You're safe now

I am so proud of Puppy. He did something yesterday that we had only talked about, but hadn’t needed to act on.

After work I picked up Puppy from daycare as usual. He opened his backpack to show me a note from his teacher. No classes on Thursday and Friday, it’s the Easter weekend. Today (Wednesday, April 20) they are going to have a relax day in class. So her note read that the students are allowed to bring chips, candies, and cascarones to school for an afternoon party. Sounded like fun and now we had a short list of items to buy.

We had just been to Walmart the night before, so since Target is just across the street from it, I decided we could go there instead. So Puppy and I grabbed our cart and started walking up and down the aisles of Target. It wasn’t too busy and a pleasant walk, still for my tired feet. Puppy asked to go check out the toys. I was thinking he might be looking for an Easter item, and yet, I should have known better that he really meant video games like Xbox, play station, etc., even though we don’t have those components at home. Puppy has a DS Lite and so he knew precisely what to look for. We carefully flipped back and forth between another SpongeBob game or the new Megamind game. Actually, it was more like me convincing him he already had a couple of SpongeBob’s and it was time for a change. We got the clerk’s attention and Puppy had his new game in hand. We went back to walking and shopping.

As we continued, the dreaded moment comes up…he needs to use the restroom. I asked an employee nearby to refresh my memory and she gave us the location to the restrooms. He said he could go alone and would find me when he was done. So we went our separate ways like we have many times before. Great, more time for me to shop!

Did I forget to mention that we hadn’t been to Target in months? Take a moment. Sit back in your seats. Relax. You can do that. I, on the other hand, was summoned by the very loud overhead speakers to go to the service center at the front of the store. The thoughts that run through a mother’s mind can be devastating. Of course, my first honest thought was that Puppy detoured into the men’s section and was looking at wallets and may have innocently tried to put a wallet in his pocket to try it out for size…and was caught by security. I know, it’s a terrible thought, really bad, but the thought happened. Then thought number two: he fell down and is hurt. And I think there was a third thought somewhere, something to do with the restroom, but I forgot it already.

Anyway, I finally reach the service center, and there is Puppy with a big grin but with worried sad eyes. He had gotten lost and couldn’t find me. My heart sank, and I went over to hug him. I gave him my best “you’re safe now” hug and kiss. He tells me he didn’t know where to look so he showed the man his wallet that has my old driver’s license in it. He even recited my cell phone number to me, but said the guy wouldn’t call me. I was rather surprised to see him calm and relaxed. Well, I must be a pretty good hugger because he seemed to be over it within a matter of minutes and was ready to pick out his chips and candies. We finished our shopping and headed home with no mention of the incident.

Life is good. Our experience could have ended in with a very negative result. I am very thankful that it was a happy ending.