Just a reminder to have a plan with your children in case you are separated.

Yesterday I saw a ten year old pushing a stroller with a toddler, get left behind on the train platform when his mom got on the train in front of him. This poor kid started sobbing and when I spoke to him, he had absolutely no idea what to do, who to call, or where to go. He was visiting from another country and he was unable to tell me the address where he was staying, the phone number for where he was staying, or any other means for contacting his mother. They had no plan for whether he should wait where he was standing or to try to get help or to try to follow after her.When my son was around 5 we made a plan that we discussed and practiced for just this situation. If anyone ever got separated on the train then the person on the train would get off at the next station and wait for whoever was left behind to come on the next train.The reason it's so important to have a plan that you have thought through is because of problems you might not anticipate. It's easy to think that the kid left behind on the platform should just wait for mom to come back, however, it happens that Yesterday there were no trains going the opposite direction and the two stations were on opposite sides of a river with no bridge. Since I knew that was the situation, I contacted the authorities who then found the mother, but the poor kid was scared to death and there's no way to know what he would have done on his own.Talk to your children about who to contact, how to contact them, and practice what to do if you are ever separated so they don't panic! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2BtPOf9