If you have little kids who are able to walk on their own, then you already know how hard it can be to hold onto them when you are shopping. If they are not buckled into a shopping cart or attached to a harness tightly, your child may run off or be snatched the second you turn your back on them. Unfortunately, child predators are everywhere, even in the busiest supermarkets and restaurants. It takes just a glance away for your child to either disappear on their own or be kidnapped. Kids love to run and explore, and many children will take any chance they can get to run off the other way when their parent isn’t looking.
A mother on Facebook just recently posted about how she lost her child in Kmart. Today, she is helping parents, grandparents, and caregivers all over the world with a smart, life-saving hack. The mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, told social media that she ended up losing her 2-year-old for about ten minutes one day. She says that it was the scariest ten minutes of her entire life. We don’t doubt that it was. So much can happen to a child in just a couple of minutes!
The second the young mother noticed that her son was missing, she took off for the front of the shop. She spoke with security at the door to tell them what her child looked like and what he was wearing. She made sure they knew that he was not to leave the store, even if he was with another adult. From there, the mother began to search for her young son.
She frantically yelled out his name as she ran up and down the aisles to look for him. We don’t blame her- most of us would react the exact same way if we were to lose a small child! However, she suddenly remembered a video she had seen on the social media app TikTok. It was very lucky that she saw it.
The video told parents and caregivers that if their child was to ever go missing not to call out their name. Instead, it stated, start yelling out what they look like or what they are wearing. Repeat yourself over and over until you find the child in question.
The young mom quickly changed tactics, yelling out her son’s description as loud as she possibly could, over and over again. She yelled that she was missing a 2-year-old little boy with brown hair wearing a yellow shirt.
Why does this tactic work better than simply calling out a name? Imagine if you are in a store and you hear someone yelling a name. You probably won’t even think twice about it! In many cases, strangers don’t even realize that someone is searching for a missing child. They just think someone is yelling, and they end up going about their business.
Instead, the adults in the store all stopped what they were doing when they heard the mother yelling. They began to look for a young toddler matching his description. Since she was yelling it out, it was much easier for them all to be on the lookout for him.
It took just a couple of minutes for her tactic to work. An elderly gentleman spotted the little boy and yelled out to tell others where he was. The mother was able to grab her son and tell everyone, especially the older gentleman, thank you.
She knew that the man might have just walked by her son if she hadn’t have been yelling out his exact description. She is grateful for everyone who helped her in that desperate ten minutes.
She decided to post the hack on Facebook, receiving tons of comments and reactions from other parents who praised her for her quick thinking. They also thanked her for sharing something they had never thought of before.
