“Hey, just wanted you to know that we found your son wandering in the the parking lot. So we brought him back in for you.”
The range of emotions that flooded our minds at that very moment.
Fear.
Anger.
Relief.
Joy.
Guilt.
Embarrassment.
Confusion.
Gratefulness.
While at a restaurant tonight (as a side note - supporting an awesome adoption cause of our buds, Jeremy and Jennifer), our son (who is 3) got up and proceeded into the play area to play with friends. We saw him go in, but apparently not back out. An alert patron at another table graciously brought him back in and let us know what had happened. He went looking for my car, by himself.
Why? We still don’t know.
After the anger of him going out by himself, and joy and gratefulness of learning he is now back with us safe had subsided… the what-ifs started quickly in our minds.
What if…
…he’d gotten hit by a car in the parking lot?
… wandered even farther away and got lost?
… worst of all, someone had picked him up and taken him away - possible forever
Beyond a nightmare.
All the times he may scream and cry, throw tantrums, hits others, pee on the carpet while potty training, break a beloved item in the house, won’t go to sleep, shouts no at everything, etc… - it pales so far in the moment of that thought tonight…
…What if he was badly hurt, or worse… gone?
Is it worse/better to know they are missing and find them, or to have never known they were missing at all - until they return?
Feeling… like the worst parent(s) ever.
Yet so, so very grateful he’s in bed asleep - safe, in the next room. (just wanted to share this with our online community. thank you for reading this and sharing in this situation with us - no matter where you came into this story.)
