A mum who lost sight of her three-year-old child at a 'huge' play place was able to locate her quickly, all thanks to a TikTok video she'd seen on the 'looking loudly' method.
Mum and wedding photographer Krista Piper had taken her children to the large play place, with the space said to run the length of a "giant science museum". The play place has "lots of little nooks and crannies", and her daughter Lily was going back and forth between the different sets.
While talking with another mum, Krista suddenly lost sight of Lily, and after looking around a bit to no avail, she began to "panic".
At first, Krista started yelling Lily's name, but then a "lightbulb went off" and she remembered a TikTok she'd seen about a mother who'd lost her child while at a supermarket.
Rather than yell out her son's name, the mum in question had shouted out a description of the clothes he'd been wearing that day, and was able to find him "way faster".
Taking to TikTok, where she goes by the username @krista.piper, Krista recalled: "So that is what I did. I stopped calling out her name, and I started yelling, 'little girl, pink shirt, pink Minnie Mouse shirt!'.
"I'm sure people thought that I was a little crazy, she was probably only missing for like a minute, to maybe a minute and a half, but for me it felt like eternity."
On reflection, Krista notes that she could have also added descriptors such as Lily's age or hair colour, but that was the quickest thing she could think of to say in the moment.
After Krista started yelling the description, she began to hear other mums repeating the same thing, and thankfully another mum spotted her, all thanks to Krista's quick thinking.
Krista continued: "If you ever lose your child, or dog or anything, yell out their description, raise your voice. You know, I probably looked like a crazy person, but it got the job done."
Fellow parents praised Krista for spreading the word, and agreed that this was a far better method than simply shouting out a child's name.
One person commented: "Yes! Yelling their name doesn't help because no one knows what Sally looks like, but they can pick out a three-year-old in a pink shirt and blue jeans."
Another wrote: "This is such incredible advice and any parent's worst nightmare. So thankful for mums pulling together to help find her. Good job mamma!"
A third applauded: "This is wonderful - thank you! I try to dress kids in bright clothes when we go to big places like that just for my own eyes but it’s a great idea."
Do you have a parenting hack to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
