Sunday, December 18, 2011

The worst 15 minutes of my life

So Gabe and I apparently suffered from a severe bout of insanity - and decided to go to the MALL on saturday. We shopped alongside every other family in Boise for a few hours, and after being forced to nurse my baby in a JC Penney  dressing room because every bench chair nook and craany was occupied by annoyed husbands holding purses....we called it quits and headed to cafe rio.

After gorging ourselves on chicken salads we again had a terrible lapse in judgement and decided to take the kids over to cabellas. Its pretty much their favorite place on earth thanks to the fish, stuffed animals, and of course fudge. So we head inside and because we are a freak show with a million kids, both gabe and I grabbed a cart.

As we made our way inside and before we had situated all the kids in the carts - we ironically bumped into my dad, who just so happened to be walking in at the same time. Right then Spencer decided he wanted to get down and he did that thing where he goes dead weight and flings his arms straight up so he is impossible to hold. So I set him down and turned to grab the other cart ...and two seconds later (literally) Spencer was GONE.

We had only been inside Cabellas for maybe 60 seconds total at this point, we hadnt even left the area in front of the doors - but there were so many dang people everywhere I looked that I couldnt tell which wway he had run. As far as i could see in every direction there were people people and more people. I started to panic. Gabe went one way, my dad went the other way. I was standing at the front of the store watching the doors making sure someone wasnt walking out with him. And when the guys returned with no spencer I really started to panic.

We ran up to customer service and told them our 2 year old was gone and started describing his outfit. I was seriously about to lose it at this point and a few moms were coming up to me asking me questions about him so they could help look for him. After another few minutes went by and nobody had found him or seen him my anxiety level was pretty out of control. I went back up to customer service and asked her to announce it over the PA and stop people from going in or coming out of the store. She just looked at me and said everyone was looking for him.

All I could think was that somebody had taken him and walked right out of the store. Hes so little and cute, of course someone would want to steal him. And I felt sick because I had set him down. I had put him down. what was I thinking????

Finally after what felt like an eternity, a lady came up to me and said your dad has your son, hes coming back to the front of the store now. I was SO RELIEVED. My eyes welled up and I literally was seconds away from bawling my eyes out. i have never felt like that before. Sheer panic and terror. Seriously. My dad came walking up with him and told me he was found sitting on a 4 wheeler by the fishing poles, holding a stuffed dog. TYPICAL. I was a little surprised that Spencer hadnt panicked when he didnt see us anymore. He literally took off running and didnt care that he wasnt with anyone familiar. Hes such a mamas boy, but apparently not when sporting goods and camping supplies are involved. All I know is I will never again set him down in a store.

Merry Christmas Kids. You are all getting LEASHES.

8 comments:

Shawn AND Chelsey said...

oh man! that would FREAK me out! shawn lost jax at fred meyer a few weeks ago and i felt panicked just hearing about it!! i wasn't even there! ha! those little guys are fast, huh?? :-)

megan&steve said...

I hate that feeling, I'm getting ready to board a plane and will be extra cautious with my kids in the airport. Thanks for the reminder. Similar situations happen all the time to moms, you are not the only one. Mine happened at a movie theater. Customer service usually comes through, they helped me.

Sherry said...

I know just what you felt - sheer terror. You were the same age as Spencer when I lost you in the Salem Mall in Oregon. The 15 longest minutes of my life. Then a Security guard came carrying you (you had run all the way down the hall and had gone into the Sears store!) Susie and I just gathered up all you kids and we left. I got to the car with items I hadn't bought so I just left them in the parking lot. Scary day!

jayna said...

Those moments age us in a way that no year could!!! BUTTERS!!!!!!

Anna Beal said...

Bahhh haaah. I'm so sorry to laugh but O! M! Goodness! That is the story of my life ;) I totally know the feeling of panic, its AWFUL! So glad Grandpa found him.

Jana said...

I had a panic attack just reading this - SO glad everything ended well.

Kristy said...

That is so scary! I'm sorry you had to go through that. I seriously count my kids everywhere we go now that there are 3. Even though one can't move yet, I'm still paranoid I'm going to forget one of them!

Julia said...

De Ja Vu. This is why Corbin's first trip to Lagoon was spent while wearing a monkey leash and I was stared at by every parent there. I almost cried just reading this LOL just thinking about losing Corbin makes my throat close off and my stomach turn.