Lost child panic

I turned around at a birthday party for a minute this week, and when I turned back around, my 4-year-old daughter was gone. GONE.

As any good mother would, I completely panicked. And it’s not like we were in a grocery store where I could cause a hysterical scene so everyone would pay attention. I was in the middle of a pumpkin surrounded by a thousand screaming moms, running kids and intricately designed corn mazes and corrugated pipe tunnels.

I ran to the exit and flagged down a festival worker. She calmly got on her intercom and described my daughter to the other intercom people in the park. She then instructed me to stay calm and to stay with her.

Umm … no way. I could not just stand there, hoping someone would find a blond girl in a hot pink coat. Didn’t this lady understand that my daughter was most likely kidnapped and already hooked up to a drug IV and sold into the European sex trade?

I made intercom lady follow me back to where I lost Nicole, and as we neared the spot, my friends waved frantically to tell me they had found her. I, of course, burst into tears.

Apparently, she had simply gone to do the slide next to the picnic area. She had even asked if she could go play, but I thought she meant with the other kids under the party tent.

All in all, the entire ordeal probably lasted only about five minutes. But to me, it was an eternity of panic. I’ve never felt so helpless and scared in my life. When we got home that day, I even carried my sleeping daughter into my bed so I could snuggle with her. I didn’t want to let her go.

And now, days later, I keep reliving the entire situation. I wonder if I did the right thing. If she had really been lost or kidnapped, would my actions have helped or would I have ended up with a missing child? The idea haunts me.

Have you ever momentarily lost a child in a public place? What do you think is the best plan of action in such a situation?

Erin Stewart is a regular blogger for Deseret News. From stretch marks to the latest news for moms, Stewart discusses it all while her 4-year-old daughter crams Mr. Potato Head pieces in her little sister’s nose.