Friday, May 7, 2010

Wild Things

This week I am feeling exceptionally grateful for child leashes. You know those cute little restraints made friendly by attaching a stuffed bear or monkey on the back? Here is why.

Earlier in the week we met up with our cousins for a k12 field trip in the big city. Before the event we met for a picnic at the lovely Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake. Picture a river with a pond on one side, rolling hills and a playground in between and a road on the other. The first big upset to this scene of tranquility was that cousin Z fell off the monkey bars and was screaming in pain. Did he break his arm we wondered? Fortunately Z's mom got ahold of their doc and they made the plan to give him some motrin, put his arm in a sling, and when they got home in a few hours they would xray it. (No bones were sticking out and the screaming had died to a whimper at this point.)

So, it was off to our fieldtrip at the Planetarium. However,when I looked around to gather up the kids Cannon was missing. He was nowhere in eyeshot. Do you know what a sickening feeling that is to lose a kid even for a second? How long had it been? Did he go down to the river or over to the road? Kate , Z's mom, and I divided and ran, asking anybody if they'd seen him. After a minute or so a guy shouted and pointed. About a quarter mile away a jogger was standing with Cannon..or following him rather as he continued to wander.

"I found this kid in the road and called the police." he said, not so compassionately. That made me feel even sicker. Of course I was profoundly grateful to the man for "rescuing Cannon" and especially grateful that he was found and unharmed. The police were called back and told everything was fine. I thanked the guy again and again and off we went to our next adventure...the planetarium...this time with the CHILD RESTRAINT I had packed in the car.

It also came in extremely handy the following day when we went to the zoo. In fact, there were lots of toddlers wearing them. It sure made a world of difference in our experiences. One guy stopped me and laughed as he told me how he used to think those things (leashes) should only be used for animals and then he had 4 kids and realized they were lifesavers. Of course, I quickly agreed.
If you think that leashes are inhumane than either a) you haven't had kids or b) you haven't had kids.

Anyway, we had a wonderful day at the zoo; perfect weather, not too crowded, Cannon on a leash. Sure--he tugged at that thing and sure--we clotheslined a few innocent people but the security of knowing where my little guy was made all the difference.

Now for some happy photos.




The baby elephant was adorable!




















7 comments:

Megz said...

I have a moment like that whenever I have to take all the kids to the grocery store. Definitely scary.
Glad it turned out OK and you had a redeemable time!

cold cocoa said...

Looks like a cute child restraint! You have to do whatcha gotta do to keep your kids safe, right? Sorry for the scare. That will make a great story for later, right? Glad Cannon is okay!!

stephanie said...

Peyton has made me very grateful for the leash.

Losing your kid is the scariest! So glad he wasn't lost for long. Probably felt for an eternity huh?

The field trip looks fun. I want to go to the zoo again.

TisforTonya said...

when my family went to Yellowstone... ummm... 20 years ago? there was no such thing as cute Monkey kid leashes... so my Mom bought an actual dog collar and leash. Holy Heck did we get a lot of comments - but considering the option of letting your kid wander into a boiling mud pot... we just smiled and ignored them all.

Laura said...

When will Cannon ever get that monkey off his back?
I've had stray's before and it's very scary. We lovingly call them our "feral children"

Sheree said...

I started to post a comment awhile ago and then got interrupted. I think all of us have been lost at some point or another. And I find that the people with better memories AND kids are much more compassionate about it. It happens to us all at some point or another.

I love those backpacks! I had to get two so Miles and Simone wouldn't fight over it.

Sherie Christensen said...

Ugg -- I have "I've lost Dan" moments all of the time. Luckily so far he's been right behind me every time. I'm glad you found him before too long -- even though I know it seems awfully long when it's happening.