Losing Track of a Child

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I read about a three-year-old who was accidentally left in a corn maze (should it be corn maize?) overnight. I got this a-maize-ing news from other bloggers, not our local newspaper. The details and excuses have probably been rehashed many times. I’m here to write about my experience. I lost my son. I lost track of my son for hours. It happened just last night.

Here is a photo of him at age 3 with his sisters.

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Last night I heard him go in the bathroom when I headed for my computer. Running water was my clue that he was taking a bath. I took my last quick peek of the evening to see what blogs and email had been posted at the end of the day. As usual, I was not aware of time passing. I was there two or three hours before stumbling to bed. During the night, I woke and wondered if he had drowned in the tub, but I wasn’t alert enough to check. It was with relief that I heard my husband walking in and out of the bathroom this morning. He would surely have noticed a dead body floating in the tub.

Here is the most recent picture I took of him with his Aunt Barbara and Uncle Thom. He turned 38 just a week ago and is still in good health, despite my losing track of him last night.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

26 thoughts on “Losing Track of a Child”

  1. This confirms we’re friends, Anne. I heard the story about the child lost in a corn maize too (and don’t recall where). Isn’t it true, the we never forget are usually the hardest part of parenting? I know fewer people that never lost a child for a while than parents that have. Including me. ❤

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  2. I don’t think you have to worry about your son. He looks like he can take care of himself. I try not to be judgmental about losing kids or leaving them someplace for a minute. They are as quick and wily as a dog who wants to get out of the yard. I was surprised it took until overnight to miss him but as I remember the story, there were something like 10 kids.

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  4. Lol. I am in my mid-late thirties and my mom makes me call her every morning when I get to work so that she knows I got there safely. Once a mom, always a mom! But it’s nice to have someone care:)

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    1. We’re Lutheran, so we’re very aware of the 500th anniversary of the reformation. John’s sister bought a sweatshirt for at least six of us — herself, her husband, the other sister, her husband, and us. I love the sweatshirt for two reasons — the message and the warmth. It’s the heaviest one I’ve ever had. I wore it this morning with a light windbreaker over it and was comfortable walking in 34 degree weather.

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  6. I lost my daughter at JC Penny’s once, so I had them broadcast for her over the intercom. That delighted her so after that, she would lose herself in order to hear her name announced over the intercom, often we were standing not two feet apart but she had told the nearest clerk she was lost. We really had to watch her. I guess it makes sense she became an actress. LOL Those intercoms are now gone, these days it would be an amber alert and no names or anything else would ever be broadcast.

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  7. Hi Anne, Aren’t sons wonderful…I have two and they are right around the age of your son. It’s good to be home and back to catching up with blogging friends. Have a lovely week. Kathy

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  8. Also forgot to mention…my parents lost me in the city of Pittsburgh, PA. when I was only four years old. They still talk about the horror of the moment they realized they didn’t know where I was. 🙂

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  9. I think it was in a big five and dime and I went downstairs to find the rides…the 10cent horses, etc. I remember, but of course, not as well as they do!

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    1. I remember only one time being separated from my mother in a department store in Memphis. I wasn’t paying attention and simply stood still. She was the one who moved! I looked about and couldn’t see her. Panic! She wasn’t lost for long, so I didn’t have a melt down. Come to think of it, she may not have realized we were separated.

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