In today's world it's unsafe to let your kids wander around a store without a parent. I don't know how long it would take a kidnapper to steal a child, but I imagine it wouldn't be very long. My kids are 7, 4, and 1 and they always stay with either me or my husband in the store. If they want to go to the toy aisle or the arcade at the front of the store, one of us takes them. I read somewhere that a child's motor skills are not developed enough to even cross a street alone until they are 12, so why would I let them roam around a store until then?