I had a little nightmare yesterday. At Kholes, I'm looking for new pants for Chad. Chloe wasn't staying with me very well, and there are racks EVERYwhere, so every time I turned a corner, I'd have to nag her along behind me. Then suddenly, she was GONE. I looked and looked, thinking she was just in one of the racks or around the next corner. I asked a clerk if she saw her come out of the area, they called a "code yellow" as I began to retrace my steps and NOT FREAK OUT. Then came an older lady, holding her by the hand. She knew she was mine, because she helped Chloe find me at one of those times that I turned a corner. (At that time, she was told to hold onto the stroller and we had a short discussion about how she was a nice stranger, but not all of them are nice.) Darn kid! I wanted to puke! All of this happened in probably 2 minutes, but it was the LONGEST two minutes of my life! We went straight home and all took a nap!
Friday, August 29, 2008
LOST?!!!
So we've been talking a lot about strangers and not walking away, and not hiding when we're in public. Holy Cow! She said "but I just love strangers... they love me... I was just hiding." I want her to understand that NO ONE is to touch her for ANY reason and not all people are nice, but somehow she got "but strangers are nice to you." "Ok, so strangers are nice to mommy, and daddy, and Everett, but they're not nice to me." Oops. I think I need to adopt my sister's shpeil, "don't talk to anyone, don't go anywhere with anyone, if anyone touches you or tries to take you, what do you do? You kick, scream, bite..." It's such a difficult concept especially since strangers just love to talk to people with kids (that's so irritating sometimes!) and I talk to strangers all the time. And I don't want her to be afraid to leave the house either, but honestly, now I am a little. And I used to want her to be cordial, but now I welcome the rude "get away from me!" look. We certainly have some new rules. Holding onto the stroller wasn't working well, so I have a strap that she's to hold onto now... we'll see how that goes. Any "unsolicited advice" will be welcomed.
Posted by Carla at 3:25 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
OH man girl. I feel your feeling of wanting to throw up. It is just so hard to get it into their heads. I think it is just a society where being nice is the thing. We just can't take a chance now a days for our kids to be taken. I am glad that she was found. There is a video that I have been wanting to get that is very kid friendly but I have seen it advertised on tv again.
Oh that brings back horrific feelings from when E was lost in Target. We love the SAFETY KIDS books and cds from Brite Music. There's a song on there that talks about what to do if you get lost "Look for a grandma or mother with children", teaches them to yell and say "no" or "this is NOT my Mommy" and also to memorize their telephone number. The more I can do to prepare my kids for probable situations that may arise the better. When we go somewhere "big" we always point out what the workers' uniforms are, and paranoid me, snaps a quick picture of my kids so I will have it on hand and not have to rack my brain as to what they were wearing. Horrible omen, probably, oh well. I also think that over the years I have done little things to show my kids that I trust them, such as walking to a neighbors house, going together to buy a pack of gum while I'm still finishing my errand in the same store. I think the hardest part is when they feel that you don't trust them, when really its just a select few strangers you don't trust. The Berenstein Bears has a good book on Stranger Danger that I like too. Good luck!
oooops... that was WAY too long! Sorry.
I am sooo with you. I don't know the magic answer...other than PRAY PRAY PRAY!!! I want to puke just thinking about it~!
Oh my gosh!
Post a Comment