I lost a kid today

I took the kids to the new science center today and it was mayhem in there with all the school groups. There is a huge play gym that is all enclosed with rope ladders etc, and it wasn't too busy, so I set the kids loose in there. Just when they got to the top of it, about a thousand school kids flooded in and went wild. Miles and Austin were holding everyone up because they got overwhelmed, and so I had to crawl in to get them. By the time I got up to the top, Miles was still sitting there but no Austin! I hauled Miles out and strapped him in the stroller and frantically started searching around for Austin, but no luck. One volunteers started to help me out, but she kept looking in the play structure and I knew for sure he wasn't there. I ran out toward the main entrance in case he had gone back toward another display and then came back in the hall and asked a bunch of other moms if they'd seen him. No luck.. then out of the corner of my eye I saw his shirt, and he was happily playing in the water mechanics display, sopping wet head to toe. I had never been so glad to find a drenched, messy kid! I still can't figure out how he made it out of the play structure, but we won't be going near that thing again until I have another adult with me and/or they're much older. And I am going to put Austin back in the baby bjorn until he's 16 .

Lessons learned today: it is very handy to dress your kids in bright colours, and also very handy to have an identical twin to point to when someone asks what he looks like.

 

That IS scary !! Jesse is my wanderer and I lost him in Fanuel Hall in Boston .. scariest day in my life.
It happens .. no matter how careful you are. But you're right about having an ID twin to use as a reference to help searchers find them. I can remember saying "he looks just like this one !!".

 

Yes that's why mine have always been dressed alike. It freaks my mom out when they are dressed a like

 

We lost DS in JCPenney once.. longest 10 minutes of my life before someone found him... I sympathize!!!

 

Oh my gosh! I have goosebumps as I'm reading your story. :hug: I'm so glad it turned out okay.

I was with some friends when one of them lost her son in a children's museum. I don't think any of us were breathing until he was found a few minutes later. It is SOOOO scary!!

 

Sorry to hear this but happy to know you found the wanderer.

I brought my 4 year old twins to a zoo. I was pushing Evan in a stroller. Clayton was done looking at the monkeys and he turned around headed out. I did not see him go. I searched the best I could (very busy) and had Audrey by my side when I saw him next to a caring adult. I rushed for him but Audrey did not see me (I thought she saw him as well). Long story short, I found him, but then lost her. The helpful adult then helped me look for her. I found her near the rides. She was crying. A daycare mom had brought her to zoo workers who were at the rides entrance. Whew!

 

:hug: That is absolutely the worst feeling. I'm so glad you found him safe & sound, if a bit soggy. :hug:

 

How terrifying! Glad you found him safe and sound! :hug:

 

So scary! I've lost Meara twice... At 4 1/2 I still have to remind her to stay close when we are in crowded places (she's a wanderer).

 

:hug: Jen. I lost Sophia in a Barnes and Noble once, she ran away from me. I swear the 30 seconds looking for her felt like 30 years.

 

Yikes, so scary. Glad you found him!

 

I am glad you found him. I've BTDT twice with the same boy. The first time was at Walmart. We were in the dairy section and he came walking back from produce. I swear we were just grabbing a jug of milk. The second time was at DISNEY WORLD!!! It was a "I thought he was with you" "No honey I left him strapped into the stroller for a reason" sort of thing. We were in a store and he walked out completely. A guy came running in asking if someone had lost a kid because he was running across the bridge. As luck would have it my SFIL was coming back from a ride no one else wanted to do and spotted him. Needless to say, that boy was not allowed out of his stroller the rest of the trip.

 

:hug: Jen!

I dress mine alike in public for the safety aspect, too. What's he look like & whats he wearing? Why, just look at his ID twin!

 

:hug: :hug: I know exactly how you feel. My sister was visiting us with her two boys, who were about 9 yrs old, and 3.5 yrs old at the time. Our big boys (Sean was a little over 7 at the time) were playing together while we cooked lunch, watched the twins and the two little kids (Kaelyn was about 2.5 at the time). I accidentally set the smoke alarm off so we were dealing with that noise as well. I could have SWORN I heard the boys pop their heads in the front door, and then head back outside. So my sis went to call them in for lunch....and they were gone. We live in the country on a very very VERY dangerous, busy and fast highway. We called and called them. Yelled all over the place. Called my inlaws (who live in the same yard as us) asking if the boys were up there. Called grandmother in law (who lives on the other side of me, same yard), asked if they were there. My mother inlaw came down to our house to watch the twins and little kids while my sis and I were yelling and yelling for the boys outside. Both of us terrifed. By this time we're thinking the worst. Either they've wandered into the woods behind us and gotten lost, or they got hit on the highway, or kidnapped on the highway.....you get the idea. A good 15 mins of yelling, both of us hoarse from yelling, I go back into the house to call the police, and by now I'm sobbing, and on impulse I yell both of their names....and they pop their heads out of the bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to both kill them and squeeze them so tight and never let go! I have never been so terrified in my entire life! Apparently, when we thought they went back outside, they actually came inside, quiet as little mouses, and went into the bedroom to play.

Those little buggers can sneak off in a split second and scare the pants off of us parents!!!!! I swear we need to tie a jingle bell to their neck so they jingle when they walk away!!

 

I know it has happened to me but I can't for the life of me remember the details! It must have been so traumatic for me that I blocked it out! So glad you found him rather quickly (though I know it felt like an eternity) and safe. :grouphug:

 

How scary! I get so anxious in busy places for this reason alone! My sister walked away at a bowling alley on NYE last year holding JT to talk to the manager...no one saw him go with her! I was FREAKING out!!!!!!!!!!!! An awful feeling...and it took me finally until we got in the car and DH started talking about it again that I started bawling!

 

Last summer we lost Sydney at the beach. She was in the water with DH and his brothers. I was up at our spot reading a book, and something made me go find them. MY BIL had lost his sunglasses in a wave and was trying to find them. Sydney wanted to go back to MIL, Dani and I. So DH thought she was with us but she wasn't. Scariest probably 5 minutes of my life. Then a lady asked if we were missing a kid. Turns out she had walked sydney to the lifeguard station where we found her.

 

Last year we were camping with my BF & his then 8 year old son. I have a dual screen dvd player in the car and they were watching Toy Story. There was no reason at the time to strap them in their carseats because they were just sitting watching a movie.

BF's DS kept asking to go to the park and his dad kept saying it was too late (around 9:00). Well, he decided to open the car doors and let us know that MY boys told him they wanted to go to the park. Both of my boys have speech delays so them asking to go to the park at that time last year was near impossible. If anything, when they were asked a question, their response was "yes". BF & I were sitting on a picnic table close to the car but did not see him open the one side of the car.

All of a sudden I ask "where is Josh?" and he's like "I don't know". I went into panic mode and started yelling his name. The other campers heard me and started joining in. Like I said, it was about 9:00 out so it was dark. It was maybe 5 minutes later someone found him by the bathrooms.

The one thing that still blows my mind even today was the amount of total strangers who just jumped in with flashlights to help look for him. There were even kids on bikes helping out.

I was not aware at the time that my car has a child lock feature on the doors and I have since changed it over. Now when I close the back doors, they can't get out unless someone from the outside opens the door.

And I no longer trust a now 9 year old to keep an eye on them. To this day if he asks to do something with them, I come along.

 

So glad you found him and everything was ok! What a scary feeling.

I read a thing once about uses for a camera phone and one was to take a picture of our kids as soon as you arrive somewhere. That way, if they get lost you have a picture from that day of what they were wearing and what they look like. (I just remembered this reading your post, will have to try and remember it next time we go somewhere busy!)

 

If it just the kids and I, I take a picture. I seem to have a camera on me at all times so its easy to snap a pic quickly. I also dress my kids in bright colors and pretty much the same color too, usually orange. Something else I've done, is take a piece of duck tape and write my name and cell number on it. In the past, I have tape it to the inside of their shirts on the back. Next time I will put it in their shoes. I tell my oldest that if he gets lost, find someone with a name tag and tell them about the tape in his shoe so they can contact me.

 

I take pictures, too. But I don't think to do it all the time. Usually just at the fair, or when we went to Disneyland, that type of thing. The tape is a good idea. I put my name and address on paper in their pockets or bags, but hadn't thought of tape. One thing that I've always done is to tell them to find a mommy who had kids with her. You hear about people impersonating police officers or clerks to take a child. A woman with her own children will almost always help a lost child, I believe.

 

Excellent idea! Thanks! I will make sure I tell that to my kids the next time we are out.