Puddle in Electronics

When I'm in Target, my mind wanders.

I should never go there with children in tow. Each of the 3 want to see something different.

DQ wants to check out the new DVD's and CD's. K wants to hang out in the Little Einstein section of toys, and My Boy is in electronics checking the Nintendo games.

I want to be by the books, or in the clothes, or trying on shoes, or squeezing the pillows, or...or....everywhere but where the kids are.

We were all in there on a family trip to buy deoderant for Hubby. We did the rare break-up-into-two-groups thing. Never a good idea, may as well send in a search party because we'll never meet up.

Well DQ and I were checking the Halloween stuff. I got bored and headed towards the books. DQ wanted to find the others and one thing led to another and I said, "go find dad and i'll find you all."

For one, I had no idea where Hubby was. I just sent my oldest daughter out into the scary world of Target abyss. I didn't even care at that moment, I wanted to shop.

So i'm casually walking about the books when I get this weird mom-pang in my gut. I better find out if everyone found eachother.

I vaguely remember something about K needing undergarments...darn, should have mentioned that to DQ.

I find Hubby, My Boy and K. No sign of DQ. Uh-oh.

"Did she find you?" "Nope!"

I run off through the aisles of Target yelling for my daughter. I hope that got distracted by the new High School Musical soundtrack and is chilling in the music section.

I back-track my steps and start to panic. She's probably going to laugh at me for worrying, "I'm a big girl mom, relax."

I round the toy section and see her by the camera station with a mom of a friend from school thank god.

She runs up to me and begins to BAWL. Hysterically.

I feel horrible.

"I couldn't find ANYONE ANYWHERE!" she shouts between sobs.

I hold her tightly as we find the rest of the family.

I can never read my oldest, some days she's begging for independence. The next day she's my almost-same-height shadow who wants to cuddle.

Tweens, very unpredictable.

I'm not sure if I should laugh about it all.

Or cry.

49 supporters in group:

  1. Leanne said...

    I hear you. Personally I'm doing both these days.

  2. WeaselMomma said...

    Awwww. Soon enough she will not want to be seen within 500 yards of you. So enjoy it now. Those cuddles will someday be gone.

  3. Anonymous said...

    Yeah I've never done that before... nope... never... Except it's worse when she's autistic and people come up to her and say "Are you lost honey?" and she just looks at them like they're speaking Swahili then walks on. We were in Toronto when we were trying to make reservations at a restaurant at a park and she wandered away... good lord. That ain't fun.

    Anyway, I love Target.

  4. Stephanie said...

    I LOVE Target!!!!!! I can totally understand the desire to shop and therefore forgetting about everything else going on around me!!! At least something in your head told you that something wasn't right. Funny how intuition kicks in,isn't it :)

  5. Sass said...

    First you'll do one, then you'll do the other. You'll cry first, would be my guess. :)

    Thank you for your wonderful comment on my blog. Do you know that you're the first to catch the Uncle Kracker reference?

    Ahhh....if only I could award you with a prize. hee hee.

  6. A Christian Mom said...

    Wow, how scary. I'm glad you found her safe, though!

  7. Kelly Drill said...

    Aaaaw, how awful! I don't look forward to those days. My little one is just starting to walk around on her own at Target and I'm amazed at how far away she can get and how invisible she can become within seconds! Scary.

    I say grab those cuddles when you can and keep her close til she'll no longer have you, which will probably be any minute now...

  8. Brooks said...

    that happened to me once at wal mart! Its a ton of emotions all at once!

  9. Sara said...

    Oh poor D.Q., Man those years are hard and it is even harder to know which one she needs to be at times; independent or clingy. Mine aren't even 6 months yet and I am already dreading those years and strangely looking forward to them as well. This put a little tear in my eye this morning, but I am probably just hormonal. Hug her extra hard for me.

  10. Anonymous said...

    Aww. She was scared. But I would have laughed...once we got home.

  11. mom3crazygirls said...

    I feel your pain darlin' walking that path with you!!

  12. Ranch Girl said...

    Yup - we have officially reached that in between stage - they still want to be a kid, but they also want to be little adults. And, all it does is confuse us!

  13. Tara R. said...

    I'll admit to getting my kids cell phones and using them to find them while shopping in Target. The problem comes when they don't answer their phones. Been there.

  14. Tenakim said...

    awwww- I was like that when I was young.

    My kids can't get 2 steps away without my husband sending out the SWAT team- so, I guess, we'll never have to deal with that with my kids- he truly has BAD anxiety- which probably would make it worse if they ever got separated!

  15. Jamey said...

    Aww poor thing,(both of you)that is a scary moment. Don't feel bad, it happens to all of us!

  16. Annie said...

    Poor girl! We always have to ask each other who has which kid & if we have cell phones...we always get lost from one another!

  17. Ali said...

    Awwww, poor DQ! Don't we all secretly want those microchips embedded in our kids like they have for pets!

  18. Anonymous said...

    oh how scary! im glad it all had a happy ending.

  19. Ann Harrison said...

    Oh my gosh Jen!
    I totally understand what you're talking about. My oldest wants to do everything on her own now. But then she'll slip back and not want to leave my side.
    2 days ago I had to go pick her up from school because she was having stomach problems.
    When she was home she didn't seem too bad to me though. I was asking if things were OK at school. How are your classmates? etc.
    She was pretty quiet and said things were "fine".
    Suddenly I was flooded with memories of being so stressed myself starting around her age and having an upset stomach all the time. I never wanted to go to school. I just wanted to stay with my mom.
    The age of 10 was when so many things changed in my life. I was overcome with sadness that my little girl was headed down the same path. Panic!!!
    Ugh.
    I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want the Preschool years back! :->

  20. Kathy said...

    Aww, we're going thru that too with my 10 yr old girl. What an aweful stage this is. And Target should have a huge game/babysitting room so us moms could do some real shopping!

  21. Amy W said...

    Tough times at Target... I'm glad she turned up when she did! I remember getting lost at Wal-Mart and department stores frequently when I was little, like between 5 and 9 years old, and being upset about it. That age is weird-- you want to give your kids their independence and you want to make them independent (sometimes I want to give mine a big a shove out of the nest!), but it is a struggle when their reactions are so unpredictable!

  22. jenn said...

    I'm the queen of heading to customer service and having my kids paged to the front. It works every time.

  23. Ryan@Cool Dad Central said...

    Oh, I just want to hug you. I lost my dad when I was about that age at the mall. I remember being terrified. It was basically the exact same story. Interesting to read it from the view of a parent, it's been so long since I've thought of it!

  24. The Mom said...

    I rememeber going through a similar experience when I was that age. It's a scary feeling when you feel lost. Glad the day ended happily. I've given you an award http://sexdiariesofamom.blogspot.com/2008/10/sex-diaries-of-mom-receives-award_29.html, and I'm tagging you too http://sexdiariesofamom.blogspot.com/2008/10/ive-been-tagged_29.html

    Have a great day Jen!

  25. Amy Amy Bo Bamey said...

    OMG Jen, I am going through the same thing right now. My daughter is 10 and one day she is like OMG Mom I will be fineeeeeeee I am 10 Sheesh and then the next day she won't let go of my leg. So glad you found her, ugh the Tween Years. She does have a cell phone so she can call me at anytime she is away from me and that has made it easier on her and I. She really never uses is other than to call her dad or myself.

  26. M. said...

    Ahh, my 9 year old son is like that... i won't let go of him most of the time though and he complains about it... but i am such a paranoid mom that it rules my life. i just started letting him walk to school and the store by himself, but only with his cell phone turned on every day!

  27. Clare said...

    oh, she sounds so sweet, and i am sure it she doesn't even know what she wants. i know i didn't! lesson learned for my future trips to target with preteens, ahhh!

  28. Anonymous said...

    You are a good Mom! I'm glad it all turned out well.

    Target. So much to want and buy, so little moolah!

    It's one of my fave stores.

  29. Anonymous said...

    I can so relate to this. One minute Bug wants nothing to do with me, the next she wants to know when I'll be done cleaning up the kitchen so we can snuggle. They're torn between being a big kid and being a little kid. It's a crappy age.

  30. Tena said...

    awwww, I say both... cry and laugh!
    Glad you found her, and hopefully you were able to go back to finding some cool things to buy!

  31. Toni said...

    Awww bless her. That kind of sounds like me when I was younger all brave but not really. And to this day if I am a little upset, all it takes is my Mom's voice or face and I have some tears...

  32. A Crafty Mom said...

    That's so scary, but these things happen, and they so often work out fine. She'll get over it . . . and you have the added bonus of knowing she totally LOVES you guys and doesn't actually wish to be separated from you :-)

  33. Brittany said...

    I would have been bawling as well, I so know the mom-pang you are talking about. THIS is why my boys wear leashes.

  34. Mariah said...

    Sheesh, tweens are a tough group, you NEVER know what to expect, I feel your pain

  35. Anonymous said...

    bubby is still too young for me to now have him on my hip or in the cart (typo said fart. yes, i think that's funny.). i'm afraid that i will do that eventually. esp when i have more than one. DREAD! i'm glad she's ok, though!

  36. Kristy said...

    I know it probably scared both of you to death and I'm glad everything turned out okay!

  37. Jenni said...

    Oh noooo! Poor kid! And poor mom!

  38. Sue Wilkey said...

    Never fail- whenever I'm in a store and I hear a frantic mom calling for their child, I well up out of sympathy emotion. It's just a mother's worst nightmare.

  39. OHmommy said...

    Glad it was a happy ending.

    Everytime we go to Target I remember why I vow that I should go alone.

  40. Barbara said...

    I think you should have a laugh. Sounds like it was just once of those days. Pretty easy to get lost in Target or Walmart or the grocery store or anywhere else that little minds have a different agenda than big ones =). Glad everyone found each other in the end.

  41. Cathie said...

    I have had that happen to me at Kohls and had the undercover police help me find my child. Then we were at another mall and we were in a play area and I turned my back one second and both kids are GONE! I couldn't find them, so call security, they lock down the mall and they were half away across the mall in an upstairs store. Talk about aging 40 years in a minute.
    It happens and I am now happy to report that the no longer take off...but we also don't go anywhere either.

  42. Hollie said...

    i always go to target and leave with a buggy full of stuff...none of which was on my list!

  43. Anonymous said...

    The key to surviving ANY shopping outing, festival, theme park, etc. with tweens is a good set of two way radios. You can wear them discreetly right on your belt. They have saved me from puddles many a time!

  44. The Buntens said...

    Oh, I am so glad everyone was found and is safe. Tweens - so much to say. Hopefully, we can learn from you before we get there!

  45. Shannon said...

    Yikes! Poor thing.

  46. Aubrey said...

    I think it's a Tween GIRL thing. I'm glad you found her. I'm sorry to hear she was so upset!!

  47. Paige said...

    this is what concerns me---I have no kids but am married to a man who was lost in KMart as a little boy---and to this day, will wander off in Target.

    Is there no help for us?

    But I guess that means good for you,as she probably wont be scarred for life!

  48. Merrie said...

    I've lost C at that store before -- it was scary, but they did the door shut down and found him quickly. Then there's the times I've let him think he was lost to help make my point. That always works! Poor DQ, though. I don't envy you the next few years of not being sure.

  49. amelia bedelia said...

    I lost one of mine in walmart one time....even had him paged over the loud speaker! we found him with those big headphones on listening to music in the electronics section! I wanted hug him and ground him at the same time!

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