The Day My Two-Year-Old Escaped From Nursery

Never more have the words keep calm and don't panic been more poignant. Just how did a two-year-old manage to outwit a team of ten grown ups to make a bolt for the front gate?
|

Never more have the words keep calm and don't panic been more poignant.

Just how did a two-year-old manage to outwit a team of ten grown ups to make a bolt for the front gate?

With kids going back to school in September, I thought I'd share this one with you.

Apparently he blagged his way out by sitting on a step by the gate and blending in with another family coming to collect their child. Then he bundled himself out of the nursery with them.

Hmm. All this from a tot whose still learning his ABC...

Although I couldn't help but raise a smile for my son's sense of adventure, I know he would have been proud of himself for his great escape.

Still, it didn't take away from the gravity of the situation.

It was only when the family got to their car they realised 'hold on a minute, this one doesn't belong to us' that my boy was returned to his teachers.

Strike One!

Strike Two:

Getting the phone call a day after the 'incident' happened was what p'eed me off.

A flustered teacher came to the phone and explained the incident from the night before.

'Why didn't you tell me yesterday?' I said. I was about to drop my son in before heading to the office and now I had a zillion questions whizzing through my mind.

Would he be safe? Would this happen again? What measures were in place to ensure it wouldn't happen again?

I wracked my brain and went through what had happened in the run up to his Houdini act.

The weekend before I had taken him to the vibrant Coronation Street set for a gala bingo prostate cancer event.

But I thought hanging out with Adam Rickitt and Shobna Gulati on the cobbled streets of Weatherfield couldn't have inspired such a Corrie on from my boy.

I'd also taken him to ride a donkey for the first time in Folkestone - so maybe he thought was the Lone Ranger on a secret mission, who knows?

Hang on a minute - he did watch Never Say Never on Netflix, so maybe pop brat Justin Bieber's roguish behaviour was to blame. . .

'It's the first time this has happened in 20 years, we're terribly sorry,' the owner assured me when I booked in a meeting that evening.

Well, there's a first time for everything, honey!

And it looks like it's not just tots that are 'skipping out' on school.

But parents are playing truant too.

Naughty adults are making September the new January, at least when it comes to booking summer holidays for families with younger children.

The Tots to Travel company has seen significant bookings hike in September (up 21% year-on-year) for the following summer and expects to see an even bigger hike this September, particularly amongst parents whose first child is entering primary school.

Eek.

But parents can expect to get slapped wrists for this uber-indulgent sun worshipping time.

A recent survey by the BBC shows a 70% increase in schools enforcing fines for unapproved absences. With more national outcry surrounding children being taken out of school for holidays than ever before, the pressure is on to get a good deal for July and August.

With the peak season traditionally being more expensive, loosening the purse strings is becoming even more trickier for the average parent.