Random Poll

TheDuckis

The toddler-wearing C&P made me think of this.

For the cavedwellers: are you pro- or anti-leash for children?

mrsconn23

it's funny you bring that up.  Here's a link for your reading pleasure.  It gets quite amusing. 

http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/38817539.aspx

AuntFlo

I chose "I suppose they could work in certain situations."

I was always anti-leash and have severly made fun of people who used them.  But now that I have a toddler, a leash would be REALLY handy sometimes.  

mrsconn23

I had to point out this response to the leash question from the post I linked above.  It's my favorite:

I personally would never use a leash, no matter the situation... there's been times my step daughter may have needed one though lol  My son and I traveled a lot when he was younger so he's learned to watch me and stick by me no matter what...

Instead of a leash, whenever we go somewhere big (ie zoo, theme park somewhere they can get lost) I write our cell phone number on their arms, so if god forbid they were to stray from us it'd be much easier for someone to contact us. 

notamrs

Agreed with WZ.  My brother-in-law believes that if you teach the kid properly, they won't wander off, etc., etc.  That's all well and good and my niece and nephew are great kids, but even the best-behaved kid could get snatched in a crowd - has nothing to do with how well-disciplined they are.

TheDuckis

I'm pro-leash for exactly the reasons you mention, Zilla.

If you have a kid who's going to be screaming to get out of her stroller at the mall, then wouldn't it be better for everyone to just leash the kid and let her waddle a few feet away? As long as you're not leading or pulling the kid like they're a pet I see no problem with them.

When we were little, my mom used to leash us to each other. I guess she figured a kidnapper wouldn't want to deal with all of us.

Lauriac

WTH to writing your number on your kids arm.

And re: the poster that let their child "wander away", hid behind them and popped out once the kid started freaking out: my parents TRIED to do that to me at Disney. According to my father, I looked around, couldn't find my parents and then made a beeline for the Dumbo ride.

Anasara

Eye to eye with Zilla.

As a side note, they should totally make them in adult sizes.  DH needs one for when we go to BJ's Wholesale & he wanders around to all the food samples.  I always lose him in there!

loveshine1

I'm not a huge fan of leashes, but I think they have their place, especially if the kid tends to wander off.

I wasn't a wanderer. I was a stoller-sitter. I loved being pushed around in my stroller, and would rarely want to walk on my own. My parents had it easy, so there was no reason for a leash.

DG1

I don't know that they're appropriate for trips to the grocery store, but if I'm headed to an airport or a huge, crowded event? hells yeah. 

Several months ago, a woman who was taking her kid to the vancouver olympics confessed she was caving and getting a leash for it and that everyone was givnig her crap.  But hell, the olympics? I don't think I'd want to lose my kid there.

TheDuckis

See I think the grocery store is the perfect place for a leash. There's so much else commanding your attention, and you need two hands to push the cart. I don't think handholding would be an option, so what do you do when they're screaming to get out of the cart.

I think it's one of those things where you're judged if you do and judged if you don't. Leash and people think you treat your kid like an animal. Push a wailing child around in a cart and everyone wonders why you can't shut your kid up. 

baconsmom

Y'all know I got a leash of of Freecycle for Bacon. It was not cute; it did not have a backpack attached; and it was free. I loved it. More importantly, Bacon loved it - because she felt like she was free to wander. She didn't sit in the stroller, and she didn't want to hold hands, and sometimes, I just had to go to the mall, y'know? 

My youngest bro was a wanderer, too, so I saw him leashed, and was never anti-leash. Kids are, in fact, quite a lot like dogs, so I've never seen the issue.