[blparent] Introducing Myself and First Question

[kate02 at bellsouth.net]

Hi Angela and welcome to the list.

First for the record let me state that I can’t stand the mall but have ended up there for one thing or another.  I think its more I don’t like big crowds since it adds a level of stress to parenting.  


So with that in mind here’s a few things My husband and I find helpful.  

When our daughter was an infant we had her in a snugly or backpack until she could walk well.  We then used a harness with a tether.  There were some shopping trips where we would pull a stroller behind us though we were not big fans of having our Daughter behind us since where we live it seams people like to hover over strollers and I just never liked that.  As our oldest is now about to turn seven, we have found that there were techniques we used that work to this day.

Our Daughter will answer when called.  I did what I could so she would mind the answer when called rule.  As a Toddler, if she didn’t answer we went home or we sat on a bench and spent the rest of our time waiting for a ride.  Yes, I took mine to a children’s museum and when she took off and wouldn’t answer, and ran around the place, when I caught her I made her sit with me on the bench outside till our ride arrived 20 minutes later.  She never did that again luckily.  Come to think of it, I think I got the idea after reading it here.

We have now began looking for wrist walky-talkies since I don’t want to give a seven year old a cell phone.  

But I think the best thing I can suggest is to see what’s out there and do what works for your family.

Hope some of this helps.
Kate
  
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Angela Frederick <angelahoward at mail.utexas.edu>
>
> Hi, Everyone,
> 
> I've been reading many of your stories on the list for over a month 
> now, and I thought it was time to introduce myself.  My name is 
> Angela Howard Frederick.  I'm not a mom yet, but my husband and I are 
> planning to start trying to have a family very, very soon.  I have 
> many unanswered questions about being a blind parent and have really 
> enjoyed reading about all of your experiences and strategies.
> 
> I've always been a planner; I try to solve problems about a year or 
> two in advance my husband says.:)  So, I have my first question about 
> blind parenting I was hoping some of you could help me with.  After 
> dodging hundreds of little kids at the mall on Monday, I was 
> wondering how I would handle my kids in that situation.  What 
> strategies do you use to keep your kids from running away from you 
> when you are out?  Also, how do you keep your kids safe and out of 
> trouble when you visit someone else's house and don't have as much 
> control over the surroundings?
> 
> Thanks so much for the advice, and I'm sure I'll have many more 
> questions in the near future.
> 
> Angela
> 
> 
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