On Christmas Day, 15-month-old Isaiah Whalen drowned in the pool at a private home during a family Christmas celebration in southern Orlando.

The following morning, three-year-old Emmanual Brown drowned at a vacation rental a few miles away in Osceola County, just south of Orlando.

Later that afternoon, at Parkway International resort timeshare, six miles away from where Emmanual Brown had just died, another 15-month old child, Octavius Johnson, drowned in the bathtub of the timeshare unit.

In the state of Florida, drowning is the leading cause of death in children under the age of four. And as the tragedies of this past week show, many of the children who drown in Florida are the children and grandchildren of tourists on vacation.

People go on vacation to relax; they let their guard down. They become preoccupied with socializing with one another, or just enjoying much needed down time. Children, exuberant with vacation excitement and sometimes unaccustomed to beaches and pools, make bad choices. They wind up getting in over their heads – literally.

When children fall into a pool, you would think adults would hear the splash; surprisingly, they rarely do. Children slip into a swimming pool and there is almost no sound in the water at all. Unlike adults, who realize they are drowning, children don’t know what is happening to them or how to react to save themselves. When a child begins to drown in a pool or lake, they usually struggle to reach an adult they know, even when doing so only takes them further away from the closest edge of the pool or beach and even if it takes them into deeper water.

Every child who is near a pool, lakeside, or beach needs constant adult supervision. The Mayo Clinic reminds us that a baby can drown in only an inch of water. A child can become submerged in ten seconds; unconscious after two minutes under the water; and permanently brain damaged within four to six minutes of going under. Everything from your mop bucket, to your toilet, your bathtub, your neighbor’s hot tub, or the swimming pool at your home, hotel, or timeshare resort is a potential death trap for a child.

Enjoy the beach. Take a timeshare vacation to some place warm and sunny this winter. But if you travel with children, remember that there is no such thing as being too cautious about water safety.

Three families ended 2007 with a heartbreaking loss last week in Orlando, Florida. Let’s all do everything we can to make 2008 a safe and happy year.

Rediff India Abroad is an online news source that deals with news and events not only within India but also news that specifically relates to people of Indian heritage living in all parts of the world. They recently ran a detailed article looking at both the pros and the cons of India timeshares.

The article is titled, “Timeshare holidays? Be careful!” and from that title, you would think the writers had nothing good to say about timeshare real estate. Instead, Nikhil Menon and Anagh Pal, who write a segment called “Outlook Money”, not only end their research with a positive assessment of timeshare sales, but also provide their readers sound advice about the decision to buy timeshare.

Whether you are interested in India timeshare, US timeshare, or timeshare resorts anywhere else in the world, I highly recommend you take a few moments and read this article.

Here are just a few of the tips Menon and Pal pass on to their readers:

“Before you sign up

And as you investigate more about timeshare ownership and timeshare resorts, don’t forget to look at the excellent opportunities in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals available at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

India Timeshare Resorts:

• Royal Goan Beach Club – Haathi Mahal
• Royal Goan Beach Club – Royal Palms
• Best Western Resort Country Club
• Royal Goan Beach Club – Monterio
• Ras Resorts Silvassa
• Clifftop Club
• Royal Goan Beach Club at Benaulim
• Toshali Sands
• Toshali Royal View
• Lotus Suites, Mumbai
• Sterling Resort at Lonavala

India is a growing market for timeshares resorts. Not only does the magic of India attract multitudes of tourists, but there are also large populations with Indian heritage who live around the world and who make regular trips to visit family and friends in India. For many people with Indian ancestry, owning an India timeshare is the perfect solution to annual or biannual visits to their homeland.

Two India timeshare resorts recently to receive recognition for their amenities and quality are Ffort Radisson Holiday Klub and Orange County. Ffort Radisson Holiday Klub (note the resort name often appears with both the traditional “Ffort” spelling and the Americanized version, “Fort”) is designed with a historic theme and is built on 160 acres along the Hoogly River. Orange County is located in Western Ghats on a coffee and spice plantation.

Both Ffort Radisson and Orange County are Resorts of International Distinction and recipients of the AIRDA (All India Resort Development Association) Gold Crown Award for consistently surpassing international standards of excellence in timeshare resort quality and hospitality. AIRDA is a member of ARDA – the American Resort Development Association – and works to further the development of timeshare resorts and timeshare vacationing in India, addressing both the interests of the timeshare industry and of the timeshare owner or timeshare renter.

But just how serious is India about the timeshare industry?

Anand Mahindra, chief of India’s $6 billion Mahindra Group was recently quoted in Newsweek as saying, “We’re the largest time-share operators in India. Club Mahindra, part of our real-estate division – with 22 resorts worldwide – will list in 2008. With the currency factor and the rising affluence and leisure time in India, it is the fastest-growing company in our group. Indian tourism is No 2 in the world after China.”

Mahindra’s point is that the weakened US dollar makes America a prime market for a company such as his with widely diversified interests and that is interested in buying into US manufacturing while the dollar is soft in the international market. Mahindra and Mahindra’s businesses go far beyond timeshare resorts and include automobile manufacturing, tractors, financial services, insurance, retail, and a number of other products and niche markets.

Look for this timeshare company and others to be making advances in the timeshare industry, seeking to build on the heightened interest in India timeshares and the weakened value of the US dollar. And if you are interested in keeping US dollars in the United States and still owning India timeshare, look at timeshare resales and timeshare rentals advertised at Sell My Timeshare NOW. When you buy timeshare resales, you are bypassing the middleman, and dealing directly with the person who currently owns the timeshare weeks. In this troubled economy, timeshare resales are the true win-win for people who want to sell timeshare and for people who want to buy timeshare.

Be sure to visit our timeshare blog again on Monday, when I will be sharing a really interesting account of timesharing in India.

Silverleaf Resorts timeshare has opened the “Beach Club” timeshare in Flint, Texas. So far, 16 timeshare units are complete of the 144 timeshare units planned for the resort. The Beach Club is a section of The Village Resort timeshare and will be sold as product upgrade for current owners of Silverleaf timeshare.

The timeshare resort is being constructed near Tyler on Lake Palestine, and when complete, will include a pool, children’s water play area, and access to the beach for sunbathing and beach-related activities.

Wellington Financial, is the timeshare lending correspondent for Liberty Bank, the Connecticut-based lender to the Silverleaf project. The deal provides for $37.5 million in receivables financing for Silverleaf timeshares to build the Beach Club Resort.

Silverleaf timeshare has been in operation nearly 20 years and offers drive-to resort locations, primarily in the central part of the US, with six resorts already in Texas. In addition to the Silverleaf Villages timeshare, Flint, Texas is also home to the Silverleaf Lake O’ the Woods timeshares.

If you are interested in a Silverleaf timeshare vacation, it makes a lot of sense for you to first look at the opportunities to buy Silverleaf timeshare resale or vacation in a Silverleaf timeshare rental. Sell My Timeshare NOW has an excellent inventory of Silverleaf timeshare resales.

• Silverleaf’s Villages – Flint, Texas
• Silverleaf Lake O’ The Woods – Flint, Texas
• Silverleaf’s Holiday Hills Resort – Branson, Missouri
• Silverleaf’s Oak N’ Spruce Resort – South Lee, Massachusetts
• Silverleaf’s Orlando Breeze Resort – Davenport, Florida
• Silverleaf’s Ozark Mountain Resort – Kimberling City, Missouri
• Silverleaf’s Hill Country Resort – Canyon Lake, Texas
• Silverleaf’s Seaside Resort – Galveston, Texas
• Silverleaf Timber Creek Resort – Desoto, Missouri
• Silverleaf Piney Shores Resort – Conroe, Texas
• Silverleaf’s Holly Lake Ranch – Holly Lake Ranch, Texas
• Silverleaf’s Fox River – Sheridan, Illinois
• Silverleaf’s Apple Mountain – Clarkesville, Georgia