When a child wanders off…

We’ve all done it. I’ve found though it seems most other parents within the vicinity are always sympathetic and actually help you out in finding your kid. I don’t know if i’m more scared of losing my kids or telling my wife I lost them for a moment when we finally get home!

The example in the story is completely different though. The teacher on duty should be in loads of trouble. Should never happen in a school setting like that with teachers on duty and physical barriers.

Teachers are human just like parents. It’s hard to watch several children running around playing at one time. I do believe that there probably should be some changes to how the school is set up to prevent these types of things. However, I hope that child was properly disciplined when he got home, because he made the decision to not listen to his teacher and took it upon himself to “try” to walk home so he could play with his video games. His parents need to make sure he understands that his actions were wrong and he shouldn’t do it again. So yes, the school should review it’s procedures, but the parents need to parent also.

Oh… my story was when my son was almost 3. He’d always been very good about sticking with me, but, I was shopping in… some sports store at the galleria (2nd level near macy’s?) the racks were VERY close together, so he stepped away from me and I couldn’t see which way he went… I ran toward the front of the store, not sure he hadn’t gotten out… then I started looking between and inside racks… turns out the little poop had run into the storage closet behind the counter… I can’t believe the two people working the register didn’t notice him back there!!!

So, I was petrified for the two minutes it took to find him, and I flipped out on him about walking away from me. He’d never done it before and thankfully hasn’t done it since.

One time I was mad at his Father… we were at the video store and I was on the side of the store, asking about whether the video he’d wanted was in stock, and he was looking at the front wall with some new releases and had our son in his carseat… HE SAT THE SEAT DOWN… AND WALKED THREE AISLES AWAY.
I couldn’t believe it.
But, he always brushed me off when I was concerned about safety issues, so I walked up, picked up my son, and went to the other side of the store where the family movies were… fully three minutes later, I see him run across the store, looking for me, petrified.
I don’t believe he’s ever done that again either.

You just have to take safety seriously every moment of the day when you’re a parent… hopefully those are the worst scares we’ll have as parents (but, likely not ~sigh~).

MY SON WAS AROUNG 5 WHEN I WOKE UP ONE MORNING AND COULD NOT FIND HIM ANYWHERE. I LIVED IN A 2 BDR APT AND STARTED TO PANIC. I OPENDED THE DOOR AND SCREAMED HIS NAME LOOKED UNDER HIS BED AND STILL COULDNT FIND HIM. WELL COME TO FIND OUT HE WAS INBETWEEN THE WALL AND THE MATTRESS COVERED UP SO HE NEVER MADE IT TO THE FLOOR. I WAS SICK TO MY STOMACH FOR A WHILE. THE SCARIEST FEELING IS THAT OF A MOTHER/FATHER LOOKING FOR A MISSING CHILD.

THANKS,
MICHELLE

When my son was a toddler he disappeared in a crowd during a Halloween celebration at a strip mall. Our new, beginning church was located in this strip mall at the time. I knew my first reaction had to be addressing the fear and panic so I could hear that inner voice telling me my next step. So, I prayed, “Father Mother God, you know where he is and are caring for him. Let me know where to find him.” The fear still persisted, so I walked calmly through the crowd. As time ticked on the sense of urgency increased. It had now been about 45 minutes since I’d lost track of him. But, each time the fear crept in, I just kept knowing and affirming that God, his divine parent, was caring for him. The next thought was, what would our son enjoy doing if he felt he was unharmed? I went inside the church and found him very innocently playing with a cassette tape player he was familiar with. So happy that I was able to address my fears immediately by turning to a Higher Power and my son was unharmed and found. What an important lesson this has been throughout parenting - Go to God and address the illusion of fear, if needed. Then I could hear that inner voice guiding me.