I'm sure you are all safety savvy moms but after a scary experience that I had this morning I have to post this word of caution --not to freak people out, but to heighten awareness of our suroundings and potential dangers:
I live in a nice neighborhood and frequently take my boys out for walks and to play at neighborhood parks. This morning I started down our front walk with my younger son in a umbrella stroller and my older son walking next to me. I noticed a strange car parked across the street from our house with a man inside, but didn't give it too much thought (the house next door just sold and we've had a lot of traffic with people checking out the house, etc..).
A little ways down the street, my older son started complaining that he wanted to ride in the stroller, and not being in the mood for tantrums, I turned our little parade around to swap out the umbrella stroller for our double stroller which was in the car parked in the driveway.
When I got in front of the house and started the process of the swap, the man got out of his car, crossed the street and walked into our yard toward our house. I said, "Can I help you?" He ignored me and proceeded to urinate in our bushes!!!! Now I was freaked out. I was moving faster to get the boys in the other stroller and get out of the area. The man proceeded to go up on the porch of my house, take a shopping bag that had a sprinkler in it off our porch and started heading towards me and the kids!!!!
As I push the kids away he puts the sprinkler in the umbrella stroller and starts to follow me across the street and continues to follow me all the way to my husband's grandparents who thankfully live on the same street and were home.
I was able to get the kids inside and call the police while the man sat outside the house.
He turned out to be a non-malicious man with psychological problems and hadn't taken his meds. He was very disoriented, etc... the police came and ended up taking him to the hospital.
Lessons Learned:
Trust your instincts--if something strikes you as not right--get away from the situation, even if you are wrong, better safe than sorry.
Carry pepper spray - I'm getting some tonight! Luckily this guy had no intention of harming me or the kids--if he did, he easily could have!
Carry your cell phone everywhere you go. I had my cell and if I wasn't so flustered would have gotten through to 911 before I got to the grandparents house but you never know what your own situation will allow.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Elena, How scarry! Glad he turned out to be harmless. Thanks for sharing! Glad you are okay.
Wow! We had a scary situation happen in our neighborhood when my mom was watching my girls. A man came into our front yard and PICKED UP my 4 year old! I was out of town and my mom was alone with my two girls. She just grabbed Therese and ran into the back yard. We reported it to the police and they were amazing about following up and taking it seriously. I agree with Elena- trust your instincts and ALWAYS call the police. It is never "silly" when it comes to safety. I was desperately looking for a new house for awhile, but I realized this can happen anywhere.
Oh my gosh- Elena!!! I am so glad you and the kids are OK. It looks like your guardian angels were working overtime!!! Thanks for sharing and giving us your pointers of what you learned. Where do you buy pepper spray? is it safe to keep on your key chain w/o a child activating the spray? Let me know what you find. DEF INTERESTED!!! and again... glad all are well.
I got pepper spray at the hardware store. I no longer allow my keys to be a child's plaything--not only because of the pepper spray but I got sick of Liam setting off the alarm and remotely opening the door to our new van.
Post a Comment