Andrew is going to kill me for sharing this but
I told you guys I would when we spoke during the safety
Tats review. During that review I explained to you there
were two times in Andrews life that I lost him and both
times were harrowing and I wanted to die. You will never
truly understand the trauma and despair of losing a child
to you go through it for it really is one of those things
that you have to have been there to understand. Both times
I lost my child was short lived. In the Safety Tat's review
I spoke of the time I lost him at the mall. The total time
I could not find him was less then 2-3 minutes, the time
I am telling you about now was only slightly longer at
about 30, but each time I felt the end of the world on
the horizon. Though this time ended up on the comical side
the fact there was 20-30 minutes I could not find my child
was enough to scar me for life. I can only pray none of you
even go through those 20-30 minutes and my heart goes out
for anyone who has suffered or is still. My ordeals ended
on a happy note but many others do not.
When Andrew was just over two, one snowy day he and I
were playing out in the snow in the back yard. My home was
in a typical suburban area, 2 story bungalow and fenced
back yard. The back door was inside the fence and there was
a lock on the gate, I was prepared for children and knew
how they could wander and did not want Andrew to try and
get out the gate. We practiced things like Stranger Danger
and Don't touch me there or I will tell and Andrew was very
into 911 and had already tested every ones phone he could get
to and I had already spoken to the police more then once
about making sure he no longer dialed it. He also was more
then happy to tell everyone how my mother and I bought drugs
for he had seen the educational items where smoking is a drug
and bad for you and took pride in ratting my mother and I out
and was a constant embarrassment. You will never know how
embarrassing to you are standing in line at a grocery store
and your Grandson proudly tells the cashier that when you
leave this store you Nana is taking you to the corner to buy
some drugs before they go home. I would have given anything
to be a fly on a wall and listen to my mother explain her way
out of that for they were headed to the Cigarette store but
that sure wasn't how it sounded. Any way, the point is Andrew
was very bright and clever and not at all shy and more then
a little curious. That day we were having fun in the snow
when I could hear the phone ring. The phone was just inside
the backdoor, he was in a locked yard and I could see him
every second so I thought nothing of answering it. I
grabbed the phone and said hello and Andrew was happily
making his fort. The person I was speaking to gave me a number
to call and I fiddled in the drawer for a pen, all of 15
seconds and then glanced back out the window in the door
and he was gone.
I ran out the door and straight to the back of the yard
thinking he would have went behind the garage to be out of
my eye site. He wasn't there. I started screaming for him
and was frantically running around the yard looking in
every nook and crevice for I was still sure he had to be in
the yard for the gate was locked and he would have had to
walk past the door to the gate anyway. I checked every single
place and still I could not find him. I walked the fence line
and looked for places he could get out nothing. In the house,
maybe he slid by, screaming loud now, sweating and tears were
starting. It didn't take long but thoughts were already in my
head of how someone could have snatched him. Blond haired,
blue eyes, adorable baby boy, the things they could do with
him, tears are now freely falling. I was screaming at the top
of my lungs now and ran blindly out the front door and up and
down the street screaming as loud as I could.
Nothing.
From one corner to the next.
Nothing.
Back in the yard, over 15 minutes has gone by and I knew he
had to be scared and cold and worse. Now I was screaming at
the top of my lungs and hysterically crying. Back to the
street up and down screaming his name.
Nothing.
Over 25 minutes had gone by and I knew I had to call the
police, something was terribly wrong. There is no way he
could have got that far away on his own where he would not
hear my screams. I remembered the time we were playing hide
and seek and he crawled into some shelves that had a cabinet
underneath and got stuck and ran into the house tripping and
falling on the way only to get up with bloody palms and
rush to the cabinet. I through open the doors wanting to see
nothing more then a frightened face relieved mommy had came
to save him.
Nothing.
I ran back out the front door and up our driveway to the
still locked gate and once again tripped in my panic and
this time when I fell to the ground I didn't get up. I lay
there sobbing and horrid thoughts filling my head over what
someone was doing to him and trying so hard to pull myself
together and it was so quiet.
So quiet!
I heard a "Creaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkk" "Squeallllllllll"
Old metal grinding on old metal.
Creaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, Swoooooooooshhhhhhhhhh
Again.
My neighbors had an old metal gliding swing in their
back yard. I could not see it because of the privacy fence
but I knew it was there.
No way. I got up, still listening to the creak and give
of the swing and made my way around to the front of their
house. I found a Boot. Then another, on their driveway
I found Andy's coat.
A little further up his snow pants.
Then his shirt, a sock, diaper.
There was Andrew, Sitting buck naked in the middle
of their yard, in the middle on winter, where there
was at least 2 feet of snow on the ground, all kicked back and
relaxed on the metal gliding swing just watching the clouds and
swinging away. How he got there I will never know. He had to have
climbed the gate or squeezed through. Now I was ecstatic to have
him back and by the time we got back in the house we were both
in tears, mine from happiness, his from me squeezing him so tight
but one thing I knew was that was the worst 20-30 minutes of my
life and I would rather die then go through that again. Had I had
this next review item I would not have went through any of that and
the 30 minutes would have been less then 30 seconds and I would have
saved myself all the trauma. I also did not understand to later that
had somebody really taken him it took me 30 minutes to react to the
point of calling the police. How far could someone have gotten with
him in those 30 minutes?
Mommy I am here is Lo jack for kids! It is a cute little Teddy
Bear guy you clip on their clothes or coat or shoes or whatever you
would like to hook it and if you don't see your child while you are
at a park or a fair or in a crowd or even in your own backyard on
a mild winter day, just hit the button on your own key chain and
an alarm sounds to let you know right where they are. Saving yourself
time, frustration, fear and giving you a peace of mind. If I could
take back that day I would in a heart beat for it was the hardest
lesson I ever learned. I have never been so afraid, felt like a
failure, heartbroken and devastated in all my life. They also have
a new model that alerts you if your child goes more then 30 feet away
from you and will sound automatically. We took both units for a test
run and they do exactly what they say they do and in my opinion
are a small investment that every parent must make. I have them
listed in the safety guide and think that when people make their
check lists out for home safety they need to schedule a check for
Mommy I'm here. If these were around when Andrew was a child both
times I had a problem, the yard and the few moments at the mall
when I lost sight of him, I would have felt much more safe and
part of the problem with me finding him faster had everything to
do with the panic I felt as a parent. Had I not done that and just
though more clear I would have found him sooner in both instances.
I mean really, at the mall all I had to do was look behind me but
because he was not right in front of me where he had been standing I
went directly into a meltdown. Had I had a
Mommy I'm here on my
Keychain I would have had that sense of security and I knew it
was too soon for him to get very far, even if he had help and if I
were to hit the button I would have known he was only a few feet
away each time. At the mall I might have been calm enough to see
the bench he was sitting on next to the machine instead of fearing
the worse and running into the mall thinking someone had grabbed him.
The button could have been between my fingers ready to go and with
one spin I would have seen him and never needed to push it but because
if I did have it, clearer thoughts would have prevailed. Same thing with
the yard, had I had a device hooked on him it would have been the
first thing I hit rather then searching bushes to the point of sheer
panic. How many times did I run up and down that street without ever
seeing his trail of clothes? At least a dozen but in my blind panic
I only had tunnel vision. If I hit that button the minute I did not
see him in the middle of the yard I would have heard him as he
struggled to get out of his clothes on his trek across their front
yard. The range is far enough where I would have known when he made it
to the swing and I would have went right towards Andrew instead of
Everywhere he was not.
On our road test Andrew is not as fast as he used to be. Isn't it
funny how kids that have just learned to walk can go from there to
here before you even blink your eye and now that Andrew has had his
walking legs for 16 years he couldn't replicate that kind of speed for
all the money in Monopoly. We did have access to someone who could
replicate that speed and then some. Boo, our 12 pound Jack Russel can
go from one county to the next in the blink of the eye. We hooked the
Teddy Bear to her collar and off she went through our local park. She
Cleared one end of the park to the other and back before we even got 5
feet in an each time we hit the button we could clearly hear the beep.
By the time we finished our test I was more then confidant that the
Mommy I'm here device could keep up with any child let alone a person
who might be trying to lure your child away. I have to give a hats off
to any product that can keep up with Boo for that little fur ball, with
legs the size of toothpicks can clear more ground in 30 seconds then
any person I know can in 30 minutes. Put it to you this way, think of
a Hurricane trapped in a bottle building momentum for years then someone
taking off the top, that is Boo every time you let go off the leash and
the signal kept up with her every step of the way and I am super comfortable
with using it on Rowan and would love to know if they can make a smaller
version for Boos collar for she is the one I loose track of now and
with
Mommy I'm here in Puppy Power I would never have to track her down again
either. Final verdict, MUST HAVE item for any parent and this one
is a Keeper!
I have a
Mommy I'm here for one of my readers as well. To win just
head over to the site and take a look around then come back here and
post something you learned in a comment. The contest will start tonight
and run to midnight on April 9th.
USA and 18 and older can enter daily and the winner
will be contacted by email and have 72 hours to
contact me with their mailing information. As always
you can earn a bonus entry by entering the contest of
the day and other ways to enter are posted below.
Mommy I'm Here would also like to offer my readers
a 20% savings on a product that every parent should
have. Just enter bismkb20 at checkout for your
discount!
Mommy I'm Here!
Extra entries.
Extra entries only count after the initial entry
is completed.
1. Become a follower of my blog or
post that you are. 3 entries,
please post 3 times.
2. Enter any of my other contest. I entry
per contest, separate post for each entry.
3. Grab my button. 5 entries. Please post
5 times.
4. Blog about this contest somewhere else
and post the link here. 5 Entries Please
post five times.
Hey there, while you are here don't forget to enter
my
Port a Pong and
Woobie Wear Contests!
Don't forget to look for Mommy I'm Here on the
Safety Guide!
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