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Runaway Preschooler

Imagine dropping off your three-year-old son at preschool, only to find him back at home two hours later.

If that weren’t enough to have you faint on the spot, consider that your precious peanut made his way home by himself by giving his teachers the slip, scaling a three-foot high wall at his school, and crossing a busy main drag and several side streets.

That’s exactly what little Alfie Aldridge managed to do according to his mother, Samantha.

The 27-year-old mom from Surrey, England, says her son’s adventures were only half the story. Samantha tells the Daily Mail that when she returned Alfie to the school, staff there did not even realize he was missing.

That’s when I would have taken my son from the school and never looked back.

As for Samantha, she tells the paper that she was happy and relieved that Alfie was unharmed, but also angry that teachers let it happen.

“Thankfully I was home to answer the door,” Samantha told news reporters. “It makes me feel sick to think of what could have happened. It’s a terrible thing for a mother to go through. You trust these people to look after your children and then something like this happens.”

For their part the school publicly apologized to the Aldridge’s saying: “We assure parents measures we have taken will ensure their children can enjoy their education in the safe and protective environment that they rightly expect.”

Given all that was ignored by teachers—-according to officials, in order for the little boy to make it from his classroom to his home he had to climb over a wall, and cross a playground and six classroom windows without being noticed before trekking 10 minutes along a busy road—-I don’t blame Alfie’s parents for enrolling him in another school.

What would you do if you found your preschooler at your front door when he should be at school?

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About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.