Poor parenting skills

Now, we are not the perfect parents, and with having 4 boys six years and younger, I expected to have more of these problems, but I've only had 2 maybe 3 heart stopping experiences like this one I'm about to tell you all. What is one of the things that every parent fears the most??? Losing a child....or as I like to say misplacing a child.

At church on Sunday night, we were rounding up our kids to go home. Eric gets the boys out to the van, or so I thought. He only had the three older boys out in the van. He hadn't gotten Kaleb. So, I calmly went back in there to find him. (Now note: we don't meet in a church building. We actually meet in a very old public elementary building.) Usually some of the doors leading to great outdoors are left open, not to mention the busy main road right outside the building. Now, let me also say that that the fact that we have lost our child is no one's fault but or own. We weren't keeping an eye on him like we should have been.

Anway, so, like I said...I'm calmly looking through the rooms that are most used for church, and I can't find him anywhere. He's two years old. Where can he be?? I'm starting to stress out. I go tell Eric that I still can't find him while I'm trying to call a panic attack. I go out the front door and look around and see nobody. I just knew that Kaleb had walked over there and leaned to far over the railing and plummeted down there. So, I slowly walk over there and with my eyes halfway closed I peer over the edge...and thankfully...nothing. He's not there. I sigh a sigh of great relief and walk back inside.

Eric has recruited more people to help look for the crazy two year old. One of the ladies walks up and say, "Isn't this his coat?" Great! I started hyperventilating again. I had now became sure that he had taken his jacket off (which he loves to do) and went outside and someone grabbed him. Still faking my calmness. I walk upstairs to look around the classrooms when I hear....."Found him!!"

Those were some of the two most beautiful words that I have ever heard!!!! My heart actually started to beat again although slightly irregularly. He had gone into a side room off to the right of the stage in the gym where we have our church services. (Please note, that this was the ONLY door that I did not check behind in there.) The door had been shut either by him or by someone else, but mostly likely him. It was probably pitch black in there. When I saw him, I grabbed him; and would you believe it, he was actually angry at me because I had interrupted his fun in that little room. Who knows what he was doing, but he was having the time of his life in there. That little bugger!! Needless to say, we were definitely relieved to find our little boy alive and well and, of course, slightly ornery!