Tattoos on children

"If lost, please deliver to..." Is it a bad idea, really? It's less invasive than a microchip. Less obvious than an ear tag.  Fortunately, some mom somewhere thought it was a good idea too, and invented temporary tattoos that read "If lost please call (insert your cell number here)".  We absolutely ordered some for Aemon.

Unfortunately for me, he wasn't wearing one on Father's Day when I took him and Roane to Children's Fairyland so Christopher could work.  No, he didn't actually get lost - but I was so tempted you have no idea.  All was well for a good hour, when it was all about the little guy having fun. Then when it was time to sit quietly so I could feed Roane (not an easy task in public, not at all) Aemon decided that running away was a much better idea. By the time I had Roane strapped in the carrier and the stroller re-loaded so I could chase him, he was out of sight. I found him far far away on a slide having a blast. Now, no big deal, right? Except the same thing had happened on Friday at soccer (another mom had to march him back to find me), and we'd just had a long talk about staying close to mom when out and about.

The tattoo part comes into play here: should I have let him get "lost" for a while in a controlled environment, so he understands what "lost" means? If he has the tat on, the staff at Fairyland could call me - or I could wait at the lost children's counter or booth or whatever.  Is that bad parenting?  I don't know. Christopher says "not till the day the kid gets tossed into a van". There is that.

I guess good parenting comes down to making decisions based on what's going to lead to less guilt later in life if something goes wrong.