Code Adam

While the boys were having their Boy's Night, I ran some errands with Laura and Grace. Our first stop was at JCPenney where I had to pick up some clothes for Laura's upcoming birthday. Laura is currently going through an "I do it" stage. And it applies to everything. She wants to cross the street by herself without holding my hand, she wants to walk through the store by herself without holding my hand, she wants to get her own food, she wants to change her diaper, really this list could go on and on. In most cases I try to let Laura do things on her own, unless of course it is something dangerous (like crossing the street by herself... um, no way!).

On this particular outing Laura was walking close to the stroller (which had Grace in it), but refused to hold onto my hand or the stroller. We had tried on several outfits and I turned around to grab a different size off the shelf. When I turned back around Laura was gone. I looked in the immediate area, but didn't see her. We were right next to the shoe section (anyone who knows Laura knows that she loves shoes) so I looked there as well. Still not seeing her I then proceeded to look just outside JCPenney's entrance into the mall, which was right next to the shoes. Laura had seen some cars out there earlier and wanted to see them so I figured she might be out there. After still not finding her I went back to the original area and looked a little more. At this point I was starting to panic and Laura had been missing for about five minutes. I finally concluded that I was not going to find her on my own and approached a store employee for help.

The store employee immediately got on her walkie talkie and called a Code Adam. After getting the description of Laura, all I could do was wait while the store employees did their thing and looked for her. It was the most nerve racking five minutes of my life. After about five minutes a guy got on the walkie talkie and said that he had found Laura, but that I was going to have to come get her because she wasn't going anywhere with him. Ha! Laura and that attitude! I quickly ran to find Laura - who happened to be in the Disney section of the store, on the complete opposite side of where we had been - and immediately started crying when I found her. She looked somewhat confused as to why I was crying and why some random guy wouldn't let her leave. After hugging her I didn't know whether I wanted to scream and yell at her because I was so angry or just hold her because I was so relieved she was ok. I opted for the latter. :)

Laura was only missing for about 10 minutes, but they were some of the most terrifying minutes of my life. I am grateful that there is such a thing as a 'Code Adam' to help find missing children in stores. I'm even more grateful that nothing happened to Laura.

After that adventure I am seriously considering getting a leash for the child. People can give me all the dirty looks they want. But seriously, it's either a leash or the double stroller from now on.

So glad this little one is ok!