Parent Moments: Now You See Her, Now You Don't
Rated by 4 members
Member Comments On…
Parent Moments: Now You See Her, Now You Don't
I lost my daughter in the house too. She was 2 at the time and we had just told her a week ago that we were going to Disneyland in a month. She bugged us everyday about it. But one night around 2:00 am Amira climbed out of her bed. I keep her monitor on everyday & night. This was the first night that she has ever come out of her room in the middle of the night ever. I heard the door open so I jumped up out of bed ran to her room and she was not there. I began shaking and calling her name. Ran from the bathroom to livingroom to kitchen I mean searched the whole house and she was not there. Back to the door she was there. I asked her where she was going and she replied "To Disneyland." I now realize how scary it is to lose track of your child. So from now on her boundaries are ... If you can't see mom/dad and mom/dad can't see you...you are too far.if you take more than 15 steps away from mom/dad you are to far. So everytime we are out she asks "To far yet mom? Can you see me?"
0 |
...and they lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale! The problem here stems from the all-too-common 'empty threat' parenting technique. Threatening a child with stroller confinement is a waste of breath, if the child is not PUT IN THE STROLLER the next time she goes out of sight.
Do not fear being the 'bad guy' by punishing behavior the child knows is bad. Parents have more life experience an common sense than two-year-old children. You fear making the child cry, but you'd beg to hear that crying non-stop if the child was not there to do it.
My son answers this question the same way each time we go into a store: "What are the rules in the store?" He says, "No running, no hiding, always seee mommy and daddy." Disobeying these rules makes the shopping trip very short, despite how important it may be.
1 |
Natalie is a great Houdini. And just like you I always feared of my kids getting lost. All three of mine have been lost sometime or another, but my daughter, also Natalie, takes the cake. Our family (5 of us) were enjoying the last minutes before Disneyland's closing in midst the falling "snow". As soon as it was over, the gush of people began to leave, taking Natalie in the process. She was 4 and scared to death when we finally found her. While she didn't purposely try to get lost, she still did. Now at 11 she's learn our routines and boundaries and doesn't get lost. (mind you, see has a phone and calls us when we're not in plain view!)
0 |
I fully understand. We have "lost" our children more than once. I too did the stroller confinement and all the tricks mentioned in the story. We finally had to resort to scaring the training pants off of our children so they could understand first hand just how we felt when they wandered off. This was done by simply keeping an eye of the children and wandering away (like down the next aisle or across the room) while I children looked for us. Probably not the best option, but at least we did make our point. Later, our children learned to just ask for boundaries of where they could wander off too . That worked, and we had more relaxing times of shopping and being out in large crowds. Now with wandering teens, we do have a GPS system (only because of their special needs), and this works as well. Having to use the GPS to locate them results in lost privileges, but it does help to keep track. Good luck.
0 |
Moms,you are not alone!!My 11 year old is my youngest of 4,there is a reason shes my youngest!I always say she;ll be a magician or work for the CIA.She has always kept me on my toes.Our yard is fenced in,she;d climb over,wiggle out of her car seat, i tried several kind,she has the ability to blend into her surroundings,still.When she was younger i;d lock our front door and put the key way up high,but in reach incase of an emergency.When we moved to the country when she was five,she was afraid to go out by herself because of the animals,we;ve had 20 turkeys in our front yard, they were my watch dogs!
0 |
I also relate. Only my panic was with my 12 year old son! We were at Disneyland last fall when he decided to be smart and run around the other side of the Rocket ride (he thought it was a shortcut). Well, 30 seconds later he was nowhere to be seen! Panic on my part came fast. Not only was it almost closing time but I had my 6 year old in her wheelchair. I found 2 Disney employees who immediately called security. They had me sit where we were supposed to meet and they searched. They were notified 30 minutes later over their radios from City Hall that he was there. He had 'lost' his mother. I was in tears and shaking so badly and it seemed I couldn't get to City Hall fast enough! He was so sheepish looking I couldn't help but laugh and hug him! He really learned his lesson and stayed close the rest of our time there.
1 |
I totally understand your concern. My daughter was great at following the rules and staying by my side at that age however my son required a little extra incentive. If he wandered away we would leave or he would have a treat taken away. There must be consistent consequences and you MUST follow through. Find an appropriate consequence and explain to your child what will happen if she does not stay with you and then be sure to follow throgh. Good luck!
0 |
I'll never forget the first (and so far ONLY) time Wal-Mart called a "Code Adam" on my son. He had wondered away from me and I could not find him anywhere. Panicing and fearing the worst, I ran to find a manager who would issue a "Code Adam" - they have ALL the employees STOP and literally LOOK for your kid. And they block the doors so no one can get out with your kid. I was OK until the moment the manager asked me, "what is your son wearing?" Then I fell to tears. Quickly, however, someone found my son and I was crying like a baby!! Everyone clapped and cheered.
0 |
I feel your pain. We were on vacation. Our boys went with dad and I had our only girl with me window shopping. We had arrived in Key West an hour earlier. I saw something I wanted to get a closer look at and told Lauren to come and see the pretty outfit and headed into the store. After looking around a couple of minutes I noticed Lauren wasnt there. In a panic I ran out of the store in tears out to the sidewalk asking everyone if they had seen my little girl. Everyone told me "she went that way." I arrived at the bungalo close to a nervous breakdown to find her sitting on the porch. I couldn't stop crying for joy. I learned a priceless lesson myself that day. She was too old to put a child leash on but too young to be wandering around by herself. With 5 kids, we walked around like a gaggle of geese with dad at the front and from shortest to tallest and me at the back.
0 |
At least she didn't run out the door buck naked!
0 |
 |
