Well, I didn't even make it 2 years as a mom without a 911 phone call.
So here's the story....
I left the stroller parked outside next to our car in the parking lot overnight (we live in an apartment complex) because it's too heavy for me to lift into the trunk. I meant to tell Kolby to run downstairs and put it in the car, but I forgot. The next morning around 11:00 am I realized this and panicked. I called Kolby at work and said "Did you see the stroller by the car?? Did you put it in the trunk? Or did someone steal it??"
He said he didn't see any stroller, so I started sobbing thinking someone had stolen it. It was over $200 and I loved it. I wanted to hurry and run down to the parking lot just to make sure it wasn't still there or maybe someone had moved it somewhere else...so I left Kai in the apartment while I ran downstairs to look for it. I know I shouldn't leave a toddler in an apartment unsupervised, but I only planned to be gone 30 seconds and I couldn't carry him down with me since I had Presley. And if I let him walk down with me...well he would just throw a fit and try to run away while we were outside like he always does...and if you've ever tried chasing a very determined toddler in a busy parking lot while holding a baby, it just ain't pretty. So yes, I'm a bad mom and shouldn't have left him in the apartment, but I was desperate to see if my stroller was for sure stolen.
I went downstairs, and there it was, parked next to the car. PHEW! I don't know how Kolby missed it, but oh well, I was so relieved it wasn't gone! I hurried back upstairs, and I had been gone less than a minute. When I left, Kai had been crying at the door. Usually he will stay there crying until I come back. I hadn't locked the door this time when I ran downstairs because I was in such a hurry and had Presley in my arms, and Kai can't open doors.
So I walk into the apartment, and it's just dead silence. Which is VERY unusual for Kai. Usually he runs up to me as soon as I walk in...or I can hear him playing in the house somewhere. But not this time. Seriously it was dead silence. I ran to his room, and he wasn't in there. I ran to the living room and kitchen, he wasn't there either. I was starting to panic. We have a very small apartment, and it only takes about 15 seconds to do a full sweep. The last place to check was my bedroom/bathroom. I had shut the bathroom door before I left, so he couldn't be in there (because he can't open doors). But nope, he wasn't in my room. At this point I was frantically yelling KAI!! KAI!!! KAI!!. No response. Usually he will laugh or giggles or make some kind of noise when I yell his name. Still, nothing but dead silence. At this point I was in full fledge PANIC mode.
Only 1 of 2 things could have happened...either he got out of the house because I hadn't locked the door, (but he wouldn't have gotten farther than the stairs, because I was only gone 1 minute and it takes him 2 minutes to go down the stairs...) OR someone had come and taken him out of the apartment. My mind immediately jumped to option #2, because #1 really was impossible. Someone, (a child sex trafficker in my mind) must have been watching me, waiting for the right moment, and ran in and snatched him before I went back upstairs.
I was on the phone with Kolby at the time, giving him good news about the stroller. I immediately yelled KAI IS NOT HERE! KAI IS GONE! Finally he told me to hang up and call 911. I did, and could barely breathe as I said, "Someone came into my apartment and took my son." I gave them my address and explained how I had run downstairs and came back to an empty apartment with my son missing.
"Are you sure you checked everywhere?" she said. "Under beds, in closets..?"
"YES!" I replied.
She kept asking questions, and I'm over here like GET THE POLICE HERE BEFORE THE GUY GETS TOO FAR!!
All I can say is that it felt like a horrible nightmare.
I ran outside, looking everywhere and hoping maybe he had just wandered out and I would find him in the parking lot or in the yard area. It was also dead quiet outside, and no signs of Kai.
"Is there any water nearby he could have gone to?" the 911 person asked. They were worried about him drowning.
Thankfully the answer to that was no. But we do live by a very very busy street where people frequently go 60mph.
I felt sick to my stomach. This could not be happening to me.
After sweeping the outside area well (while on the phone with the 911 person), I felt like there was no way he was out there. He couldn't have gotten far and I would have found him by now. So he HAD to have been kidnapped from the apartment. There was no other explanation. I ran back upstairs to the apartment, hoping with all of my heart that he would appear out of thin air. But I was 90% convinced that he was kidnapped, which is literally the WORST feeling in the world. It really doesn't get worse than that, not knowing what creep took your kid and what's happening to him.
At some point I realized I hadn't actually looked in our bathroom because A) i swear i had shut the door and he can't open doors and B) i had listened really quick earlier for any sound in there and hadn't heard anything in there.
I tried to open the bathroom door, my very last hope of finding him, and...
it was locked!
I definitely hadn't locked it. He must be in there, and he must have locked it from the inside! I picked the lock, busted the door open, and there he was sitting on the floor giggling.
I have never ever felt so relieved in my life.
Feeling extremely embarrassed, I told the 911 person that I had just found him.
"Ok, I'll call back the officer that was on his way then," she said.
I was still trying to catch my breath and let my mind soak in the fact that Kai was here, he was in my arms, and he wasn't TAKEN. I felt like the dumbest mom in the world. For one, because I had left him in an unlocked apartment while I ran downstairs (even though it was less than a minute) and two, because I had been hysterical on the phone with 911, convinced that a sex trafficker had taken my child.
For all of you moms reading this and cringing at the fact that I left him alone in the apartment...I seriously wouldn't do this with most kids, even for 30 seconds, but Kai is different. He doesn't really pull open drawers and get into stuff and climb on things. He's a pretty simple kid and mostly only touches his toys. And our apartment is almost 100% toddler proof. Was it still wrong? Yes. I know. I've done it a few times when I check the mail, but I always lock the door and usually I only do it when he's in his high chair or something. But I won't be doing it anymore.
And why did my mind jump to "a child sex trafficker must have kidnapped him"?
Because of all those articles I've been seeing on facebook lately. Apparently Utah is one of the most targeted states, and there have been some local stories that have really freaked me out. I get paranoid even going to the grocery store and don't take my eyes off of him. I'm also very careful about which parks I go to, and I try to always go with someone. I hate that we live in a world where I have to worry about this so much, but it is what it is and I think it's good to be fully aware and not naive.
So, I was reunited with boy, and all is good. I might not leave his side ever again though.
