Lost Episode

It's probably one of the top things a parent is scared of... losing a child. I like to believe I keep an eye out for Yakee most of the time, and have impressed on him time and again how important it is for him to stay close.

Unfortunately... he will test his limits.

While atShopwise earlier, I saw him already making a game of sorta hiding from me by walking in the middle of displays where the goods will hide him from me. He liked that I would have to wait for him to become visible again before I proceed to where I intended to go. I didn't lose my cool but I reminded him to stay close.

As I was checking out bread, I told him again not to wander off. But I think he did the hiding thing again just when I walked around a bread counter and bent forward to check out more bread.

He must have missed me, panicked, and walked away (in the direction of his right) looking for me.

I remained calm, mostly because I was still in denial about him wandering off. But I was already pondering whether I should inform hubs already. I asked the guard nearby if he saw a child matching Yakee's description and gave instructions that should he do so, to hold onto the boy even if the boy tries to get away (him being a stranger).

It was a lucky thing that Yakee didn't wander off outside the grocery (we were at Harrison!) and most shoppers were probably family people. In our prayer tonight, Yakee said thanks that a man found him and told a woman to help him find his Mommy (I am assumming, a husband and wife). They were assisted immediately by a grocery clerk and I ran into them as I was passing the cash registers as I checked each aisle.

Yakee was crying but he still kept on eating his popcorn. The clerk commented that they found him crying but he never stopped eating popcorn.

Yakee cried and cried and cried while holding onto me. Then I carried him while I scolded him (and scared him about how some bad person could have taken him and he may never see us again and vice versa). I informed the guard about having found him, and proceeded to talk to him again about how easy it is to lose each other... and how, if he doesn't mind my reminders, I might lose him in HK (I also added that nobody will help him because they won't understand English, bwahahaha).

Sigh.

I need to brush him up on situations like this one.

*~*

If it had taken longer to find him, I think I'd have run away too!