The Slipperiness of Kids

Image: pregnancyhumor.com

I'm sure everyone who has internet access has seen the story of how a Gorilla was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo because a four year old got away from his mother and went into the enclosure. Of course this caused a lot of internet rage to rise up. People were very up in arms that the gorilla was shot even though, from what I read, the boy had serious injuries after they were able to rescue him. And of course, all sorts of awful things were said about the mother.

As a mother, I feel so badly for that boy's mom. Kids are crazy slippery creatures and can make a break for it the second you have your attention elsewhere. And unlike the internet hordes think, it is simply impossible to have your eyes on your kids every second.

Thankfully, I haven't ever lost Emily in a scary place like that. When she was that age, I had a harness for her because I was super paranoid about losing her. It was cute and had bat wings. Of course, there are people out there who think leases on toddlers makes them more like pets than people. I didn't give a crap what they thought though.

I do remember a story from my childhood. I was only about five or six years old. My sister is 18 months younger than I am, and was about three when we all went down to GA to visit my dad's brother and his family.

We went to Six Flags over GA while we were there. I think my aunt and uncle only had two kids at that time, and then my parents had me and my sister. So it was a pretty even adult to kid ratio. Despite this, my three year old sister wandered off. She didn't even know she was lost but it took our party a good fifteen minutes to find her.

I was little and I still remember this. I'm sure my mom remembered that until the day she died. Now that I'm a mom, I can't imagine the fear she must have felt while we were looking for my sister. Thankfully our story turned out okay.

And even though a gorilla died, the child's life was preserved. I know some people might not see it that way, but the zoo did what they had to save the child. And I'm sure that mom is beating herself up more than any nasty comment on the internet can. Her kid was hurt because of it!

So my prayers go out to that family and I hope no lasting damage happens to that little boy or his family. Parents are human too and it only take a second for a curious child to slip away.

The Most Terrifying First Day of School

There have been a few times in my life that I've been utterly terrified. The time when I nearly was plowed into by a semi during a snow storm or the time a fair ride tried to kill me and my mom. But on Monday, I experienced the worst terror I've ever experienced.

Monday was Emily's first day of 1st grade. Since Monday's are my normal day off, both Todd and I took her to school. Usually Todd is the one who will drop her off. Because I work until 3:30 the other days of the week, Emily has to ride the bus home.

I got to the bus stop - which is one house down from ours - pretty early. The bus was late because the main road to our neighborhood was closed thanks to a power line being down. I waited, and all the kids got off the bus - but no Emily.

I talked to the bus driver, and he hadn't seen her, so he called the dispatch and the school. She was missing for what seemed like forever. I got in my car, and headed to the school because they said they would route whatever bus she was on back to the school.

They did call to say they found her while I was on the way to the school. I panic attacked my way to the school - it was probably ten minutes before Emily and the bus driver walked through the doors.

She was crying when she came through the doors, and I was crying. I hugged her so tight, and ended up getting her a Happy Meal for supper because I was already hurting thanks to all the crying and anxiety.

Because of our McDonald's trip and the detour around the downed power line, Emily finally got home two hours after she should have gotten off the bus. She calmed down pretty fast once home, it took me a bit longer.

Yesterday, I felt anxious as it came time for the bus to drop her off, but she had been put on the right bus. But she came off the bus where she was suppose to be. She was very happy about that.

Hopefully this will be the last time for a while that my kid is lost. I don't want to feel that fear again.