[blparent] Hand holding

[Karla Hudson]

Hi, 

I believe the leashes have their place. I also believe bells on the shoes
work in every situation. Even when my kids are sitting in a play group. One
small move with their feet and the bells usually give a little tinkle sound.
Even if others are watching your kids the bells give you an opportunity to
locate your child in a big group. However, we have strict hand holding rules
at our house. I have been with sighted friends who have small children and
they often marvel at my kids ability to hold hands. If you start this rule
at a young age the kids will comply. My baby sitters also notice how well
behaved my kids are in parking lots and busy places with holding hands. My
daughter is seven and still feels most secure if she is holding either mine
or my husbands hands. Certainly grocery carts are great for locking kids in
while they are young. I have to tell you I am truly annoyed when I see small
children running ahead of parents at busy venues such as when we were coming
out of the circus the other day. I have had parents say to me, "well my
son/daughter just won't hold my hand." I think to myself, well make he/she
hold your hand. You are the parent so make the rules and make them stick.
When my kids were little and they would try to twist away from my grasp I
would just clamp down on their hand indicating that they must hold my hand.
I have a child alarm with the fanny pack for the child. It is sitting in a
box and never used. So this is all something to think about when working
with your child in public places. As far as church goes we attend a Catholic
church, pretty large and my kids know out of respect to others around them
to keep themselves seated. The rules were set when they were little and we
are consistent about our expectations.  

Karla