Momma Stuff

As a child, I experienced being lost. I can still remember distinctly the panic and the fear that I felt when I couldn’t find my mom anymore. There were a lot of people at the market that day and I thought I was holding my mom’s dress but when the lady turned her head, i realized that I lost mom.

I cried my lungs out and no amount of consoling from market people can make me stop. Thank goodness mom heard me and we were reunited. But this is not the story for most kids. Who knows if theses missing children falls into wrong hands: sexual molesters or kidnappers.

The tragedy of a missing child is a hard ordeal for any caring parent to face. Besides anguish of heart and mind, the parent often has to bear up under thoughtless and unkind remarks from others, such as: “He must be dead by now” or, “You have other children. Pull yourself together.” Many times there are threatening and crank telephone calls that annoy or send the parent off on a wild-goose chase. And since parents often abduct their own children, you may even be suspect yourself and subject to interrogation.

Perhaps worst of all is really not knowing. “Families whose children have been missing for long periods would surely prefer the finality of bad news to the anxiety of an unexplained disappearance,” states The Washington Post, “if that is the choice.” “A missing person is just such a horror because you don’t know anything about what has happened to him.”

So what can a parent do to establish child safety? Here are some of the things that we can instruct our children:

Always to take the same—and safest—route to and from school each day
To use the “buddy” system—always to be with a friend when they play, go to a store or movie—and not to go off alone
Not to let strangers touch them; not to accept money or candy from strangers
Never to go along with or accept rides from someone they do not know
To scream for help if a stranger tries to take them by force
To report any unusual or scary incidents to parents or teachers
How to use the telephone if they need help (Do they know their own number, their full name and where they live?)

Next is be prepared. While it may be unlikely that your child will be abducted, authorities suggest these precautionary measures:

Take a clear, sharp, full-face photo of each child at least once a year. On the back of the photo note the following current information for each child:
  Age
  Height and weight
  Hair and eye colors
  Clothing and shoe sizes
  Any distinguishing body marks
  Date picture was taken

Know where each child’s medical and dental X rays and records can be located. Obtain these before they are destroyed or you move to a distant location.

Keep an up-to-date record of any medicines a child needs and what the effects will be if not taken.

Take fingerprints of your child for positive identification in case of foul play or hidden identity. Fingerprinting each member of the family at the same time can allay a child’s fear and such identification is useful to have. With a little practice, parents can do this themselves, using an ordinary black stamp pad.

These can be taken cared of too if you obtain a child id from a child alert system. A USB will store all these necessary information of your child and will come in handy when you need to search for them.

For me it always pays to be prepared when tragedy strikes.