Lost and Found - Day 1 in Louisville

Today was a day of big firsts. The boys first trip to the zoo and the first time I've lost one of my children. Really lost.

The guys both had to work today, so Berry and I decided to take the kids to the Louisville Zoo. The weather was amazing and after a full day in the car, it sounded like a great idea to get the boys out and let them get out some of that pent up energy. All was going well. We saw King Louie (the albino alligator), giraffes, snakes, turtles, flamingos, llamas and lots of ducks and geese (Bug's favorite). Then we got to the big playground and let the kids run. Little Man headed straight for the slides and Bug spent the first few minutes trying to decided where he wanted to be. He finally decided on a set of steps at the opposite end of the playground from where the slides were. I could see Little Man and didn't think much of it... until I couldn't find him anymore. I passed Bug off to Berry and started to search. I went around the playground a few times, checked picnic area and the train station next to the play area. He was no where to be found. I went back and forth between telling myself he would be ok, we would find him and imagining the worst possible scenarios. We quickly found a zoo employee and someone passing by noticed what was going on. They told us a lost boy had been found by the bathrooms. We headed that way and there were a few people by the restrooms who confirmed that they had indeed found him and taken him to the Zoo offices. I was relieved, but still anxious to have him back with me. They put me on a tram to the front of the park and I walked into the offices to see, Little Man hanging out with the ladies that worked there, trying to eat his sticker. He saw, me and came running, "Mommy!!! I found you! You left me on the playground, I lost you." What a relief to find him. They gave us a ride back to the far side of the park to find Berry with the kids. We spent a lot of time talking about what had happened. Specifically that Mommy did not leave him at the playground! We also talked about not leaving the playground without Mommy, that it scared me and I was worried about him. We also talked about the things he did right... finding an adult and telling them he couldn't find me. The man in the office said he kept telling them that Mommy and Daddy were at work. So now we need to work a little on what to tell adults when you can't find Mommy or Daddy. I was hoping the whole experience would have some impact on him running away from me, unfortunately when we got back to Berry and the kids, he took off again - straight for the slides.


I'm glad we survived this one and I really hope it doesn't EVER happen again.