I was in the store not too long ago when I noticed a young woman call out a boy's name with a not-quite panicked tone. She did not receive a reply and she called out again, a pitch higher and slightly louder. The third time she called out, she was in an all out panic. When the store employees put out an alert and found her four-year-old playing with the electronics nearby, my heart went out to her and the memories of my own bad-mommy moments came flooding back.
I've lost Kid 5 twice - in our house. The first time she was not quite two. She was being a good little girl taking a nap in her crib, in her bedroom, with the door closed. At some point I quietly opened the door to check on her since she had been asleep longer than usual. I was shocked to find she wasn't in her crib. My head swiveled quickly as glanced around the room where I saw nothing amiss and no child anywhere. I looked in the closet, under the crib, and behind the rocking chair to no avail. I ran out of the room and searched the house. She was nowhere to be found. I called to her over and over, and didn't hear a single peep, which was highly unusual for Kid 5. I went back into her bedroom and considered where she could have disappeared to and how. Then I saw the curtains quiver. Kid 5 had climbed up on to her dresser that was against the window, pushed aside the curtains, somehow slipped through the blinds, and wedged herself between the top of the dresser and the window where she sat on the window sill, completely out of view. At least from inside of the room. The dresser was moved a nano-second after pulling her out.
Nothing however, compares to the Second Great Escape of Kid 5. It was a nice Saturday afternoon when Kid 5 was about three years old. Kid 2, Kid 5, and I were the only ones home. I was watching television with Kid 5 in the office at the front of the house. Kid 2 was at the kitchen table eating and watching television. I have to point out that from the doorway of the office you can see the kitchen table immediately ahead. We're talking a straight shot - if you were golfing and your drive put you here, we're talking birdie; it's that close.
When Kid 5 asked for something to drink, I sent her to the kitchen and asked Kid 2 to get her some milk. I continued to watch television as I awaited Kid 5's return that never came.
A few minutes later, I got up and looked toward the kitchen. I saw Kid 2 still at the kitchen table. I asked him where Kid 5 was and he said he thought she was in the office with me. He said he gave her some milk and she walked back toward the office. It never crossed my mind that the front door was between the kitchen table and the office. I checked the bathroom as Kid 2 went upstairs to look for her. We both called out to her and got no response. Kid 2 checked every room upstairs and when he yelled she wasn't up there, I was out the front door at a dead run into the cul-de-sac yelling Kid 5's name. Not a soul was out and I ran down the street to check the little park on the corner. There were no kids at the park, much less Kid 5. As I ran back toward the house, Kid 2 was already knocking on the neighbors' doors and a couple of neighbor kids were looking for her too.
Kid 5 was found a couple of houses down, sitting on a porch swing, drinking her milk. I guess I should have bolted and latched the front door. Locks are supposed to keep people out, but I guess in our case locks are necessary to keep Kid 5 in.
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