A lost child is enough to make a mother or father lose their mind. Even if it’s a matter of a few minutes, they’re some of the longest, hardest moments in a parent’s life. Some of my readers have shared their stories with me.
Here’s DebraKristi‘s experience:
Gosh, I think the time that actually scared me the most was when I took my eldest to the Dorothy the Dinosaur consort (from The Wiggles). He was an only child then and probably around the age of three.
The isle was crammed pack full of miniature people and my little one decided to join them for some dancing and wiggling. Of course I moved in next to him.
All of the sudden he rushed the stage, slicing through all the tiny little people like a magician. I fumbled and pushed forward as fast as I could to keep up with him but he was gone. Just gone.
I got to the front of the stage and he was nowhere to be found. Looked to the left and to the right – nothing.
I ended up getting the staff involved. But those minutes with him missing were the most agonizing minutes of my life.
It turns out that he had gotten to the front of the stage and immediately gone to the left, circling around the entire theater. I was probably running around him in my frantic state trying to locate his little head amongst the hundreds of others. What a crazy night I never want to revisit.
The most scared I’ve ever been was when my daughter was three. We were at a mall carousel, and I was buying tickets. When I turned around, she wasn’t there. I walked around and around the carousel and couldn’t find her. She had wandered into the bathroom and I finally found her. I can still feel my heart beating when I think about it!
Coleen Patrick remembers:
My heart stopping moment was losing my three year old for a few minutes at an amusement park! Don’t even want to describe it–too cringing to remember!! !
My first novel featured the kidnapping of a three-year-old girl. So when my husband woke me up early one morning, telling me our three-year-old wasn’t in her bed, I panicked. Luckily she had just gone downstairs with her blanket and doll and lay down on the couch. We fussed over her so much, she never did it again.
I have a lost and found story, too:
One horrible afternoon when Sunflower was about 8 years old, I couldn’t find her in the house or outside, so I called some of our neighbors to see if she was playing over there. No one had seen her. I was about to call the police when she walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I’ve been looking all over for you. Where were you?”
“Sleeping in my bed.”
I had checked her bunk bed, but she must have been hugging the wall of the top bunk with the blankets unmade and draped so the bed looked empty. I felt super stupid, times ten, but so thankful my daughter was all right.
Sunflower felt so bad seeing how panicked I was when I couldn’t find her that every time she said good night or took a nap, she always added, “I’ll be laying in my bed.” It finally got to the point we could laugh about it, and it became a running joke for years.
What is it with being three that you go and disappear and cause mum and dad to panic!?!? Apart from your adorable Sunflower who was 8! Awwww such heart stopping moments!! Glad all ended well!Take carex
These are all scarier than a horror movie to me!Well, except for the happy endings 🙂 :
I started babysitting for families in our church when I was about 13. One day I was asked by a new family to watch their five little kids for a whole day while they went out of town. We were all going stir crazy in the house, so I took them into the front yard. The phone rang and I went into the house to answer it, thinking it was one of the parents checking in with me, like they said they would. I heard a horn honking, raced outside, and HORRORS!!! saw the toddler sitting in the middle of the road, a pickup truck stopped a few yards away from him. Boy, did I die a thousand deaths– and the yelling of the truck driver nearly did me in. Gave him a scare too, I'm sure. And no, I never told the parents…neither did the other kids. But I've never forgotten how it felt.
That is the scariest… My daughter Courtney disappeared on a crowded street when we were in Kilkenney, Ireland. The police were out in force that day so something was up. We had told everyone to stay put if that happened and that's what she did. We found her waiting in the last store we had been in…whew!
It's funny how all of us have the same worst moment – a time when we thought our child/ren were gone. Motherhood is universal! And I'm glad we all found our kiddos!
Is there a kid out there who hasn't been lost? They move so darn fast, it's hard to keep up so them. I don't remember losing either of my boys, although I'm sure they slipped away from me a time or two. Fortunately we live in a small town so it couldn't have been too bad for us. I'll have to ask them. They may tell an entirely different version of the story. 🙂
Yes, those are all scary. No one wants to lose their kid. I had a store close down when my youngest ran away from me so quick I couldn't find her. She ended up hiding between the racks. Sneaker. She was mad I wouldn't buy her half the store. *Sigh*Thanks for the include, Lynn.
Those are very scary moments. I've been always so obsessed with keeping an eye on both of my kids, that it drove me crazy if I couldn't see them for even a short moment (at a park, store etc.)Now at 6 and almost 10 they still know to stay very close to me, no matter where we go. And I constantly remind them to never leave my site. Ah, parenting – we learn to be real hawks 🙂
I love scary stories about kids, but when they're real . . they scare me!
Thanks for including my tale. I've got to get back into blog-world. You miss so much when you stay away for a month.