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Tips to Help You Take it Outside

As with any new habit, stepping outside the home and car to smoke will take some getting used to. Use the health of your kids as motivation, and try these tips to help you get started.

• Create a smoke-free home and car policy. Let everyone in your household and everyone who visits the home know about the policy.

• Put a wallet-sized picture of your kid on your cigarette pack to remind you why stepping outside is always worth it.

• Place an ashtray and a chair outside to create an area for smoking.

• Keep a jacket, hat, and gloves near the doorway to make it easy to step outside in colder months.

• Keep your lighters and cigarettes outside your door (and out of the reach of kids) so you’re not able to light up a cigarette indoors.

• Leave five minutes earlier so you have time to smoke outside before you get in the car.

• Place “step outside” reminders in your car and in the places at home where you typically smoke.

• Team up with another parent who smokes. Together, make a commitment to step outside for your kids and agree to help watch each other’s kids during smoke breaks.

• Ask your kids or other people in your life to encourage you to step outside.