It takes 10 seconds
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Children are largely to teach you the meaning of terror. Before I became a father I wasn't really scared of anything or anyone. Once she was born, I was scared of all sorts of things.
"The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell." Simone Weil
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Scary AF.
My biggest scare was a similar story when he was 7. But at fucking Disney World. The worst was finally seeing his terrified face.
After that, literally that very same trip, I had him memorize my number and said if he’s lost to approach a mom or grandma and ask for help.
@jon-nyc said in It takes 10 seconds:
Scary AF.
My biggest scare was a similar story when he was 7. But at fucking Disney World. The worst was finally seeing his terrified face.
After that, literally that very same trip, I had him memorize my number and said if he’s lost to approach a mom or grandma and ask for help.
Ah Disney World! I bet they have a bunch of lost kid calls all the time. Our 7 and 4 year old know to "ask a mom (or cop)" if they are lost, and the older knows our phone number, but the 2 year old... tough age. Smart enough to know where to go, but not smart enough to LET ME KNOW SHE'S GOING
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What a relief. My palms were sweating reading the story. I bet the cops felt good about being able to help.
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Children are largely to teach you the meaning of terror. Before I became a father I wasn't really scared of anything or anyone. Once she was born, I was scared of all sorts of things.
@Mik said in It takes 10 seconds:
Children are largely to teach you the meaning of terror. Before I became a father I wasn't really scared of anything or anyone. Once she was born, I was scared of all sorts of things.
Ain't that the truth. I wasn't too concerned about her wandering into the woods or someone grabbing her, although the thought does creep into your mind, but there was a weird feeling after triple checking the small playground and not seeing her of "I literally have no idea where in the world she is".
@Axtremus no air tags. Might be dumb, but I'm trying to give them as "free" of a childhood as I can. I guess we all try to replicate our own childhoods to an extent... it's odd to think about what I did in the 80s vs kids now...aka take the bike with my brother and go miles away exploring creeks for hours on end. I know you all have even more extreme versions too, lol.
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@Mik said in It takes 10 seconds:
That's a long way for a 2 year old.
Yes. Quite.
I’m so glad she was found 89th! Time really does slow down in that moment, doesn’t it?! You’ll never forget this evening. My gosh. So scary.My moment happened when my son was 3, in a small department store, when he climbed out of his stroller as I was paying for stuff. I turned my back for a moment. The store was packed, smack dab downtown with 3 exits out to: 1) the train platform, 2) the drug-users & noontime office madness street fest, or 3) the busy street with multiple bus stops & taxis. My heart literally stopped. The only thing I thought to do was yell: “[His Name]! Stay where you are! Don’t You Move!” .. or something like that. Then the cashiers & security got involved. Somewhere, near the train exit, someone found him hiding under a rack of scarves. He was oblivious to my state of panic.
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@Mik said in It takes 10 seconds:
That's a long way for a 2 year old.
Yes. Quite.
I’m so glad she was found 89th! Time really does slow down in that moment, doesn’t it?! You’ll never forget this evening. My gosh. So scary.My moment happened when my son was 3, in a small department store, when he climbed out of his stroller as I was paying for stuff. I turned my back for a moment. The store was packed, smack dab downtown with 3 exits out to: 1) the train platform, 2) the drug-users & noontime office madness street fest, or 3) the busy street with multiple bus stops & taxis. My heart literally stopped. The only thing I thought to do was yell: “[His Name]! Stay where you are! Don’t You Move!” .. or something like that. Then the cashiers & security got involved. Somewhere, near the train exit, someone found him hiding under a rack of scarves. He was oblivious to my state of panic.
@blondie Oh man that scenario is so much worse! I at least had the "comfort" knowing that my daughter was somewhere in the crowd in a parking lot that is connected to the police and fire department.
My mental gymnastics even now is trying not to think of what my daughter was going through as she walked in the crowd, lost, not knowing where her mom/dad were. I'd like to think she was walking merrily along but really I'm guessing her whole world was starting to crumble around her in confusion. Probably even worse if the kid is a tad older and "knows" what they are missing, like @jon-nyc 's at Disney.
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seconding and thirding (etc) all of the above comments.
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In my family ( meaning my sibs) Its been almost comical how they never let me forget that I got lost twice. Once at sea world in Florida at ge 5 where my mother thought I fell into a shark tank, I don’t know how long I was missing but I was found at some point. Then at age 7 when I was taught if I get lost to tell a policeman (I obviously wandered a lot as a kid..still do, I think) I got lost at jfk in what was then the international arrivals hall, and me being the smart one approached someone in a uniform thinking it’s a policemen an (later I figured it out that he was a cleaning janitor) who took me to the info stand and soon heard over the PA will the parents of bachophile please come get their kid (that would never happen now, no public calls of names) and I was found.
My sibs still remind me and it’s been 60 years. -
I forgot to update ya'll. Last weekend (like 8 days ago), we were at another city summer festival with fireworks at the end. We got out spot for fireworks and our 3 kids had light-up lightsabers they were play fighting with other kids with, about 15 feet in front of us. It was dusk, nearly dark, with firework set to start in 10 minutes. In a blink of an eye I started looking for our 2 year old again who was with the kids, and of course... MISSING. We were next to a paved walking path so my wife went right, I went left, and long story short... our kid had wandered down the left and 2 moms found her and brought her back as I was walking in their direction.
DEJA VU.
Also, WTF. Our kid is a wanderer!
On a related note, yesterday we were at the Twins baseball game and found a 6 year old boy crying and freaking out he couldn't find his parents, so as we flipped the script, I put him on my shoulders and we stood there as a few fellow parents tried to find his parents. His dad showed up about 2 minutes later.... he seemed a little ungrateful to be honest. He said "I only left you for 5 minutes", what a dick.
