This week if you have read my parenting blog (https://theparentingadventurestipsandtricks.wordpress.com/) you would have seen that on Monday I had a bit of a scare when I thought for about 5 seconds that my son had gone missing, because as I went to take an item I needed off the shelf he ran out and it was so fast that I had no idea as to where he went, and boy was I worried, and even broke down into tears afterwards, as I have had dreams of this sort of thing and so was my worst nightmare.
I wrote a blog post about what to when your kids run off and go missing, as part of this blog is my sharing my own experiences and kids running off is a common thing when they are little, and so you do have be kept on your toes.
When you can't find them, it reminds you that you can not take your eyes off them for a minute and you are in complete shock and distressed, and when they do return your paranoir can increase as well, that you are on tender hooks afterwards.
In this post I included a printable to help parents with Parenting Dilemmas and how to deal with them. which I have dedicated another parenting blog to, which also has the link to the printable, and it totally free to print off.
When a child goes missing we instantly get a sick feeling in our stomachs and not knowing what to do next. Luckily I had a lovely lady help me and we soon found that my son had returned to the store he had ran out of, and I was shaking with shock and all the what ifs started creeping into my mind.
The worst thing you can do is panic, so take a deep breath and see if anyone can help you look for them. Dressing kids in bright clothing is a fantastic hack because when they are wearing bright coloured clothing they can be easily seen and in my son's case he was.
Having kids with prints on their tops can help too and one hack is put a sticker or a badge on their top so you can use this should you need to give your child's identify.
Also now, and I have mentioned this in my other posts, you can get smartwatches for them to wear and then via an APP you can see where they are exactly, and now my son is into wearing a watch at times may consider in getting one, just in case.
If there is security officers around like there was on Monday, because there was a shopping mall nearby see if they can help because they will have a radio and have other officers around to help search for your child too, and quite often they will have a link to the Police if you need to contact them.
Have your children if they need the toilet go with someone else and they stay together until they return.
If you have more than one child and they are of different ages but can't go to the toilet without support then see if an older sibling or another adult can take them, and if possible separate the kids, and one adult take a few kids in and the other adult takes the other kids in.
Arrange a meeting point so they know should they come out on their own where to wait and meet you.
When I worked at holiday camp in the South Coast, if we ever had a child lost it was a rule that you and another employee would help take them to a meeting point and report the child lost to the security staff who would then call out to see if we can trace that child's parents.
If you run a football team then often you would have more than one child to be responsible for, so this is where it is beneficial to have another parent on board that can help look after the children on the sidelines that aren't playing, and what I used to do is create a substitute area, that was clearly marked out, and they would then continue to have a kicking about and wouldn't go wondering off whilst their teammates were playing.
I know most schools are shut, but some will have summer clubs, so if they do make sure the child is not going home on their own if they are a much older child and that they always walk home if possible with another child. This is more so for when they go back to normal school and it starts getting dark earlier.
If kids are cycling around then make sure they are wearing bright visual clothing, even if they ride on the pavements as it still pays to be safe, as often they may have to still cross a road on their bikes and even scooters.
When running a kids club of any kind and they are young children, make sure that they don't leave the school or club premises until their parent/carer/guardian turns up to pick them up from school, and all doors are kept securely shut until it is time for the children to leave.
Make sure you are aware of the fire safety rules and you keep a register of all the children attending and they know where to go and where to leave should there be a fire.
Always have a first aid kid. Being a football coach this was vital as often than not there would be accidents.
If you are going to a local theme park then there are armbands you can get when going into a theme park, so if they are lost they can be easily identified with their armband. Again, as with the toilet when going on rides if they aren't old enough to go on their own, have another adult take them and for the older kids that can go on rides unaided that you make meeting point beforehand so once they have finished on the ride they know where to go back to.
Often when I go to a park they will usually have a gate, but often than not people will leave it open, which for me as far as I am concerned is careless and not thinking about the other people and children who are also going to use the park. Please keep all gates shut as I have seen it, not just my son but other children wonder out of a park and gone sprinting off, and if there are main roads nearby, it could end easily in the worst case scenario.
If you are near water, make sure if they aren't able to swim unaided that they have armbands or you can get vests which they can use to float with aswell, and do keep an eye on them at all times.
When I was a kid I remember this little boy we knew who went on a camping trip with the scouts and drowned. It was devastating as he was a lovely young boy and had such a future ahead of him but unfortunately it was not to be.
It can happen so never think for a minute it can't and be on your toes because it can happen so quickly. I know that taking kids out should be fun, but you do have to remember to stay safe aswell, and don't take these things for granted.
Let your children know how far they can go, my mum and dad always did this and until I was old enough to be responsible I wasn't allowed near the front of the estate where we lived, because of the busy main road near the estate, and I never ventured near there until I was allowed to.
I have written a book about my years living in Peabody Estate, so if you would like to read it then click here. It is available in Kindle and in paperback.
The Peabody Years
Make it clear to children what their boundaries are and as they become more responsible, then you can allow them more freedom and independence.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
