One of my most vivid and terrifying memories from childhood was being lost at the Millcreek Mall. I remember standing in front of Sears beginning to panic and finally breaking into tears. It was then that some other mall shopper realized I was lost and took me to that blue (wasn’t it blue?) mall services area in the center of the mall. That’s where all the lost kids ended up – waiting, usually in tears, as the mall staff used the mall-wide P.A. system to page their parents. I was probably 7 or 8 years old. I remember being scared to death and vowing never to let my mother out of my sight again.
Saturday I lost my 4-year-old at Wal-Mart (which is about as big as the Millcreek Mall). I typically avoid taking two kids shopping. It’s just too hard to keep an eye on each of them and try to shop, too. But, my husband was helping his parents with a home project and we needed food, so off we went.
They were running around while I browsed through the active wear and next thing I knew, the little one was missing. I kept my cool – God forbid anyone realized I’d lost my child! But, soon, I realized she was nowhere nearby and I started to panic. Any embarrassment of being labeled a “bad mom” went out the window when I realized she was really gone. I started yelling her name and frantically searching around the clothing racks. I started to attract attention and a couple of other shoppers volunteered to help me look for her.
Just then, I heard “Heather, please come to the Jewelry Counter, we have your daughter.”
I hoisted my older daughter up into the cart and ran (literally) to the jewelry counter and there was my pigtailed preschooler, her big brown eyes and cheeks wet with tears, her nose running and her bottom lip trembling. It was all I could do not to cry myself as I scooped her up and did the mommy’s-so-sorry cradle/rock.
The one good thing that may have come out of this is that it’s unlikely she’ll stray from me next time we go shopping. She happily sat in the cart for the remainder of the hour-long shopping trip.