Actually, my mother had a wrist to wrist leash for my sister-who was constantly getting away and running all over the place. It may look humiliating, but my sister loved it-it allowed her to run around and have her space, without my mom flipping out.
I wish my parents had had a leash when I was little…my dad is 6’6" and when I was tiny, they kept control of me by holding my hand.
Ever held your hand above your head for two hours?
Corr
I remember when I was younger mom had a leash on me… you know those leashes they have for hamsters, rabbits etc? The ones that go around the arms and across the belly as well as the back? It was something like that. We also have a picture of me kneeling before some flowers and it looks like I’m praying to be let loose from my leash…
As to the question it’s just a good idea to keep them within sight as much as possible. When I have kids I do not plan on ever leaving them in the vehicle alone and to do my best to keep an eye on them (Yes I know how good kids are at running off. I babysat quite a bit and not just in their homes I took them out sometimes too.)
My mom had a sort-of leash for my brother. It wasn’t a harness, but Velcro wraps around the kid’s wrist, with a really long stretchy telephone-style cord, and another Velcro attatchment for somebody at least somewhat older and more responsible. It wasn’t at all constricting for either my brother or for me.
In other words, it was a fabulous invention. It saved her lots of frustration and I enjoyed being useful, since I was eight and really wanted to be helpful. Fortunately I was old enough that I was a genuine help. And my brother was happy because he could run around without getting in constant trouble for running too far away.
whiterabbit-that’s the same thing my mother had for my sister.
A blast from the past:
http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ads/ap.html
Even if the concept gives you the willies, ya gotta admit there are certain times when it comes in handy - like in, say, Heathrow as you’re managing a teenager, a toddler, and assorted equipment.
One of my H.S. friends was half-Norwegian, and would visit her Norway family once or twice a year. When she was 12 (and her sister 3) her dad died. So, one mother, two children, lots of stuff, and the baby’s too big to carry but would dart off in a second if free. Not a good plan in Heathrow - ego the leash. Worked like a charm.
How easily things can go wrong
Actually, don’t ask, that brings up an interesting point…
The majority of kids who die in cars are not left in cars by their parents. They climb into the car to play and their parents don’t know where they are.
My three year old can easily get into my car if its unlocked. The four year old neighbor finds it great fun to climb into mom’s minivan (with the tinted windows, so you can’t tell she’s in there) and play “trip.” In our neighborhood, we all keep our car doors locked now, or they turn into “playhouses” for the kids - unsafe playhouses where not only could they overheat (not too likely, its a neighborhood where the cars are parked in garages, but not impossible), but could accidently get the car out of park and roll out into the street, and maybe over another kid.
This actually happened to my son a few months ago (he had just turned two). I was unaware that he could get into the car (he had discovered a place that he could jam him fingers into to yank the door with one hand while pulling the handle with the other). I was also unaware that it was possible to shift the car out of park without the engine on. Anyway, he could and it was, and he indeed rolled into the street. Fortunately no one was hurt, but it was a frightening experience.
I’ve taken to locking the parking brake since then. But I still leave the doors unlocked. The chances that he could be missing in the car for more than 5 minutes are minescule.
I’ve heard of kids playing in cars and they manage to open the trunk, climb in, and shut it… but they can’t get it open to climb out and they die. I don’t lock my car but I also don’t let my kids play outside unless I’m with them… they’re 4 and 2 so they’re too young to play unsupervised.
I don’t leave my kids alone in a car for lots of reasons. There’s too much shit that can happen in the blink of an eye and it’s just not worth the risk. I don’t care if my kids are sleeping and they’re gonna be a pain in the ass while we’re in the store, they’re coming with me. A few minutes of inconvenience is better than a lifetime of regret.
The leaving kids isn’t just a Eastern thing - some woman left her kid in a stroller outside a restaurant in NY (last year?) and she was arrested at the scene for neglect. Think she was German…
I’d be more afraid the kid in the electronics store would be getting underfoot or hurt themselves. The other one, maybe a parent shoudl be outside, but I wouldn’t get too upset, IMHO.
Next time I head to the States with China bambina, I will start a post for child proofing things to be aware of. Leaving kids access to a car is something I’ve never thought of as people here don’t have garages. Cars are not left unlocked either.
I just realized that in my OP I left out one detail, when we went into the ice cream shop it was to buy a take-out pie and not sit in there for half an hour. I still can’t give a good reason why in that instance I should have woken up my daughter and taken her inside with me, other than leaving a child in a car alone is an inappropriate practice much of the time.
Again, I do feel better that no one out there is saying that abduction by sexual predators is common or even a leading concern. think the concensus of these responses is more along the lines of establishing good habits to avoid the occaisional situation that has the potential for disasterous and irrevocable harm to your child.
Oh, that’s easy!
- Go to the area you want to childproof.
- Ask yourself, “If I were to release a pack of wild chimpanzees into this area, what’s the worst that can happen?”
- Childproof all the answers you get from #2, above.
- Repeat steps 1-3 until your world is childproof’d.
Not that I’m saying China bambina is a monkey, of course, but only that my own kid could definitely give lessons to the chimps… 
(Should I really be proud of that?)
China bambina is actually a dragon baby, but she sure acts like a chimp on speed sometimes. Well, her English name is Jacqueline, but ever since she learned how to stand up and walk in South Dakota last month, her name became Jacque-a-lope.
What I was really referring to is “common sense” things I haven’t been around, like sneaking off to play in a car, getting locked in and having heat stroke, cars getting stolen with the kid asleep in the back seat, etc.
You can’t be too paranoid when it comes to toddlers. Guess that explains the excessive paranoia our folks used around us…
(Oh, and mine’s a Rabbit. Dragons are nice, but overemphasizing horoscope years is a bit anti-Straight-Dope-fighting-ignorance, y’know? 
)