Missing Maida

Last night I was able to go out with some friends while Erik kept the kids. I had a great time alone away from the kids (for the first time since before Skogen was born), and I wish that I could say that I also had a great shopping trip yesterday, to purchase an outfit for last night, but if I did, I would be wrong...

I needed a black dress for the party that I was going to attend, but I only had one and it wasn't the most flattering dress, so I headed to Target with the kids to find one. Shopping with the kids isn't very easy in the first place - add on trying to manage two kids running around the dressing room (and looking or crawling under the door and into the next stall) while trying to try on dresses... that was only the beginning.

After (painfully) finding a dress that actually fit and would work for the party, I took a detour over through the kids' sales racks. Within minutes of arriving there, Maida was saying, "Oh mom, look! This would be soooo cute on Skogen," and the next thing I knew, she was gone. Usually when this happens (yes, it's happened before), she's usually just standing behind me. So, I turned around, but no Maida. I circled that particular rack. No Maida. I looked in the rack and around and in surrounding racks. No Maida. I had been saying her name while looking, but not too loud because I didn't want anyone to think that I was a bad mom and had misplaced my child! But soon I found myself saying her name a little louder, while my hands started to shake. I quickly headed over to the shoe department (which was nearby) to see if she decided to go try on shoes (one of her favorite things to do at Target), but she wasn't there. As I headed back to the racks where I lost her, I quickly glanced through the shelves where she scurried up and hid last time we were there. No Maida. I made a few more circles around the racks, now yelling her name as loud as I could - I was starting to panic a little. No Maida.

I glanced down at my cell phone and realized that it had been about 10 minutes since Maida had went missing and it hit me that that was enough time for someone to take Maida and get out of the store. I started feeling light-headed and sick to my stomach. I leaned on the cart for support while I looked for someone in a red shirt. Finally I ran into a really nice Asian girl in a red shirt. I was so scared at this point, but embarrassed at the same time, so I remember grabbing this lady's arm and saying in a really soft voice (so no one else could hear!), "I think I've lost my two-year-old daughter." She immediately grabbed her radio off of her belt and screamed, "CODE TWO, INFANT! CODE TWO, INFANT!" Within seconds another lady came across the loud speakers screaming, "LOCK DOWN! LOCK DOWN!"

Swarms of employees filled the hallways of Target. They locked the doors of Target so that no one could go out or come in. The really nice Asian lady asked me for a description and luckily I decided to dress Maida in her light purple sweatsuit, even though it was a little too small for her, so it was easy to describe what she was wearing. I remember also telling them that she had curly hair.

In what seemed like hours (which was actually about 15 minutes), everyone was on the lookout. Everyone was scrambling. I started thinking more about kidnapping and remember praying, "Oh dear Lord. Not me. Now now. Pleeeeease, no. Please not me - not now." As they were asking for her description a second time, someone came across the radio that said, "I think I've got her over in sportswear!" I started breathing again.

An employee escorted me over to active wear, where I spotted my silly little mischievous Maida standing with a Target employee and a BIG smile on her face. I immediately said, "There you are! I was so scared," while I bent down to give her a hug and kiss.

She said back, "Yeah, mom! I was playing hide-and-seek and I was in the clothes and I even shut the door so that you couldn't see me."

I was so embarrassed that I wasn't able to just find her on my own, but thankful for the help all the Target employees were. It was a very awful experience, even worse than my Target experience back in February, and when we got home I had a good long talk with Maida about how we don't play hide-and-go-seek in the store and if Mommy is calling your name, you answer!