The adventures of Mommy woman
Published on August 6, 2004 By JillUser In Home & Family

My heart is still racing and my stomach is still in my throat.  My 4yr old got away from me at the mall.  What a nightmare!

My 7 and 4yr olds were holding hands and walking right in front of me when I recieved a cell call from my hubby.  While talking on the phone the boys, still hand-in-hand, jogged off ahead into the book store where we were headed.  What I didn't see was that the 4yr old ran right back out into the mall.

As soon as I entered the book store I saw the 7yr old and asked if his little brother was right there with him.  He took a quick glance and said no.  A wonderfully kind woman asked if he was dressed like his big brother and I confirmed that he was.  She said that he ran right back out of the store and asked me to tell her his name so she could help look for him.

The kind stranger and I, I with the 7yr old tightly grasped, literally ran through the stores flanking the bookstore and he wasn't there.  Luckily, we were right by customer service.  I ran to the woman at the counter and when the words "I lost my 4yr old" escaped my lips, I broke down crying.  My 7yr old was very calm and tried to assure me that his brother wouldn't leave with a stranger.

The lovely woman at the counter told me she understood how scary it is to lose track of a child and assured me that the mall was full of security officers who would find him.  As soon as she picked up the phone with security to say "I have a very upset young woman here who got separated from her 4yr old" (nice way of saying "this woman lost her kid")) the officer said they had a little boy down the hall from where we were that couldn't find his mom.

Luckily, my little guy told a pregnant mom who had a little boy his age that he couldn't find mommy.  I ran to where they said this child was, grabbed him up and had a total breakdown.  I told him how scared I was that I didn't know where he was and to never leave mommy like that again.  Everyone around was very kind and sympathetic and I thanked them all immensely.

The moment I realized he wasn't right there, I immediately thought of the movie The Deep End of the Ocean where Michelle Pfieffer's character had her little boy snatched while he and his brother waited for her to check them into a hotel.  I couldn't bare the thought of having that happen to me.  I am still shaking from that very thought.  That is how quickly it can happen.  I was just fortunate enough that it ended well......this time.

I think I will have to keep the little one on a harness until he can learn not to run off.  At four years old they just can't understand the danger.  It scared him that he couldn't find me but not to the extent of the terror I experienced.  If he were anywhere near as scared as I was, he would never let me out of his sight again.

He is used to being able to run freely amongst the backyards and houses of our three closest neighbors.  He isn't old enough to know that he can't have that freedom everywhere.  We have discussed strangers and the dangers of going with them.  I am realistic enough to know that if someone wanted to snatch him, there isn't a whole lot my little 32lb guy could do.

Now I have to fight my urge to keep my boys under lock and key for the rest of their lives.  I struggle with this all the time.  I know they need to grow up and have experiences the way I did.  They need to learn about danger and how to take care of themselves.  I just want to watch over them constantly for the rest of their lives........is that so wrong?

Oh, my heart hurts.  I think I need a drink or a sedative.  My nerves are totally rattled.  Am I a bad mom?  I could have lost my child forever!  I just can't bare the thought.  Being a parent is really the most stressful, wonderful, maddening, rewarding job you could ever have.


Comments (Page 2)
2 Pages1 2 
on Aug 08, 2004
I hardly see how stating the obvious is stereotyping. I think its highly probable that more men have consensual sex with women under the age of consent (statuatory rape) than the opposite, and I'm quite sure that Department of Justice statistics would prove that out. Im equally certain that the number of legally charged, sentenced, and/or monitored male sexual predators is far higher than than that of the fairer sex.

I think you need a vocabulary lesson, hunny, because the accusation of "stereotyping" falls flat on its face. She was simply stating known facts.

Ciao!

~~DivasRule~~
on Aug 08, 2004
Jill that's so lucky - you've taught your son so well. And you are definetly not a bad mother.

My worst nightmare as a child was being abducted and now my worst nightmare as an adult is having my child abducted - I read the book/saw the movie of the deep end of the ocean and my heart ached so much.

Right now in Australia there's a few news stories about attempted abductions of children in a few different areas in Brisbane. There's the case of Daniel Morecombe a 14yo boy who went missing on the Sunshine Coast 8months ago while waiting for a bus. The bus was running late and didn't stop to pick him up a few minutes later another bus went past to pick him up and he was gone.

And this weekend a 3week old baby was taken out of her carseat while the mother was shopping. She strapped the baby in her carseat and went to the boot to put the shopping and the pram in it when she was knocked down and her baby was taken. It's so sad -police are calling for the people to drop her off at a hospital or police station

There are some really sick people in this world.

on Aug 08, 2004
I hardly see how stating the obvious is stereotyping. I think its highly probable that more men have consensual sex with women under the age of consent (statuatory rape) than the opposite, and I'm quite sure that Department of Justice statistics would prove that out.


Is that because there are not as many female statutory rapers or because the boys ain't complaining? Also consider that the boys aren't getting pregnant, so unexpected "evidence" doesn't present itself.

Maybe someone should start a thread for this on their own blog so the conversation can move there and stop cluttering up Jill's completely unrelated thread?
on Aug 08, 2004
Is that because there are not as many female statutory rapers or because the boys ain't complaining? Also consider that the boys aren't getting pregnant, so unexpected "evidence" doesn't present itself.Maybe someone should start a thread for this on their own blog so the conversation can move there and stop cluttering up Jill's completely unrelated thread?


Good point, sorry I bought it up.Time to move on...
on Aug 09, 2004
Now I have to fight my urge to keep my boys under lock and key for the rest of their lives. I struggle with this all the time. I know they need to grow up and have experiences the way I did. They need to learn about danger and how to take care of themselves. I just want to watch over them constantly for the rest of their lives........is that so wrong?

Just wanted to respond, my heart goes out to you or anyone who has ever lost a child, for a moment or a lifetime. You must protect your children while they are young at all times, and sometimes at all costs. This is an entirely different world now then perhaps even when you were born, especially when I was born(1960). So overprotecting the children in this day and time is a good thing, they will have plenty of time in the near future, to learn about child molestors, Bin-Ladin, women and men pervert, murderers, and the like. You see I live in Orlando, the place where 6 innocent people less than 25 miles from where my 11 year old will start 6th grade today, were brutally murdered over nothing. The majority of the murdered were under the age of 19 years old. Murdered by other 18 year olds!!!! My opinion is that this is another lesson to hold our children as close as we can, smother them if we have too.
on Aug 12, 2004

I figured an employee was a better bet than some stranger.

Gene, good point.  I think my little guy is too small at 4yrs old to know an employee from anyone else.  I am pleased that he went to a "mommy".

Thanks for the comment.

on Aug 12, 2004

May the Lord bless your progeny and keep them safe

Thank you Sir Peter.

on Aug 12, 2004

So overprotecting the children in this day and time is a good thing, they will have plenty of time in the near future, to learn about child molestors, Bin-Ladin, women and men pervert, murderers, and the like

Unfortunately you are so very right girlnascar.  My nightmares are filled with these same things but, thankfully, theirs aren't........yet.

 

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