Ok, so it happens to lots of people, but last night we officially had our first 'we lost our kid' episode. It was terrifying. I'm sure I'll make light of it here, but trust me that I was still thinking "what if" all night long. Julian has gotten marginally better about walking beside us in public places....well, until recently. It's been a new fad for him to just wander off, following some kid or looking at some toy or whatever it may be, and then (here's the frightening part) either running away or not coming back when he hears us looking for him. Yesterday was the climax of that situation. He walked off at a moment when Eddie and I both thought he was next to one another (we were looking for school shoes for Pete's sake) and lo and behold, he was just gone. after 3-4 minutes of looking/yelling for him I finally made my way up to customer service and practically YELLED at the cashier that I couldn't find my child (sorry, manners sort of disappear when things like that happen.) As the cashier was taking down my description of Julian and getting ready to call a code Adam (aka: you're a terrible parent for letting your kid get out of your sight code) we hear another employee radio over that they need to page Cristen Lotak to the electronics area, that they have her little boy. Instant relief!! I figured Eddie must have finally grabbed him and told the associate to let them know at customer service, since he knew I'd be there. What I found when I got back there instead was just Julian, not frightened at all, looking at toys. Apparently a nice couple had stopped and inquired about if he was lost, and when asked, he told them my name. I was pretty proud for a moment - we've been working on full names and address (that last one is a bit too hard for him to master as of yet) and he actually remembered, and instead of throwing a typical 3 year old tantrum, he told them my name and waited for me to come get him. It ALMOST made the whole situation less terrifying. Almost. Not really. I'm pretty sure my stomach hit the floor and still hasn't made it back up into my body the minute I lost sight of him.
So there you go, our first official 'lose your kid in a busy store' moment. We must be normal after all.
ETA: here's an article sent by my mom with some good suggestions for parents; http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/13/living/lost-child-in-public/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
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