Use the Family Whistle to Quickly Find Your Child in the Crowd
If your child is a runner like mine, you know that tension headaches can occur as a result of turning their head repeatedly to make sure they are still close to you and not run away or disappear into the crowd. Our son Lucas, from the moment it occurred to him that his legs could provide him with space, made it his mission to explore every detail of his surroundings. It didn’t matter if the object of his curiosity was in the direction we were headed or not; if he wanted it, he ran after it. And yes, sometimes he slipped right out of sight.
These brief moments when we can’t find our baby are enough to make Mom almost have a heart attack, so we had to come up with a quick and reliable way to get Lucas’ attention and bring him back to us.
Enter the family whistle
Have you read or watched The Hunger Games ? Ryu teaches Katniss a four-note whistle, which they use to signal each other when their part of the plan is complete. Our family whistle works the same way – it is a hidden but effective way of communicating in situations where yelling is not the best option. (Who wants to scream in public anyway?)
Especially when he was young, our son often left. I’m pretty tired of yelling “Lucas!” in public places. To be honest, I felt like a bad mom. I watched him, I did, but the kid was quick . And every time I had to shout for him, people turned and stared. It seemed to me that everyone condemned me for not being able to watch my child.
With our whistle, which is three sharp ascending notes, I can call Lucas back without even using my voice. When I use a whistle, people hardly notice. We taught Lucas that if he hears this, then he needs to come immediately. He’s not naughty, just inattentive, so when he hears this, he comes running. I’ve used it pretty much everywhere – at the mall, grocery store, on a nature trail, at Disneyland, even on the street when he’s cycling across the street and needs to get home for dinner.
We taught Lucas how to whistle to give us a return signal. It became a way to say, “I hear you, I’m coming!” When our daughter Marie appeared, we taught her too, although she learned to whistle more slowly and for a while she had to sing notes, which was actually super-adorable – a two-year-old girl sings and whistles to get Dad’s attention. …
Not that this whistle technique obviates the need for other safety measures. We made sure that both children remember our cell phone numbers back and forth. If they really get lost and the whistle doesn’t work, our kids should find someone in uniform and ask them to borrow their phone to call Mom or Dad.
But for short breaks over short distances, the whistle was a significant time-saver as well as voice savings. Most of the time, no one seems to notice that we are doing this, but from time to time someone notices that I am whistling and then notices Lucas running around the corner to get back to my side and they look wide open eyes. “It’s brilliant ,” they say.
“Just like The Hunger Games ,” I tell them, “except that luckily no one has to volunteer as a tribute.”