It is a different world from when I grew up. Back in the day, I simply walked 1/3 of a mile to school and nobody gave it another thought. Today, it may or may not be less safe for small children but the visibility of predators in the world is certainly much higher.
Thus my son, who does walk from mom’s work to his school is actually equipped with a telephone so if he gets into any difficulties he can contact us – plus he is supposed to call us when he gets to school each day. Well, no system is perfect and so when he tried to inform mom that he was at school, she was unable to pick up the phone in time. We do have a backup plan for this situation which is that he should then proceed to call is father or even failing that his aunt or grandmother. It worked!
I got a telephone call from a somewhat annoyed little boy informing me that he tried to call mom but she didn’t pick up. He asked me to call her so she is informed that his is at school. I knew where he was so I thought I had time enough for a cup of coffee. After brewing a cup, I called my wife to hear that she returned his call. She received an earful from him.
My son said “I don’t want to talk with you, I already called papa” and then the two of them hung up. By the time that I called my wife she had already been put into her place by an eight year old. She did take it pretty well all things considered.
This was not the only time that my boy tried to call mom but also his dad and his aunt. In the end, he did reach his grandmother but by then he had left a message on everyone’s phone.
Everyone, each in turn then proceeded to call “mama” with the news that her son was safe at school. Sure her work day had already gotten off to to rocky start but the good news is that our son did follow the plan.