SafetyTat

18. March 2010 by Shannon.

I have to tell you about this product!!!!  I have just heard of (what I consider) one of the smartest, most needed products out there for families with children.  But first, I want to tell you a story.

Easter week, 1996.  Ev (who is now 16) was just under three years old.  He had some serious speech issues and most people, even in our own family, had a challending time understanding him.  We were visiting a local mall to “pet the animals” at their little Easter petting zoo display.  There were dozens of kids, some as old as 10-12, in this small area in the center of a crowded mall (okay, yes.. the obvious question is WHY did we go here??  Well, we had no car to visit the “real” countryside, so this was as close as he was going to get to farm animals as a city kid). 

I was sitting on the sidelines nursing a tiny 4-month old Kenzi, which my husband, Tony, took Ev to see the animals - firmly holding Ev’s little hand.  He decided to get some “animal feed” (kinda looked like guinea pig food), but the dial was stuck on the vending machine, so he LET GO of Ev’s hand just for three seconds to stabilize the machine while he turned the dial.  He looked back … NO EV.  Gone.  Just disappeared in a sea of big kids pushing and shoving.  He looked up at me (settled near the exit of the area, waiting for my men to come through the petting zoo) and mouthed, “where’s Ev?”… I scanned the area… no Ev! 

I delatched Kenzi, put “myself” away, placed her in the stroller, and went to meet Tony who was coming out the exit… with no Ev.  I asked him what happened while looking frantically EVERYWHERE for my precious little boy… and didn’t see him.  We walked quickly back to the entrance of the petting zoo (near where the information center was).. no Ev… so we decided to head to the information center directly… a few seconds later we spotted a crying Ev with a Very Kind Woman (but still … a stranger!) holding his hand asking him if he knew where his Mommy was (yes, of course, that’s why he’s standing crying with you???!!!  *rolling eyes*).  I left the stroller with Tony and ran to hug Ev the woman explained that he had just come wandering out the ENTRANCE to the petting zoo all alone and crying, but she couldn’t understand him at all, and she was just going to take him to the information center. 

It may have only been a minute or two, but it was a lifetime at the moment.. and if not for that angel of a woman… it might have been a lot worse..  I wish we’d had a way to let people know how to reach us… since there was no way Ev was understandable, speech issues and fear mixed together with tears do NOT make for a intelligible conversation.

I wish we’d had SafetyTats.  From their site:

“SafetyTat is a fun and colorful temporary safety child ID tattoo that’s uniquely offered either customized with your mobile phone number or blank so you can write in your cell phone number on them. When applied to the arm of your child or loved one, SafetyTat provides an immediate, highly visible form of child identification that stays in place even when wet!”

Not only for uses like my situation (and although we’re highly responsible people, we’ve also lost Kenzi on a couple of occasions, and even lost Chae once… Greys seems to be the only kid who likes to stick around! LOL!), but for any situation where your child may need something to speak for them.  What about non-verbal autistic children, or a deaf child who may not be understood by someone not familiar with sign language?  There are also tats for tweens and teens.  I know, someone said to me, “I think at 11, 14, or 16 they are old enough to TELL someone their parents’ contact information”… really?  Okay.. can I tell you another scenerio? 

Picture yourself at a public place… say, a waterslide park.  Your 16 year old decides that he doesn’t want to “hang” with Mom and the Littles.. so he goes off (with your permission) to enjoy something a little more challenging than the splash pad.  But after going down one of the slides, he’s walking back around and slips and hits his head.  Now.. he’s unconscious.  OBVIOUSLY the staff will contact 9-1-1, but this is a big park, and maybe you don’t know that an ambulance has been called to another section of the park.  Maybe they have no idea how to contact you and LET you know… because… well, your son isn’t TALKING right now.  Imagine now, a safetytat is stuck to his inner arm, something cool like a retro rock’n'roll guitar lookin’ tat has your cellphone number on it.  Now they have a way to reach you, to let you know that they are rushing your son to the hospital unconscious… and he never had to speak a word.  For that matter, even your spouse and you could have one on, with each other’s contact (or other ICE *in case of emergency* number on it), after all, he’s not invincible… even if he’d like to think he is! LOL!

When I told a friend about it, he said to me, “I think that it’s just so unlikely to happen, that I don’t see the need for something like this”.  Hmmm… so I told him, “okay.  Then, I guess following that logic, he won’t be taking out fire and break-in insurance out on his new house he’s building.. because after all, it’s VERY unlikely that his home will burn down or be broken into living way out in the country, right?” OF COURSE NOT… that’s what INSURANCE is… it’s for that rare time that it DOES happen.  Now I know nobody sets out to lose their kid while visiting the zoo, or museum, or even a crowded mall at Easter time… but it DOES happen.  Why not take out some “return” insurance on your kid?  Before you head into a crowded place, slap a tat on your kid and know that if it should be that your child gets separated from you, they don’t need to know your cell phone number or be able to talk, or even remember your name (you can have just your name put on, so should you not have a cellphone and you would like the information center to be able to at least page you by your name.  But never put your child’s name on a SafetyTat or anything visible on your child’s clothing!)  Hey… if we’re thinking insurance, would your child’s constant safety be worth a SafetyTat a week?  Once a week, slap a fresh tat on your kid so that you can go to even the “safe” places like the grocery store and local park with confidence that should your child be a “hider” (like Kenzi was) or a “wanderer” (like Ev was), someone will always be able to get in touch with you.  We put “if lost, please call” tags on our pets… why not on our most precious children??  It just makes sense to me!

As the Scouts say.. Be Prepared!  Get your SafetyTats today!!!

Blessings!

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