Lost in a Shopping Mall
Last November, along with my siblings, I took my 3-year old son to one of the biggest shopping malls in the world. After half an hour, I went crazy with the number of people walking around the mall. It didn't help that my son kept on wandering off. So, much as I hated it, I switched to Plan B. I made sure that my son do not wander off by attaching him to a child leash.
After that incident, my brother kept on ribbing me about my "mall paranoia".
Until Yesterday, that is.
See, yesterday — along with my husband, parents and siblings (yes, we are on vacation once again!) — we went malling. And while my husband and I went around the mall with our 6 month old to look for shoes, my 3-year old was left in the care of my parents and brother. And well… they (the adults) lost my son!
Apparently, he ran off to look for the carousel, thinking that someone would be running behind him. Unfortunately, at one time, all 3 of them assummed that one of them was taking care of my son. When they finally realized their mistake, my son was nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, they found my son later, with the help of several mall staff. My husband and I only found out about the incident after they have found my son.
And now, my brother has stopped ribbing me about my mall paranoia.
I have always been very paranoid about letting a child loose at any mall. My husband and I have been practicing a fool proof way of making sure that none of our kids get lost by:
Making sure that our kids are within our sight. Or, if we have to look away and there are tons of people around, we always make sure that we are holding a part of their body.
Restraining them using a stroller or a child leash. We only do this whenever they are being unruly or if the crowd is way too difficult to manage.
What about YOU? Have you had any lost in the mall experience? Tell us about it.
March 31st, 2007 at 5:46 am
You bet, Melissa! I lost my elder son twice in a mall. He was two years old then. First time was in a Makati mall and the second time at the Duty Free Shop.
The same thing happened. We were all busy checking out stuff and assuming that one of us was looking after him. Apparently, we were wrong. My son just went about his ways, too, and got lost. Good thing, there are paging systems, and that we followed my Dad’s advise to pin an ID on his shorts so that the person who would find him would know how to return him.
The scary thing would be if someone picked up my son and took off with him.
The best thing we can do is to really hold them and yes, let him wear an ID.