While they were playing merrily I lost sight of my son. I was starring right at the two of them being silly and sliding down the tongue of a whale when all of the sudden my daughter stood up at the bottom of the slide and started looking around for Weston and calling his name. They both went down the slide together, but I only saw Natalie stand up at the bottom.
I walk around to the other side of the slide and looked around, no Weston. I walked around the whale, now with Natalie in tow, no Weston. I walk around the basketball court, no Weston. I walk around each play structure, no Weston. I start to panic as I realize every kid looks the same with the VBS shirts on. I look around at all the ways you can exit the playground, no Weston. I am franticly searching, my chest is tight, my eyes are tearing up, now getting ready to start screaming his name.
A woman in red gently touches my arm and says: "You must be Weston's Mom." A small bit of relief washes over me. She points me to a palm tree were my beloved son is lying face down crying inconsolably. Another kids Dad is standing there trying to calm him down. I pick him up and cry.
Worse feeling in the world. I was watching both of them, staring right at them! And within a second he had disappeared. I don't know how long it was until I found him but I think it was a good 5 minutes, which if you have ever lost sight of your child before you know that translates into about an hour.
So since it's summer and there are a lot more kids at the playgrounds, pools, amusement parks, now is a great time to go over safety rules for public places with your kids.
I went over our rules with Weston and Natalie a couple of times yesterday. I plan to go over them again this weekend as a family.
Here are some basic rules to keep your precious kids safe this summer:
- Have a plan - talk to the kids about if they get lost and what to do: stay put, a meeting spot, find a mommy for help, etc.
- Stay together in groups- never wander off alone.
- Never accept gifts, candy, etc from a stranger until they ask permission from Mom or Dad.
- Make sure they have some form of identification on them: Parents name and phone number. Even if your kids know their number they may be too upset to remember it when someone is trying to help.
Some websites for the kids:
The good for the day. Weston had a wonderful time at VBS and I'm getting ready to take him for another fun fill day. Natalie and I had a wonderful time, one-on-one, while Weston was at VBS. We had a calm and snuggly rest of the day.
Thankful my son was okay.
