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When Children Wander - A parent's nightmare

Last Sunday, the family and I were enjoying a lovely, lazy picnic in Cornwall Park. I looked around and there were so many activities going on - some kids were cycling, others were playing tennis, others croquet, and others just throwing ball.

My kids had gone to climb trees and my dh and I lay back, tummy's full and people watching. It was an amazing scene. There were so many groups and families and we were all separate but enjoying the lovely shared space.

I leaned over to my husband and commented that although we all seemed apart, I got the feeling that we would all pull together if something bad happened, such as someone having a heart attack. He smiled, agreed, and said, "or if a child went missing".

I kid you not, in less than ten minutes following this conversation we heard a mama yelling for her daughter Miah. More voices joined in, and mum's voice reached near-hysteria. My husband and I jumped up - he dashed toward the carpark as I called "How old is she and what is she wearing?"

"Camouflaged pants - and she's three" came the reply.

I desperately scanned the trees, as the husband searched the parking lot, and the mother screamed and others searched. It was that moment of terror, where my heart was in my throat, and I can still hear the desperation in that mums voice.

She leaned against a tree sobbing. Everyone was too busy searching to comfort her.

Suddenly the cry came: "There she is!"

Little Miah, with her gorgeous curls and camouflaged pants was found not too far away, wandering among the trees.

Mum was still screaming. "They've got her," I yelled over the paddock. She looked at me, but she couldn't hear me, or if she could, the words weren't sinking in.

Another woman went to her, her arm circled her. I couldn't hear the words, but I could see the body language. Mum ran like the wind over to where Dad had picked up Miah, who was now sobbing at all the attention.

It was every parent's worst nightmare. One of our biggest fears. And through it all, the key question had been, not her name, but what was she wearing. I'm not sure I would remember what colour shirt my four kids had on each day, but I'm much more cautious about looking - really looking at them first.

Tags: child, lost

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Comment by Marilynn - Mums on Top Editor on March 5, 2010 at 10:48pm: Thanks Geri - wow - look forward to hearing more about your product and what solutions you can offer to mums!

Comment by Geri on March 5, 2010 at 8:12pm: I understand it is okay to mention a product on MOT in answer to others' comments...?

I had a similar experience at a playground near a beach with my oldest girl, then 18mths. It just took a moment of turning away to speak to a friend and she was gone. I panicked, as you do, and for the next four or five minutes (seemed much longer!) I searched everywhere - tunnels, trees, frantically asking people... basically looking in all the wrong directions - which gave her time to toddle down to the beach and wade in nappies, clothes & all, for a swim. I just happened to look over to the beach and there she was all alone, waist deep in the waves!!! It was the most awful thing to happen and to this day I catch my breath when I think about what might have happened...

So I went home thinking that there MUST be products out there that help you locate your lost kids, because it happens to most of us at some time, in clothes shops, at malls, camping grounds etc. - I did a lot of internet searching and found quite a few child locator options overseas. Finally a couple of years on, I have just set up a company to import the ones I found personally to be the best quality, most reliable, easiest to use and the most affordable (I tried a fair few!). My new website should be going live this weekend I hope - (not sure if I can add my web details here, Marylinn - hope this is okay?!) www.wanderingkiwi.co.nz. I've made them as affordable as I possibly can because I feel so passionate about child safety.

Basically the locator products use sound to locate a lost or hiding child, kind of like finding your cordless phone at home. You push a button on your handheld keychain unit and the child's unit (attached to their clothes) beeps loudly - just follow the beep to your child. It's really simple but it works really well! Two of the products also have wander-alert features so if your child wanders further than a pre-set distance you get alerted immediately.

I'm not placing a comment to try to get free advertising, I just feel SO strongly about keeping our precious little kiwi kids safe!!! The products are GREAT and I use them now on my second daughter(by co-incidence, she is also 3 and her name is Maiah, and she also has a mop of gorgeous curly hair!) She is not such a wanderer like my first child but you just never know when it might happen - and it gives me so much peace of mind when I'm out and about with her.

Once my website is up I will be doing the Mumpreneurs thing properly, put some products up for prizes etc. Just wanted to comment on this today due to your blog, Marilynn, to let mums know that there ARE finally solutions on the NZ market! So glad little Miah was found :-)

Geri

Comment by Keri - Holly Chic on March 5, 2010 at 5:13pm: oh this made me cry, this is one of my biggest nightmares, especially as Holly is so confident and will wander off (or run away) if I let her.