Lost and Found

Michaela and I went to Target today. It’s a huge three story building at a mall. Not our usual Target, but it was on the way home. I needed to return something and wanted to look at their clothes, to see if I could find something cute for the family pictures we’re having taken on Tuesday. We each tried some things on, but one of the shirts I liked for Michaela was too big so we headed off to find a smaller size. I didn’t make her hold my hand, because she doesn’t usually stray and because she’s getting older and I want her to be independent. Well, today that went awry.

I was searching for the shirt when I noticed I couldn’t see Michaela. She often likes to hide among the racks of clothes, so I assumed that’s what she was doing. I called her; no answer. I looked around and didn’t see her. I made a wider circle in the girls’ section. No sight of her. I called her again, a little more urgently, a little more loudly. No Michaela. I knew then that she was lost.

When we went into the Target, we passed a play area on the second floor of the mall that Michaela really wanted to go to. So when Michaela went missing, I had a moment of panic. What if she’d tried to make her way to the play area?!? I knew the chances of that were slim because really, she isn’t a wanderer. I made a last-ditch attempt: went to the infant/toddler clothes section, because we’d also looked at some clothes there. I thought maybe she got lost and tried to find me there. But no. Michaela wasn’t there, either.

I was heading to find a Target worker to make an announcement over the loudspeaker when I saw two women (customers) and a Target employee. They saw me, too, and asked, “Are you Music?” I said yes and one of them said, “We found someone who is looking for you.” And it was Michaela, who was tearful. She ran into my arms and I gave her a big hug.

Michaela said she’d gone to look at something and then realized she was lost. I asked her what she did, if she did what we’d talked about, and she said yes. “I found a grownup and asked for help.” Good girl! I am not happy she wandered, but am so glad she knew what to do.

Michaela was mortified by the whole thing. She asked me to keep it a secret just between us, told me I can’t tell her dad. When I asked her why, she hedged. Finally she said, “I think he’ll be concerned.” She wouldn’t tell me concerned about what, or what that means to her. I tried to get her to tell me more (what she went to look for, how she felt when she was lost, how she is feeling now), but she’d have none of it. She told me, “I don’t want to talk about it, Mommy” and that was that.