Huh? No way! The story of my daughter getting lost in an instant: Things that are useful in an emergency

Hello, this is Kanae.

The other day, I saw a small child walking and crying at the supermarket.
But there was no sign of their mother anywhere.

Just as I was thinking about calling out to them,
a store clerk happened to call out to the child.

Feeling relieved, I suddenly remembered something, so I'll write about getting lost, even though it happened a long time ago.

Before my daughter entered kindergarten, the five of us—my sister and me, our respective children, and my mother—went to the zoo.

My daughter and my sister's son (my nephew) were a pair born just two weeks apart, the same age 👧👦

They grew up like siblings and were always the best of friends.
They were high-spirited from the morning on this day too,
and the two of them were walking stuck together.

Looking at animals, walking, and looking at animals again.
Just walking around was so much fun that they were having a blast.

And then, it happened the moment we reached a gentle downward slope in a certain area.

👦"Let's race!!!!!
👧"Yeah!!! Let's do it!!!"

The two of them suddenly started running with incredible speed.

My sister and I were pushing strollers,
so we couldn't run immediately.

My mother (in her 60s at the time) chased after them at full speed💦
But she couldn't catch up at all!

It was only a matter of seconds.

Before I knew it, the two of them had disappeared into the crowd.

We ran around searching while calling their names.
Asking people passing by, "Have you seen children like this?"

Still, we couldn't find them.

This is bad.

I explained the situation to a staff member and hurried to the lost child center we were directed to.

The moment I arrived at the reception of the lost child center,
I saw a small child in a corner in the back
trying hard to tell a staff member something.
It was my nephew.
When I also saw my daughter crying behind my nephew,
I felt relieved and all the strength left my body.

When I told the receptionist, "I am their family,"
they said, "We were just about to make an announcement."

As we went to the back, my nephew noticed us,
ran toward us,
and said loudly to my mother.

Grandma!!!

You shouldn't get lost!💢💢💢

The staff members around us laughed heartily, but we were deeply reflective.

We were safe this time, but it became a day to rethink child safety.

At that time, the person at the lost child center told us, "It helped that they could say their names themselves," but it seems that announcements using names are decreasing now for safety reasons.

It is said that these days, people are often identified not by their names, but by characteristics such as age, hairstyle, clothing color, shoes, and height.

If that's the case, it would be a problem if you didn't know what your child was wearing that day in an emergency.

Therefore, when going out into crowds, it might be useful to take a full-body photo of your child before you head out.

Also, there is a method of keeping a small GPS transmitter in a bag or pocket these days.
Keychain types and the like might be convenient because you can check their location from your smartphone even in large facilities.

🌟 [Reference] ALSOK's Lost Child Countermeasures Special Feature
https://www.alsok.co.jp/person/recommend/2351/

My nephew apparently told the person who spoke to him when he was lost, "Grandma is lost!", and that person handed him over to the staff.

And he also apparently tried his best to explain to the people at the lost child center,
"Grandma got lost. Please find Grandma!" 😅

It's a funny story now, but I was really panicked at the time 💦
In a world where various incidents occur,
everyone, please be careful when you go out 🤗

Well then,
have a great weekend!

Thank you for reading today as well 😊
I would be happy if I could see you again tomorrow ☘️