I sat down this morning to write a post about how irresponsible some parents can be. I had started out this post quite holier than thou as I told of two separate times in the past week I had seen small children wandering in public and/or dangerous places while there was nary a parent in sight. I was prepared to tell you how, at the zoo last Tuesday, my brother and I noticed a little boy, who could barely walk on his own, attempting to head outside without a grown-up. I was going to tell you how appalled I was when Matt said, after taking the boy's hand and walking back into the zoo, the mother, upon seeing her son holding hands with a complete stranger, says, "Oh, there you are." I also planned to tell you about a little girl, no more than 2, who was wandering aimlessly through a parking lot while cars drove by her. My friend Jill and I were in the process of turning Jill's car around so that we could at the very least get this little girl out of harms way, when the girl's mother, I assume, casually sauntered over and got her. I wanted to say things like, don't parents watch their kids anymore? and who allows toddlers to wander unsupervised?
That had been my plan.
And then I lost Lily.
I didn't lose her at the zoo or in a parking lot, but right here. At my house. I'm watching the kids of some friends for the day so my house is slightly (only slightly) more chaotic then usual. With three added children there has been a significant amount of going up and down stairs and going in and out of doors and moving from the front yard to the back.
I have found myself constantly asking "Where's Lily?"
But then I started making sandwiches. Some want cheese and some don't. Some want mayo and some don't. And one wants peanut butter and jelly (no cheese or mayo, he tells me). I'm desperately trying to follow the directions of the five children able to give me their orders and I suddenly realize I haven't seen or heard from Lily is quite some time. I run upstairs, where she has spent most of the morning annoying the other kids, but she's not there. Not in the basement. Not emptying the drawers in the bathroom either. But the screen door to the back yard is open. I run out yelling her name. I'm wondering if she went into the woods behind our house or wandered into the neighbors yard (they have way better toys than us). I make my way, yelling all the while, to the front yard where I worry about the street and the construction happening just across it. I'm panicking. And I'm thinking about the stupid post I had started and how now I couldn't post it because I'm one of those parents. I don't have a car that fits all of these kids, so I'm wondering how I can drive around the neighborhood looking for her without putting my other five charges in jeopardy.
And then I hear her giggle. I whip around to my open garage door and see her. Buckled in her stroller. Ready to go to the park for our picnic. Watching me run around like a maniac. And laughing.
And I headed inside to rewrite my post.
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