Lost Child

This is a reminder to all parents of young children to be alert when supervising your child at the playground.

Credit: https://www.timeout.com/singapore/kids/kidzplay-skygarden

Today, I was at a rooftop water playground of Nex shopping mall having lunch when I noticed a 5-7-year-old boy repeatedly calling out for his mother at the east wing of the playground. He was growing more panicky with each call. I looked around the playground and saw that all the other children had some form of adult supervision except him. When he started wandering out of the playground and even further east, I became worried and approached him to ask if he was looking for his mother and whether he remembered what she was wearing. He nodded cautiously and mumbled a description. I told him that I would help him look for her. I looked around and noticed a woman sitting alone at the west end of the rooftop, behind the playground, her eyes glued to her phone. I pointed her out to the boy and asked him if it was her. He couldn't really tell because she was too far away and his view was obstructed by the railing.  I motioned to him to follow me and take a look but he hesitated and returned to his original spot in the east wing. He then pointed out a couple and said that that was his mother. As I thought he had really found her, I nodded at him and then returned to my seat. To my surprise, the couple walked past him without acknowledging him and I realised that they weren't his parents. He had also resumed calling for his mother, more softly this time, and looking through the glass railing at the lower storeys. I approached him again and said that we could go to the security officer at the west wing to ask for help. He followed me cautiously at a distance. As we approached the security officer, the boy ran ahead of me and called out to that lady with the phone. Crisis resolved. Thank God the boy found his mother. Who knows what could have happened if the boy had wandered off by himself?