I Think This Might Be GENIUS. Mostly.
I have about six must-remember-this-happened posts that I need to write, and I will do exactly that, just as soon as I have the time and brain power to do it. In the meantime, I spotted this at Disney Studios on Monday:
A jingly, jangly set of bells attached to a bracelet and strapped to a kid's ankle.
Thoughts:
1. GENIUS! Who needs a leash when you can hear your kid from 1/2 mile away? Seriously, the bells were so loud you could hear them over the crowd, even when the kid was way out of sight.
2. GENIUS! Who is going to kidnap a kid knowing that grabbing her is going to make it sound like Santa got plowed and stumbled his way into the workshop, knocking over a herd of elves?
3. GENIUS! Who needs an expensive GPS system to keep track of their kid when you can create a $5 BLS. (That's Bell Location System, btw.)
4. GENIUS! After ten minutes of hearing the bells, no other sounds in the whole wide world seem annoying.
5. No, seriously, how do you not lose your mind listening to that all day?
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Reader Comments (29)
...and that's a lot of leopard print.
When my youngest was first walking, I got her a pair of squeaker shoes. I'd heard about them because... I heard them. I HAD to have them for my runner. She was the kid who ran and hid in Target if she got loose. They got annoying after a full day of squeaking, but they were worth the annoyance to know where she was.
You know how they could really be useful? Slap them on The Husbands so you know the second they strayed from their intended chores and projects about the house. :) Now THAT is genius.
I agree with Katie - that would be AWESOME!
I used to work with a woman who wore bells EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It drove me crazy, but you always knew when she left her desk.
I agree with Katie, too. It would be AWESOME on husbands!
My MIL used to ALWAYS misplace her glasses. She would find them and proclaim, "I swear, I need to put a bell on these things!!" Except...they wouldn't make a sound sitting on the table all by themselves. (And this was BEFORE she became senile).
I love that you took a picture of it! Now, make sure you volunteer to take a picture for some poor Mommy and her brood. I HATE NOT HAVING ANY PROOF THAT I WAS THERE. End rant. Thanks.
Sadly, a lot of things like that seem to be a fine line between brilliant and push me over the edge annoying.
My mother but a jingle bell on my shoes after I stood up with the umbrella stroller still belted at my waist and walked away from her in Kaufmans... with it on my back.
Erin's story made me laugh! I thought about getting one of those leashes back when Dylan was younger, but I was afraid he would just drag me around. Those bells would not last five minutes with me. I can't handle annoying noises. Like the keyboard I just bought him that he loves to play, with the Mambo, Rock, etc beat over, and over, and over...
I LOVE IT!!!! I tune out annoying sounds, but I'd be listening for bells if my kid was missing. Awesomeness!
@Jen--The first time we took Alexis to Disney, she was a kamikaze new walker who enjoyed making traffic stop by walking out in it, so husband decided he HAD to get one of those leash backpack things. It lasted all of five minutes on the kid because she managed to yank on him so hard that he ran into a trash can and smashed *ahem* something important to him. I may have enjoyed saying, "I told you so," while he was doubled over on pain. Heh.
That would make my ears bleed within seconds, or my brain explode.
I can't believe you called it Disney Studios. It will always be MGM to me.
I am DYING at Erin's comment.
It is a genius idea.
For about 8 minutes. Then? Not so much.
:)
Angie, I had squeaker shoes for my little ones too! Seriously loved them. I need to get more squeaker shoes.
From the back, jingle bell girl looks like she could be pacifier monster girl!
You know your daughter would be wearing them all day IN THE HOUSE! Say goodbye to having any other thoughts in your head...
lmao, Im glad I could entertain :)
I had a set of bells for my toddler that I LOVED. Not too loud but still audible in a store. They are made too look like jewelry, and can withstand abuse without coming apart or losing their beauty. I think they are now available in sizes from infant to adult.
www.bumblebells.com.
I know I'm a minority here, but having lost a child at WDW a year ago next week (praise the Lord we found him), I reacted "GENIUS!" in a very literal way when I saw this. If the scariest 20 minutes of my life could have been dwindled down any, I think it's worth the annoying.
@Pam_Wow--Oh, I'm very serious when I say a genius idea, especially for kids who are runners. It certainly seems more effective than a leash. But, that whole annoying noise thing might make me have to fight the urge to intentionally lose the kid.
I had no idea animal print was so in fashion at Disney! ;P
Pretty good idea, I have to say...
It's nuts what parents will do but it's sorta smart. It would drive me insane though.
From the parent of a kid who is a certified wanderer, I'd never grow tired of those uber annoying jangles. And for the times when "I thought *you* were watching him" crop up, we'd be able to locate him easily. I'll be making a set posthaste, then consulting you to figure out how to make the boy let it on. And also jangling his leg while riding through It's A Small World. You know everyone will thank me.
The bells would annoy me. How do you make sure the kid doesn't remove them? I've seen kids remove the wrist leashes (velcro closures) by themselves before while their parents weren't watching.
My parents, back in the dark ages, had the harness leashes with zippers on the backs. Mom said she loved them until my sister (who was a runner) and I learned to co-operate to unzip each other. We're 18 months apart so Mom had 2 toddlers to keep track of back then.
That totally IS genius!
When we took our son to a bunch of summer festivals, we went to the Walmart kiosk where you can print dog tags and made a set with our son's name on it, plus my cell phone number. He wore it as a necklace every time we went out somewhere big.
The one time we forgot his dogtags, I wrote my phone number in Sharpie pen on his stomach and told him to show it to a mom if he got lost.
back in the 1800s when i was growing up in PITTSBURGH, newly walking toddlers used to have special white shoes that came with bells on the laces. it was kind of a shoelace cap that snapped over the laces and contained a bell. that was ingenius, so you always knew where the little critter was. not that my mum could catch me, but at least she could hear me.
modern day, this is a genius idea. i also invested in the squeaker shoes when mine were younger. cant catch em but at least you can hear them!
It's genius for places like Disney when they crowds are so huge that you kid could be ten feet from you but you wouldn't know it with a group of people between you.
When we go somewhere really busy, we take a photo of each boy on our camera phone so that if anything happens, we have a picture of their current haircut, outfit, etc. It's something most parents don't think to do but takes just a second. I like the idea of putting my phone number on their arm with a Sharpie. My boys know mine by heart, but who knows if they would remember it when they were scared and in a panic.
Too bad you didn't have any video and audio to share of those bells. :)