DD was missing yesterday

[bigang]

Don't beat yourself up! It happens. I was the wandering child. Everywhere we went, I was all "OHSHINY!" My parents learned very early that they always needed to be on high alert with me at all times. There was one time when I was 4-5 and was shopping with my mom at the mall. I was tired, sick and whiny. My mom told me to find a place to sit down where she could still see me. I ended up finding a fitting room with some clothes on the floor and I evidently decided that it was a good place for a nap because I shut the door and fell asleep.

There was another trip to the mall, this time with my dad, when I was all of 8 or so. I was lured in by the magic of the cosmetic counters. The lady at the counter asked me if my mom was nearby and I said "no, I don't know where she is!" (I didn't--It was my dad's weekend.) I didn't think to tell her I was with my dad. She got me up on the chair and called security to report me as a lost child and was asking me what my mom looked like and if I knew what she was wearing. I totally thought she was just being nice and trying to chat me up. My dad came racing over, all frantic, and I was just all "HI DADDY! This lady put some smell pretty on me! Aren't I beautiful?"

You get lots of hair pats from me. It's tough. Even when you think you've thought of everything, your kids will still find something to prove you wrong.

[MixedBerryJam]

Every parent has (hopefully not many more than) one of those stories. Mine: We were at a party at a friend's house, where all the parents were inside drinking and all the kids were outside playing. There were probably 4 couples and 10+ kids, the oldest maybe 10-12, and the youngest, mine at 2 & 3. When the kids all came in eat my older one was missing, so we calmly checked the yards ... checked neighbors yards .. and with increasing panic fanned out. I found him two blocks away at the local grocery store pulling on the (locked) door to get in, because, he explained when I asked what happened, "But Mom, they have FLUFF in there!" We lived on a military base at the time, so a very protected environment, but I was traumatized for life!

[fuckyourcouch]

oh man, how scary. i'm sorry but you're not a terrible mom.

[polka]

Yikes! So scary, glad she's okay!

[julez]

I am so, so sorry. I can't imagine. I know it's easier said than done, but don't beat yourself up. I'm so glad she's okay.

[litebright]

Big hugs. 

A few days ago DD1 went outside to look for roly-poly bugs in our driveway without telling anyone. DH and I didn't even realize she was gone until she came back in, we thought she was in the bathroom (she often takes a long time). OMG, the guilt! 

I think we scared her a little bit with how much we reacted -- not angry, just really worried. She got upset and started crying, and said that she thought she could go outside because the garage door was open. We do play outside a good bit, but I really, really hope it sank in that she can't go by herself.  

[coribelle26]

This even happened to Jesus!!

For real my grandma used to tell the story of how my mom, when she was just under 3, climbed the fence, walked 5 blocks to the party store, and stole candy. It happened that one of the neighbors was driving by and saw her standing in the parking lot gleefully eating her pilfered chocolate, otherwise who knows where she would have ended up.