I think I foiled a would-be purse snatcher/pick pocket

Thursday we had to take a trip to T...C... because my husband had a meeting for work there. So we cancelled school and all went. While he was at his meeting, I took the kids to the mall.

It got wild, crazy after a while with crowds of shoppers everywhere. We were looking at some games that were displayed for sale in the center of mall aisle and S was taking some pictures of some of the game boxes. I was standing a little behind her waiting. I didn't know it, but her purse which was hanging from her arm was unzipped and visible.

A man stepped up behind me. I was immediately uncomfortable because he was "in my personal space" and I noticed he had removed his jacket and was holding it over his arm. He moved in closer to my left and directly behind S, so I kept watching him. He knew I was watching and so he moved off to the left of her and went around to the other side of shelf beside her.

I continued to watch him through the spaces between the boxes that were displayed and noticed that he too was watching me through the display. So I just continued to look at him until he finally decided to move on.

When he was gone I asked S about her purse and learned it was unzipped and looking like a very attractive target. After that she held her purse a bit closer to her body and kept it zipped. I learned as a parent, that it is a good idea to stick with your kids in the mall & for safety, to stay just a little behind them to keep a good eye on things.

As for myself, I was thankful that I had left my purse in the car out of sight and took my money in my front pants pocket.

So, parents, just a warning....stay safe with your kids this holiday season and be aware of who is around you and what they are doing.