australia 13,604]

another tip I have heard, is to put the kids PJ's in the freezer for 15 minutes before they go to bed. they usually stay cool long enough for the kids to fall asleep.

[Jean in Newcastle 174,774]

We open up the house, also sleeping under a damp sheet (I put ours in the washing machine for a rinse and spin) can really help.

 

Yes, we did this in both Japan and the Philippines. In Japan it would happen naturally because of the humidity!

[Jean in Newcastle 174,774]

another tip I have heard, is to put the kids PJ's in the freezer for 15 minutes before they go to bed. they usually stay cool long enough for the kids to fall asleep.

 

Ooo. I'd never heard of this one! Forget the kid's pjs. I want to do this to mine!

 

P.S. I was too chicken to not lock the windows. But I have certain windows that don't have easy access all open.

[Carrie12345 19,303]

My kids are on the first floor, with sliding windows. Because they don't quite have the dexterity to use the special slider locks you can buy (our actual window locks are useless- just lift and slide from the outside :glare:), they have 2 dowels to put in the track - one long enough to keep it completely closed, and one long enough to open it for air, but not long enough to be able to climb through.

 

Still, our kids tend to camp out in the living room when it's really hot (like now). Two are in top bunks, so the hot air tends to linger around them more. While each bedroom has a single window, our living room has 2 on each end, making it much more comfortable.

 

Cool baths/showers before jammies seems to help, too.

[lisamarie 23]

I wish my DH would read this. He thinks I'm crazy that I won't leave the windows open at night. Sorry, we live in a ranch, not gonna happen. Even when we were in our old house and on the 2nd story, it had to be really hot for me to leave the kids' windows open because they were by the garage and easy to access. When it got really hot, I'd open them because it could get REALLY hot in there (dangerously so I would say). I wish I'd thought of the dowel suggestion back then because the windows were side sliders. I remember one stretch where it didn't get below 85 at night and we ended up keeping all the doors open with fans blowing from our room with the window a/c unit into the kids' rooms to try to get some colder air into their rooms.

[Julie in CA 928]

Ditto on the dowels. They allow the window to open enough for some air to get in, but not far enough for someone to climb through. The kids also have ceiling fans in their rooms, and when it's cooler outside I sometimes set a small fan near the partially-opened window in order to suck in the cool air faster.

[LibraryLover 4,819]

Dogs are a good warning system. Even the sweetest mutt will smell a stranger coming long before you do. ;) Our dogs have always slept in on the floors of the kids' rooms. Another consideration (which will be cheaper in the long run) is to get one AC unit for a bedroom, and everyone camp in that one room atnight during a heatwave. One could also retreat now and again to that one room to get a break during the day.

[hornblower 27,808]

I keep windows more open but I also have my dogs loose in the house. I have in the past also booby trapped windows with empty pop cans on a cookie sheet & fishing line so that if they're opened further, there will be a racket.

[Needleroozer 136]

We do not live in a super neighborhood. I only keep the windows open at night when it is really hot, and the Dude is home. If he is traveling, windows are shut....... tonight is going to be hot!:glare:

[Jean in Newcastle 174,774]

We do not live in a super neighborhood. I only keep the windows open at night when it is really hot, and the Dude is home. If he is traveling, windows are shut....... tonight is going to be hot!:glare:

 

I know. . .:grouphug: