Feeling horrible after a 'near miss'

Several ‘near misses’ have flooded back accompanied by that awful gutwrench of realisation of what might have happened. The traffic ones are the worst.

Trafalgar Square, with luggage, I let DD 3 take the empty container of pigeon corn back to the nearby stall we bought it from. To my horror she ran straight past it into a crowd, she was too small to see the counter when close up. How fast did I abandon the luggage and rush after that little blue dress!

Oxford Street, rush hour. DGS 3 (her son!) was with me as I queued in a packed McDonalds. I told him to stay by me when I was served. He was, seconds later, not at my side and nowhere to be seen. As I loudly asked whether anyone has seen a little blond boy in red a gleeful voice immediately behind me said ‘Here I am, Granny.’ I suspect it was deliberate, he was SO.pleased!!

Told not to move from a bench on a fairly small railway station while I went to the Ladies my 9 year old and his Walkman had vanished. Another gleeful voice was heard as I asked passers by whether they had seen him. He hadn’t moved FROM the bench but was hiding UNDER it. Oh dear!

We were shopping with our 5 kids. One in the pram,one sitting on a pram seat, hubby holding one child`s hand, the other 2 holding the pram handle. Came to crossing the road, we were near a bend, just as we got to the middle of the road a car came round the bend, Hubby shouted "STOP!" We all stopped, except the eldest, out 8 year old daughter, she kept on walking, the car hit her, but not head on, thank goodness, she slid along the side of the car. When the driver got out he was white as a sheet, and we were shaking. Lynne? not a bit bothered, cool as a cucumber!

I lost my son in a department store many years ago, when he was about 4. He was happily sat under a circular clothes rack right next to me, collecting those little cubes with the clothes sizes on them!

Oh my goodness yes, lost my 10 year granddaughter in a city in Laos, sick to the stomach. We knew she carried a photo of us and card with the hotel name and address, along with enough money for taxi should this ever happen. Well she didn’t turn up at the hotel so we were on our way to the tourist police when we heard Nan, Nan, it’s me. There she was on a motor scooter, Sat between two young school girls who were on their way to school. I still feel sick with the thought of it,

I’m a retired teacher. Shortly after I qualified one of my children managed to get out of the classroom and o to the. Street outside. Luckily almost as soon as I noticed he was missing, he was brought back - by a policeman who happened to be passing the school and found him outside. His mother had just come to collect him, so witnessed the whole thing. I couldn’t believe how understanding she was, the policeman was a bit off with me - understandably - and I was mortified. It took me weeks to get over the horror of what could have happened. Nobody ever escaped from my classroom again, but I never forgot that awful feeling of terror, and then guilt. My advice to you is to chalk it up to experience and learn from it.

a local childminder whom i know gave me a withering look when i said to a rather reluctant child at kerb edge, now hold on to June, in case she gets lost.
but the child took to the duty with enthusiasm, grabbing June's hand tightly and watching the road.

I took my son's hand as we went to cross the road recently, he then reminded me that he is 55 years old! some habits never change.

Ali08

They're slippery little bubs, aren't they?
I once lost mine on a beach, though I was watching her like a hawk. She was 2, and I turned my head to answer a friend who'd told me to chill out. "I can't, she's a mini Houdini!" Looked back and she'd disappeared. I scoured the tiny beach but couldn't see her anywhere. I asked a man had he seen her - gave description - and he pointed up the cliff face and just said, "Her?" If I'd had time, I think I'd have decked him for being so flippant, but my ambitious child was actually climbing the cliff so I had to go and rescue her!
Afterwards, my friend said, "I see what you mean!" She had the fright of her life. My DD was just fine, though!

Just wondering, why did you find the man flippant and feel like decking him when he had done you an enormous assistance in finding her for you?

mulberry7

Those reins were great. Do they have them nowadays?

they do. and there are also back-packs which are eagerly embraced by the wearer, to stow those very important things. they have a grabbable handle at the top and a detachable cord that a parent can hold.

Wandering around cute Brittany village, we became aware of the fact that three children were now two...
Cue parents, siblings rushing around calling her name. A shopkeeper came out, smiled and pointed to an alleyway beside the store. Small daughter had entered alleyway, climbed an outside staircase to where a family were sitting at lunch in their flat. She joined them, looking expectant/ hungry and they obliged. They then heard us calling, and told her to leave and return to us. Unfortunately, she has a French name, so , hearing us, they spoke to her in French, which she ignored and carried on eating.

I think that most of us have had a similar experience, and often more than once.
if a parent or grandparent has really not been negligent then there is nothing more can be done.Speak to children about not running away, yes, but will it sink in?

When DGD was 5 we were visiting DS, DiL and DGD in Korea. DS and DiL went for lunch in a restaurant while we played with DGD in a nearby park. As often happens in Korea, a man came and engaged DH in conversation wanting to practice his English. At this point DGD decided she wanted to join her parents in the restaurant and ran off. I, having not long had knee surgery, couldn't run after her (she was fast!) and DH, not at first realising what had happened set off after her. We were both frantically shouting to her, as we knew there was a road ahead. She (fortunately safely) ran across the road, then nonchalantly strolled into the restaurant, saying she was hungry. By this time, I was near hysterical and took some time to recover. Needless to say, the riot act was read and, as far as I know, she's never repeated this (she's 8 now). Boy, was it scary though!

My husband and I had taken our two grandsons aged 8 and 6 to France on the cross channel ferry. It was a nice day on deck so, watching them like hawks they proceeded to argue over whose turn it was to look through the deck telescope. I suddenly realised the younger one was missing, his older brother just shrugged when we panicked and asked where he was. My husband ran about asking people if they had seen a young boy in a green jacket but nobody had. I remember thinking that I would have to kill myself after we had told his parents that he had fallen overboard and drowned when I noticed him sitting innocently on a bench nearby. He had felt hot and taken his green jacket off and flung it on the deck. We were of course not looking for a boy in a white shirt. It took years off our lives and it became a family joke but I will never forget the horror of that day, you just can't take your eyes off them!!!

On holiday in France, we spent the day on the beach close to our campsite with another family. My husband was in a paddle boat with our four year old and I was sitting on a rug, watching my baby son sleeping and chatting to our friends while my toddler was playing nearby. Suddenly I realise my 18 month old daughter was missing! Our friend was a policeman so he alerted the lifeguards and then organised a search on the beach and in the water. Total panic for about 20 minutes, me crying, everyone searching then our friends daughters went to look around the campsite.

There they found my daughter sat on her bed in our tent, crying and asking for me. It turned out she had needed a poo ( she was out of nappies really early without needing training!) so had gone back to the camp site toilets, could not find her way back to the beach so luckily found our tent.

Once the panic was over, everyone was very understanding and the life guards organised a bbq on the beach later that afternoon to celebrate. I spent the rest of the holiday watching her like a hawk! And spoiling the girls who found her!

They are real escape artists = we have all been there in one way or another. I am so pleased this had a happy ending. Sleep well.

Winter13

Of course a THREE year old took an open opportunity to go on an adventure. His grandmother was tipsy while she was supposed to be watching him. Do his parents know about this? Be more responsible or they may limit your contact.

You have no evidence for that. A couple of drinks could easily be soft drinks. It could have been 2 halves of shandy which would be low in alcohol. You are making an assumption.

Last year, DD1 moved to a new, bigger house with her DH and my DGS1. They were busy sorting stuff out, so sent DGS (4) to play in the fenced garden. About half an hour later, the front doorbell rang and there stood DGS! He’s very tall for his age and had managed to reach the bolt and unlock the gate. Thankfully, he thought it a huge joke to ‘surprise’ Mummy and Daddy who were relieved he hadn’t wandered off and got lost.

It's ok.. the toddler is 22 now.

I was walking along a country road and discovered a toddler (18 months old, it turned out) standing right in the middle of the road. Took his hand and walked him up the nearest driveway and found his grandparents busy gardening. They hadn't noticed he'd gone. They were mortified, as you can imagine. I'll never forget how the little chap was standing there so quietly, like a little statue.

Of course a THREE year old took an open opportunity to go on an adventure. His grandmother was tipsy while she was supposed to be watching him. Do his parents know about this? Be more responsible or they may limit your contact.

I have 5 grandchildren and I can honestly say No! BUT my son was a different matter lost him in a shopping centre and their was 5 adults looking after 2 children! Each thought the other had him but thank god it was all good in the end. Don't beat yourself up about it like me you've learnt a lesson you won't repeat it. ?

What a nasty and upsetting experience for you! But I'm puzzled as to why a pub garden wasn't fenced in some way with it being so close to a road. Maybe avoid that particular pub in the future.

A few near misses, but the one that still gives me nightmares is when my little granddaughter started choking on a grape ( I had cut them all into quarters, but missed one) . I did the Heimlich manoeuvre- I honestly don’t know how I did it -she was in her high chair at the time. It dislodged. Thank Heaven !

Not traffic related. Years ago my sister had been rushed into hospital with an ectopic pregnancy leaving me to look after my 3 small dns. Knowing they hadn’t yet had dinner I started to cook some chips. I’d put the chip pan on to heat up and went back to peel more potatoes. I happened to glance up and saw the youngest of my dns reaching up to the handle of the chip pan I shouted her name and she immediately pulled her hand away. I was beside myself in shock as to what could have happened had I not seen her in time. That was 35 years ago and to this day I always use the back rings to cook even though I’ve no small children at home.

My 4 year old granddaughter got out of the car and ran straight across the road before I could stop her. Fortunately there were no cars around. When I asked her why she had done it she said because she had been told to stay on the pavement. Normally we park on the same side as her house but on this occasion we’d had to park on the opposite side. She’d assumed pavement meant outside her house so I had to explain it meant wherever the car was. You can’t legislate for every occurrence or misunderstanding but I was very shaken and she was very upset.