I worked for part of the day that day and was pooped by the time I got home. The kids had eaten a late lunch and I wasn't too quick to make dinner. My man picked me up from work and we ran a couple of errands before coming home and the kids were all to eager to go outside and enjoy the sunshine and their new bikes. I let them outside and they amused themselves by riding up and down the street and around the block or so I thought. They had been outside about 45 minutes by the time I made dinner and my oldest son and daughter came right up when I called out to them. My daughter greeted me at the door and asked where her little brother was. I asked where she saw him last and she rode off and I went inside, assuming they'd be right back. A few minutes passed and my daughter returned, announcing that she couldn't find him. I was concerned at this point and took off on foot to see if I could find him, I couldn't. I rushed into the house and grabbed my car keys as my man asked if I found him at the door. I hadn't. I headed out to see if I could locate him and he did as well. I circled the block in both directions and drove down the entire adjacent street. I passed my man and he mentioned he would go the opposite direction and I drove down the adjacent street the opposite direction before circling around the street a couple of blocks away and I spotted him! He was only a block and a half away, but had gotten turned around and couldn't remember how to get back. I pulled up next to him and a kind lady with her dog and got out. "I live up the street...", the woman explained, "he says he's lost and I was walking my dog so we were making our way there". I thanked her profusely and loaded him and his bike into the car and had to bite my lip to keep from crying.
We went through it all, the "why were you so far away?" and the "why weren't you riding just around the block?" and the "why weren't you with your siblings?" I reiterated the bike riding rules:
Stay with someone.
Stay close to the sidewalk and watch for cars.
I told him how much he had scared me and that you never know what bad people are out there and how important it is to stay safe.
Turns out his sister was partly to blame for this. Always the one to bend the rules a little, she knew what street she could ride on/ around and took it upon herself to ride around the other block showing her brother once and then leaving him there. He of course wasn't paying attention to where he was in the first place and subsequently got lost. They both lost bike riding privileges for the remainder of the week and were well-reminded of the rules again before they were allowed to ride again. I was completely specific as to whose house they couldn't go past. It seems to have worked...or at least no one has gotten lost again. Parent of the year here. Sigh. ;0(
1 comment:
Thank goodness it turned out okay. If any of my kids were to get lost it will be Gavin, for sure. I've already caught him trying to sneak into the front yard when I've told him to stay in the back. Poor sissy! :)
Post a Comment