help my two younger kids are hard

[dianna]

I have a two year old and a four year old and they are so different but the same. The other day my 2 year old was playing in the yard and she desided to take off down the sidewalk down the street and as i went to chase after her my son who was watching tv in the house with the door open so i could look in after him well is younger sibling was outside play and he went outside and ran up the street and went across the street and was caught by a neibor cause she was over there and she grabed him and brought himback to me as i was coming up the street with the other one. What should have i done? Am i bad parent or something else.

[amyC]

no you are not a bad parent love, we cant have eyes in the back of our heads all the time, i lost my 6 year old in a supermarket the other day it was awfull.
you could look into getting a garden gate or maybe only letting your eldest child out when you are all out in the yard,
dont feel bad though it is unfortunate and very scary at the time but it happens to most of us at some point.

[lena241]

Dont beat yourself up, it happens. I rarely allow my daughter (4) to play in the front yard of our house. When she does, she has a boundary. She is only allowed to go to the end of our driveway and the last tree (which is about 2 feet from the neighbors driveway). If she leaves her boundary, its inside we go. She learned quickly where to stop.

We have an attched garage and only (1) gate to exit our backyard. When it is outside playtime, we mainly play in the backyard. The gate has one of those clips on it for rope climbing, and she hasnt figured out how to get it off yet. She is secure in the backyard and I am comfortable knowing that she cant escape (yet). Maybe only allow her to play in the backyard, if you have one. Save the front yard play for when you have someone who can keep an eye out on her younger siblings. Now is also a great time to teach consequence. If she runs off, make her go inside and explain that it is because she didnt stay where she was supposed to.