Five On Friday: Tis the Season for Losing Kids in Public

It's summer! So that means the kids are home from school and going to lakes! Carnivals! Zoos! Amusement parks! The grocery store!!

Oh it is just all so much fun . . . especially that last example. And just so many opportunities for our little darlings to become separated from us. Here are some ways I've managed to never (permanently) lose any of our five kids.

Yet.


1. When they were too little to remember my cell phone number, I made a bead bracelet that spelled out MOM'S CELL and then the number. Nobody ever needed it but it was nice to have just in case (and a fun way to learn that number).

2. When we get somewhere crowded, I try to point out what color shirts the employees are wearing, where the service desk or lost child room is, etc.

3. I try to frequently remind them that no matter where they are, if they think they are lost, their best bet is generally going to be to ask a Mommy with children for help.

4. I instruct them to NOT call Mom. Mom is being called out constantly, I become deaf to it. Call out "Gina" and you'll have a much better chance of me tuning in to you, kiddo.


5. Call and response. As we wander around a busy place or if I'm trying to gather my crew back together at a playground, I may shout something like "Scaramouche, Scaramouche!" and listen for five "Can you do the fandago?" responses to come back to me. (We're incorporating some Hamilton lyrics in this year, maybe a little Rochambeau, dig me?)