So I never shared this with you. Mostly because I felt like a giant idiot. In fact, it was 8 months ago and I still feel like a giant idiot.
So it was Christmas Eve. My hubby was working and I was home with the kids. I was still packing because we were leaving in the morning to go to Michigan for Christmas. The kids are playing and daydreaming of Ipads, Legos and American Girl Dolls in their head as I am packing and getting ready for our trip.
Isaac enters the room and says he isn’t feeling well and asks if I will cuddle with him. Ummm yah! Do you ever say no to a cuddle wanter? Especially when they are an 8 year-old-boy? No of course not! You drop everything and get your cuddle on. Meanwhile Kayla is in the craft room making a mess creating a masterpiece.
So I go over to Kayla and tell her Bubs isn’t feeling well and that we are heading upstairs to lay down for a bit. So, Kayla, knee deep in crayons and markers understands where we are heading.
Thirty minutes later the cuddle bug got antsy and decided enough was enough. So he heads downstairs. One minute later he comes back upstairs, because lets be honest, cuddling led to mommy laying there like a bump on a log still warm under the covers, and says he can’t find Kayla. I tell him to look in the basement. It makes no logical sense that Kayla isn’t in the house. 2 minutes later he comes up and says he still can’t find her.
Irritated I have to get up, I go downstairs and start yelling her name. And that is when I see it…the front door is slightly open. I try not to freak because it is completely unlike Kayla to leave the house without telling me. Plus it is friggin cold outside. She wouldn’t go outside.
So I continue to scream her name. Nothing. I am upstairs, downstairs, and then back upstairs again. At this point I start flipping on lights, checking in drawers, closets, and any small space she can fit. I even opened the refrigerator door. Isaac is freaking. I am trying to stay calm but he can tell by my voice I am FREAKED OUT!
After 10 minutes of this shenanigan I call Tim and say “You need to come home. I can’t find Kayla. She is missing and the door was opened.” He tries to get more clarification. And I simply change the tone of my voice and say INEEDYOUHOMENOW. A normally 10 minute drive takes him 3 minutes to arrive at the door.
And then I call the police.
There is just no logical explanation for where she is. She would never leave the house. Never. She wouldn’t be hiding somewhere. Not when she hears the urgency in my voice. The only thing I could come up with is someone entered our house and took her. I can’t possibly see any other situation. There is no way she is in the house. I screamed her name from every square inch of the house.
So Tim comes home and starts the screaming business. I am kind of frustrated because we should be out searching for scary men who take children not screaming her name in our house. I already did that.
And that is when we hear her little voice…from upstairs…in her room, where I had checked and screamed. Wha? Was she hiding from me? I am gonna spank her until next week. Tim runs upstairs and there is the drippy, sweaty, burning up with a fever little girl who had decided she wasn’t feeling well so she went under a blanket and fell asleep.
Then the doorbell rangs. Hi Mr. Policemen. No I am not an idiot. Yes we found my daughter. She was um…sleeping. #momfail
La-Z-Boy understands mom fails. We all have them.
We understand.
Truly.
And we want to celebrate mothers everywhere….mom fails included. I’ve teamed up with the talented Pretty Handy Girl, The Handmade Home, and Thistlewood Farms to give away:
150 – $10 gift cards to Starbucks. Yes I said 150! 
The catch? You will have to fess up and tell us about your #momfail. And one lucky winner will a $500 gift card to Amazon.
Head on over to Instagram to play.
Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. This is a fun giveaway promoted by La-Z-Boy that we wanted to share with you. I was not compensated for my time, nor do I get to win any gift cards, but you do.
When we were building our home I had to take our three girls shopping to look for kitchen cabinets. I didn’t think it would take that long because I thought that when you pick out cabinets you also get them in the stain/color you see and the hardware. Once I picked out the cabinets I was asked what color of stain and hardware we wanted…this took much longer than I thought it would. Anyhow…the two older girls (bored as they were) stuck with me and when we were getting ready to leave I could not find our youngest. Sales people and actually everyone in the store was trying to help me find her. As my panic level increased a cabinet door (that is on display on the floor) pops open with one small child inside. I guess she decided to make her own entertainment. Didn’t know if I wanted to hug her or spank her.
I did nearly the same thing to my parents once, except I took a feverish, heavy nap in the middle of a game of hide & seek so I was between the back of the couch and the wall.
I get that panicky feeling with my own kids if it takes more than 5 seconds to find them – & I walk around with the phone in my hand ready to push the “emergency” button, so I totally understand!
It seriously was the worst feeling ever!
Oh man!!! Of course, you were so relieved that she was just right there the whole time, but it’s definitely a little humiliating when you have everyone else involved in looking for her. Glad she was okay!
Bless your heart! We had a similar incident once (well, just shy of the police part) and it was the most horrible time of our lives. No shame, just life!
I realize this post is older… so maybe my off topic story will be okay! Many years ago, before my husband and I had kids, he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t find me anywhere. He went around the house a few times yelling my name and came back up to the bedroom flipped on the lights and started to get dressed to call the police. I woke up and asked him what in the world he was doing– I was still in bed! It would make sense if I was a tiny person but I am most definitely am not! His sister got him a headband with a light on it- like a miners cap- for the next time this happened. I am, needless to say, a very deep sleeper!
I will never forget the time I couldn’t find my three year old. All I could see was the front door open and the sound of a car zooming off. Thankfully, it was just the mail delivery truck taking off and she had run out to get the mail. In those brief moments before I found her, I really thought I was going to lose my mind. Glad your experience had a happy ending as well!
Hi Chris! Yikes! That’s the scariest feeling, isn’t it? And, can you imagine if your husband had called the police and you were right there in the bed? Ha! Thanks for your stories!