We were doing our major weekly shopping this afternoon when we had one of those terrifying parental goof-ups. Carlos and I had split up to cover different parts of the store, and I though Ariana was with him and he thought she was with me. Of course, she wasn't with either of us.
She was scared, she told me, but she remembered what to do: find another mommy with kids and ask for help. She also remembered my cell phone number and Carlos'. Within a minute we received a call and met up with her. I am still kicking myself for carelessness, but so very, very glad that she remembered all that we had taught her.
If you haven't yet read Protecting the Gift by Gavin De Becker, it is a must read! I'm so glad that we knew to teach Ariana to find a mommy with kids instead of not to talk to strangers, or to look for a policeman or employee, which she might not have been able to do. There is a lot of other great info in there, too.
That was my approach with my kids while we were at Disney World as well. I told them to find a mom with kids, I made sure they knew our area code (not an issue when we're close to home), and had a "meeting spot" at each park. It's really scary, though! Glad you found her safe!!
ReplyDelete