My Education Junction

That Just Might Be My Kid on the Leash

My daughter is a runner. When I say she is a runner, I don’t mean she enjoys a brisk jog as a form of exercise. I mean she is stealthy, she is conniving, and she runs away from me whenever opportunity avails itself. The need to be on guard at all times creates a ridiculous amount stress, because if I have to let go of her hand for a nano second chances are she will be running in the opposite direction.

What is horrible about the runner is chase. Recently, while shopping at Wal-Mart, my daughter took off running through clothing rounders. I could not find her anywhere. I was ducking down looking for little feet, but I could see none. Panic begins to set in as I look up and down aisles. I begin to approach employees, none of whom seem nearly as concerned as I. Finally, my husband finds her in the greeting card section. I had hoped he would find her wailing with grief. But she was incompletely undaunted. I mean come on, she just wanted to look at some Care Bear cards.

On another occasion while shopping at Lowes my daughter took off running again. This time I made my hot pursuit in flip flops. I slipped across the floor right into shelves. I fell flat on my face. My leg was all scraped up, and as I tried to pull myself off the floor my daughter kept on running. Now completely out of view, onlookers laughed, “She sure is fast, isn’t she?” I failed to see the humor as I made my way limping through the store. Luckily, I finally caught up with her.

It is times like these when I have considered buying the dreaded kiddie leash. Recently, I began Googling kiddie leashes to see what’s out there. I couldn’t believe the number of peoshould be looking left or right. So for my sanity and her safety, why not have a kiddie leash?

ple who mouths runneth amok on the topic. While I don’t currently own a kiddie leash, I would definitely consider buying one. Not because I’m lazy or inattentive, but because sometimes when I’m shopping I need two hands. I need to be able to pick up a case of water or a 40 lbs bag of dog food or maybe I need to put boxes of tile in my cart, and when I do, there she goes. It is horrible feeling when you don’t know whether you

I am sure there are other mothers much like myself that are tired of leaving Target with sweat rolling off their brow. Yet you continue to put yourself through the torment because you don’t want the comments, stares or wicked little pointing fingers angled in your direction. Fret not mommies, I think I have the solution.

This is what I found:

Mommy Child Locator- Simply attach a teddybear receiver to your child’s shoe while you carry the parent keychain transmitter. If you lose sight of your child you press the parent unit and the bear becomes an alarm which makes a chirping sound in order to help you locate the child. Right now this one is tops in the running.

Mom-Kid Cares- This is a less expensive version of the Mommy Child Locator. It too has a tag that you put on the child’s shoe and a unit carried by the parent. The alarm is set to sound anytime the child is more that 4 - 5.5 meters away from the parent unit.

Ion Kids Locator - This is a GPS watch. It is rather pricey and better suited for older children. I would consider buying something like this next time we go to Disney for Nick. Obviously Nick is not a runner, but all you have to do is get lost in a large crowd and suddenly you are separated from the group. That is very frightening ordeal for both parents and kids.

Amber Stick - God forbid you are ever in a position where you simply can not find your child, the Amber stick is basically a flashdrive you can store all of your child’s information on. You keep the amber stick on your keychain and give law enforcement the stick. This way they access your child’s information immediately.

Has anyone else used any GPS devices with their children? Did it work well for you? Drop me a line or leave me a comment and let me know.