Last week, I experienced one of the most horrifying moments in my life. My son Joey went missing for about an hour and half. When I say missing, I mean I didn’t know of his whereabouts. Although I am a working-mom, and my kids all go to different schools, thanks to modern technology, I’m constantly in communication with them. I don’t allow them to hang out after school, I have someone pick them up and take them to their dad’s where grandma will keep an eye on them for me, until I pick them up. However Wednesday is a different story. Joey has band practice on this day, and does not get picked up by his ride. He instead goes to practice, and I pick him up when it’s over. Well, this week, I totally forgot to remind him about it when I dropped him off in the morning, and he forgot his cell phone at home that day. Needless to say all the “reminder texts” were not read, and Joey totally forgot about practice. I called his music teacher several times only to find he was not there, it was then I decided I leave work in search of him. I figured he would be waiting at our “safe-spot” after his ride did not arrive, or he might have remembered and went to practice after all. It takes me about 20 minutes to get to his school, however on this day it took me 30 minutes. Traffic was horrible. I look for him at both places, and nothing. I then comb the school campus in search for him. No one had seen him after school. I call all his friends and no one had any idea. I have the school page him to the main office, nothing. By this time it’s been more than an hour since dismissal. I was constantly speaking with Mikey, checking if he got a call from him. Nothing. I decide to drive around and thinking he must have walked home, even though I have told him, not to. At this point I’m freaking out, and call everyone, including his dad, who also freaks out and says we need to go to the police. I’m literally in tears because I’m a block away from home and didn’t see him anywhere, when just as I’m about to park, Mikey calls to say he’s home, he walked here. I was so happy to hear those words. I was imagining the worse case scenario. My son, even though big in size, is only 13. He is so gullible and naïve that who knows what could happen. I’m thank God and all that’s good that nothing happened and it was all a result of our distracted minds. My advice for all the moms out there with school age children is to always have a plan in case of these types of situations, and most importantly constantly go over these plans. Always remind them of what to do in such a case. Also another good tip I have always used, is I type up or handwrite on a small card with my child’s name and all emergency telephone numbers and contacts and keep it in the small pocket of their backpacks. Loose change to use a pay phone is also a good idea. Of course Joey didn’t think about any of these things, but I have to admit it is partially my fault because the last time we all went over our emergency plans was back in September. :o/
Here are some cool and helpful sights with lots of tips and advice for child safety:
http://www.kidsafeid.com/
http://safety-identification-products.com/index.html
