Missing Kid Moments
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Tuesday, September 07, 2010 8:47 PM
We took the kids to the zoo on Friday and while we were watching the penguins, we lost Camilla.
I’d been standing behind her and moved a few feet away to get a better view. She must have turned around a second later and, unable to find me, taken off looking for us. I think I realized she was missing about two minutes later.
Fortunately we were in a dead-end area of the zoo, so there was only one way she could have gone. I took off at a run while Bryan and Blaise stayed put in case she came back.
Three days later, I can still feel the adrenaline of that minute, the terrifying sixty seconds before I spotted her.
She was padding toward the tables where we’d eaten lunch, and even from thirty yards behind her I could sense her fear and bewilderment. Relief made my limbs suddenly heavy but I kept running, shouting and clapping as I tried to get her attention. A lady standing nearby pointed her toward me, and then my little Camilla was back in my arms again, her curls soft against my cheek. I kissed the tears from her face and prayed silently in thanksgiving.
Later, we had a talk about what to do when we’re in a strange place and can’t find Mama or Daddy. I made her repeat it back to me a dozen times over the afternoon, which was probably excessive. But now I’m confident that if this happens again, she’ll definitely stay put and yell for us.
In retrospect, I felt foolish for not talking about these things earlier. I’d felt safe in the knowledge that Camilla is the kind of kid who would never purposely run away from us in public, but it honestly hadn’t occurred to me that we could get inadvertently separated. In this case, we knew - or thought we knew - where she was, but the problem happened when she didn’t know where we were.
Obviously, I won’t be making this mistake again. Blaise is still so young that we have to actively chase him at all times, but as soon as he’s old enough to stand still for two minutes (he’ll eventually do this, right?) and to understand, we’ll be having the “if you get lost” discussion with him.
Have you ever lost a kid in public? Want to share your stories? And what - and when - do you talk to your kids about handling it when they get separated from you?
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
