Going to the baseball game with my daughter and her cousins?

Question

My father is taking my nephews (ages 8, 7 and 5) to the baseball game today. My parents have the kids for the week. I am going with them with my husband and daughter (she is almost 2) We thought we were set as far as supervison. Then my sister calls my mother this afternoon and tells her that the 5 year old is really bad in crowds. He gets lost all the time. He rarely stays with his parents, and that the lost him in Disney World last year. This was a complete surprise to everyone.

My question- How do we keep track of him and all the other kids? Do you have some sort of system that works? My parents are considering tethering him to a dog leash. Is this too extreme or is there another option. Before we thought were fine- three adults and four kids, but if he wanders off all the time we are in big trouble.

Answer 1

get a jump rope and have all the kids hold on to it when in big crowds. Keep the wanderer between 2 adults at all times.

hold hands with them.

you really should be fine. don't stress :)

Answer 2

Three adults and four kids should be okay. Here are some tips which are used with bigger groups, but should still help.

A baseball game is an easier place to have a wanderer than DW--because you go to your seat and SIT LOL. I think you will be fine.

Obviously, one of you should be "in charge" of the five year old at all times---but you don't want to lose track of anyone else. LOL.

So, before you leave choose someone who will be in charge of the 8 and 7, one in charge of the 5, and one for the two.

THEN that person MUST high five (or some other signal) another adult to "hand off" any child.

Kids get lost from parents when one parent thinks the other parent has the child or is in charge of them. Look at any news story where a kid was lost in an airport or at an event, and you read "but I thought my spouse/dad/mom/whomever had little Susie."

If you have to "tag" with a silly signal then the adult that is now in charge will be sure to know.

Since you will have two adult males that will make going to the restroom easier with 3 boys. Get two stalls next to each other or near each other and have the boys take turns in the stalls instead of having three kids going potty in three different parts of the rest room at a time. The adult stands outside the stall door and the kids stand by and wait their turn. The adult goes to the bathroom only if alone or the other adult is in charge.

To make it easier to "see" the kids---get matching shirts in a weird color: lime green, bright orange, etc. AND if this was a  outing that was going to be repeated alot---matching hats.   If for some reason the kids get seperated from you, you will be able to spot them more easily. This is a GREAT idea for crowded playgrounds.

The ADULTS should also wear clothing that the kids can easily describe and spot. If a child was lost and they can tell the security officer that "Gramma has a yellow shirt with a kitten on it" it will be a big help. And if you lose your grip on a kid's hand they can look for the shirt to find you again.

When walking in a crowd it is hard to string that many adults and kids together, so use the adult-kid pairings. If one adult is holding hands with the 8 and the 7, one has the 2 and a third has the five yr old, then each kid should be holding onto an adult while moving in a crowd.

Tell the five year old ahead of time that he MUST stay with you and MUST hold your hand. No negotiation, no waivering. Then don't let him go and have an adult sit on the aisle seat.

You should be fine.

Answer 3

well with all the kids I have it is not easy to keep track of all of them but there is just one that really wonders off. So we make sure that he either holds one of our hands, holds onto the stroller at all times or we put him in also! Also when we go to sporting events we tie a ballon on his hand so if he starts to wonder off we see his ballon in the air and can get to him so much easier! Good Luck!

Answer 4

there are those rops for kids you can get they look like a back pack on the kid but you have the end of a rop tied to the back pack ... long enough they can run around but not loose you and looks better then a dog leash sounds harsh.