I lost Charlie- April 2013

There are free admission days periodically offered at the zoo, Red Butte Garden, and several museums as part of our local taxes that go to support these facilities. As you can imagine, those places are usually packed on those days! Despite knowing that (and my better judgement), Catherine and I decided to brave the crowds and go to Red Butte Garden on free admission day. It ended up being not a great idea, because I lost Charlie for the first time, and it was one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me. 

Elizabeth playing after the incident

Charlie sitting (not on time out, just a "sit there and don't move") afterward

If you've ever been there, you know it's large (a whole side of a mountain) and has meandering paths into different gardens. On free admission day, it was wall-to-wall people- like Disneyland crowded. He ran away from me, though a group of people and around a corner and was gone. I couldn't get past the people to catch up to him and then when I did get through, I didn't know which path he had taken. I called and called for him but he didn't answer. I was instantly very worried. 

Thankfully my sister Catherine was there to stay with George while I frantically called for him and searched. Several other moms noticed my distress and joined in the search right away, asking what he was wearing and what his name was. I looked for him for less than 5 minutes before alerting a volunteer- I thought she was an employee, but she wasn't. It wasn't a good first contact because I said, "I've lost my child, what is the protocol for that?" and she said, "Ummmm..." Not very reassuring. 

Once they found someone official for me to talk to, they told me not to worry and they would tell everyone to look for him over the radios. Then they actually said to me, "Just wait here and we will find him." WAIT HERE? As in, stop actively looking for him?! I started to cry and just stood there, scanning the crowds, watching my sister juggle her two kids and one of mine and praying my heart out. I even got on my knees to pray. Catherine told me to stay calm and that I was overreacting, which is possible that I was, but I was just panicked not knowing where he was!

It crossed my mind that someone might have taken him, but Catherine pointed out that the place was filled with moms and school groups, not creepers. I was really worried that he wouldn't know to tell anyone he was lost or how to ask for help, or that he was hiding somewhere. He was lost for about 15 minutes, maybe as long as 20. 

Eventually, the employee standing by me heard on her radio that they had found him and someone brought him to me. He told someone that he couldn't find his mom, which I didn't know he even knew how to do! I'm so grateful that just the week before, his preschool class had had safety week with police officers and talked about being lost and how to ask for help. 

I was crying and holding him and he grabbed my face in his hands and said, "It's okay, Mom." I asked him where he had gone and he said he found a secret passage and climbed over a rock wall. 

We regrouped and were getting ready to leave when baby Mark had an epic diaper blowout. I helped wrangle the kids while Cat dealt with the poopie diaper from hell. She said, "I would have much rather traded you. I would have rather lost a kid than deal with this poop explosion."