The one minute she’s standing there next to Kai. The next, Kai’s walking towards me and Faith is nowhere to be seen!
Note to self, never expect a child to keep an eye on another child, no matter how brief, anything can happen in a moment, especially at an outdoor concert or any place where there is LOTS of activity!
Heck, I’m new to this two children thing, and when I asked Kai, “where’s Faith”, all he did was point in the direction where he last saw her walking behind him and asked me “mom, now can we go get my Bos Ice Tea?”.Β Annoyed and obviously not understanding the gravity of the situation…
With Kai tagging by my side, I walked around the park, so many darn people, loud music and the constant “mom, can I get my Bos Ice Tea now!”.
I kept reminding myself NOT to panic. All the while worrying about the what ifs, even though I knew she would be okay, I mean this was Muizenberg Park…packed with familiar faces to me, but strangers to Faith…
What if…”she walked towards the toilets near the Main Road”. What if “she walked down the Main Road. What ifΒ “she’s crying somewhere and no one has a clue as to what she’s saying?”. Flip! She won’t even know what to say, shit I’ve not event discussed these kind of “I’m lost” scenarios with the kids!!! What will I tell her parents…
Finally, after searching for what seems like a very long time, I informed a Metro Police Officer and my friend whom I happened to see while searching for Faith.
After doing another search of the park, all the while listening my son nag at my side, “mom, can we go get my Bos Ice Tea” and me trying desperately to remain calm and NOT pull the plug on the darn loud music and stop all the dancers in their tracks!!!
Relief, washed over me when a mutual friend stopped me and said, “wait here, Elspeth’s got Faith”. PHEW! They came walking towards me, Faith a bit teary eyed, but all right, poor child!
Turns out she wandered off in the wrong direction and one of the concert/festival organisers found her and walked around with her on his shoulders trying to reunite her with her “responsible adult”. I was so freaking relieved, I don’t think he realised just how relieved I was.
Missing for 15 minutes, my damn life and hers flashed before me, and I aged 10 years!
Lesson learned! Don’t talk to people when you have kids to look after!! Especially a child who is not familiar with her new surroundings!!
Needless to say, we continued to enjoy the concert, only this time, I was like a hawk! No child would escape me! And Kai finally got his darn Bos Ice Tea!
PS β losing kids for a brief moment, MUST, run in my family since I was told today that my parents lost me in Blue Route mall when I was 5 years old! GASP, now I wonder if they are my real parents, Β OR, did THEY find me at the mall?
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I think this happens to every parent at some point. When Emmy was a newborn, I took her and Angie to Dischem. Angie thought it would be fun to run away from Mommy. I had Emmy in a sling and couldn’t sprint after her, so by the time I made it to the end of the aisle Angie was gone. She popped up at the top of the next aisle, thankfully, and I grabbed her and managed to put her into a trolley.
Melanie, thank you for sharing your experience with me. Phew! You must have been so relieved when you saw her! Caring for two kids has really opened me up to another world of parenting challenges!
Since then I am on hyper alert whenever we’re out in public.
same here π
I know exactly how it feels to lose a child. My youngest was just over a year old and I was hanging washing. One minute she was with me the next she was gone. Even though there was no possible way for her to escape the yard as it’s fully enclosed my state of hysteria painted all kind of pictures. And all this like 10 mins before hubby came home from work. Guess where I found her? In the dog’s kennel! Those two were thick as thieves and Lizzy (our late dog) was her first babysitter too π
I’m so happy you found her and that you guys survived that ordeal. We live and we learn. Oh and off course that Kai got his ice tea.
I tell you, that ice tea request could easily have been the end of me! Happy endings all round π
Oh my goodness Celeste, isn’t it strange how we panick even though we know they must be somewhere inside? Thank goodness for family dogs! Thanks for sharing your experience with me.
Can well imagine that it all came down to a litlle ice tea. Kids!
Experiences are meant to be shared π
Gosh how awful. Once I lost Nicky at a furniture shop but I did find him again. He was grinning, he thought it was funny, but I certainly didn’t. Fifteen minutes is a long time.
Nicky sounds like quite a character! I don’t think children realise just how quick we can go from content to absolute panick the minute we don’t know where they are.
This has happened to us before too. Its super scary mainly because it happens in like a split second. I constantly call out to my kids if we are somewhere we could possibly be seperated. It works 90% of the time. Other times, I grab as many hands as I can hold!
Thanks for sharing your experience with me. Iβm now thinking of investing in an arm leash for her.
My parents left me in a pram in shoprite when i was still tiny lol u and i have so much in common lol im glad everything turned out fine and that she was found safe and sound xoxo
We are soul sisters xoxo, glad your parents found you!