So, a lot of the stuff I’ve been reading about child safety suggests that your kid should have some sort of ID on him or her. That is, a photo with some basic contact information on the back. That way, if they get lost, or (God forbid) hurt, someone can get hold of us. Target gave us some stickers and safety info with a recent photo order. They suggest the whole recent photo, CD, info, etc. route we’ve already taken. But they also suggest, in the case of evacuation or emergency, giving your kids an index card with their basic info on it. If you get separated, they say, that info will help bring you back together.

So, I thought, what about having them always carry that info around? Like a kid ID card.

Initially, I was a bit leery about it because of the stranger-anxiety thing. You know, you don’t put your kid’s first name on his jersey so strangers can’t call it out and act all chummy. But really, if my kid’s been (God forbid) abducted, an ID card isn’t going to make much of a difference.

Then I thought, how paranoid do I have to be to make my five-year-old carry (what is essentially) photo ID? Not like I had any identifying anything with me when I was growing up. Not like my kids are ever anyplace without an adult. And where would he carry it? He would leave his shoes at home (and he has) if we didn’t remind him to put them on (and we didn’t, that one time). And then, the two year-old? What would we do, stick a FedEx return sticker on his back every time he leaves the house?

But the thought of them alone, with a (nice) stranger… scared… crying… just one paranoid parent away from having phone and address at hand… the five year-old can probably memorize our phone number, but the two year-old can’t.

So, what do you think? Kid ID, or phone number tattoo?