When we went to Disney back in December, we knew we were going to have a slight problem. Charlie was reveling in the fact that running was awesome. Unfortunately, this often meant that we were running (or walking quickly) to stay with her. Not a big deal when you’re in the mall or at the local park. A much bigger deal if you’re in a huge amusement park with thousands of people. We were worried that because it was a new environment, and her favorite characters (i.e. “friends”) would be everywhere, that she may run a little bit and we might have become separated. At her age, we didn’t want this to happen.
Here are the four steps that we took to deal with this situation. 2 are things that we did on our own, while 2 are products that we purchased.
1) Repetition – We spoke every morning on the bus to the parks about how she needed to stay with Mommy and Daddy. This was a no brainer. And not just every morning, but while we were in the parks, too. However, at not quite two, this wasn’t going to cut it. We’re realistic parents and we realize that although we can talk to our child until we are blue in the face, at her age, sometimes it just wouldn’t sink in. So, although we were drilling it into her, and she could repeat it back to us, we also went for practical solutions.
2) Morning Photos – Every morning we took a photo of Charlie in her outfit for the day. Why? In case of a separation, we would have a photo of what she was wearing to show to the cast members. Instead of trying to remember, “Did I put her pink Snow White shirt on her or her blue Snow White shirt?” we would be able to instantly know that, “Oh yeah, the pink Nemo shirt.” Super simple, super helpful. And, awesome that we never needed to use it 🙂
3) Safety Tats – These are so cool. They are temporary tattoos (we found that they would stay on for about two days before we needed to put a new one on – this may be different in a hotter, warmer, more humid environment) that can be personalized with your information on them. We got these tattoos
and had my cell phone number personalized onto the tattoos. We actually had a number of people comment on them, telling us how cool they were. Usually it was because kids were pointing them out to their parents, “Daddy, look! That baby has a tattoo!” Thankfully, we never had the need for anybody to use the information, but it was pretty handy to have there since Charlie’s too young to be able to tell anyone her phone number yet. Charlie was cautiously inclined to wear the tattoo, but she would call it a “booboo” and pick at it. So we would apply it to a place where she wouldn’t readily notice it. Right at the end of her t-shirt sleeve, alternating arms with each application.
You can see where we would place the tattoo on Charlie’s arm, right where her t-shirt ended in this picture
4) Monkey – This was probably the most controversial of our ideas. Many people would call this a “leash.” We prefer the term harness.
Eddie Bauer Girl Monkey Harness
But, monkey proved her weight in gold. When we first got to the parks, we would tell Charlie, “You need to stay with Mommy and Daddy or you have to wear Monkey. These are your choices.” At first, Charlie would try to stay with us, but she’d start to get antsy so we usually would end up with Monkey on. Eventually it got to the point that she would ask to put Monkey on her back. Essentially, Monkey is a harness with a long tail attached that the parent can hold onto to keep their child within a small radius of themselves. One of the nice things is that it gives the child a bit of freedom where they can run or walk without having to hold onto their parent’s hand. Although it was great during the day, there were times when we wouldn’t use it. Namely at night when others couldn’t see it and when there were very large crowds (it would be a definite safety hazard then). We’re not using it as an excuse to NOT teach Charlie to stay with us, but as a tool to use while she learns. It made us feel safer during those times she would forget and start to run off. Monkey has become a part of the family, and Charlie often asks to wear her when we go to the zoo or amusement parks.
Monkey on Charlie’s back
Charlie with Monkey at the beach (She’s holding Monkey’s tail)
The Shaky Octopus 