Lost and Found

Well, Ben gave us quite a scare last night. Here's what happened. First of all, we'd had a hard day, lots of attitude, and I was pretty much fed up with him. After dinner at my mom's we were leaving (around 7:15) to get the kids ready for bed. Ben ran and hid from me in the backyard instead of getting in the car. After a quick look around I called out that he'd better get in the car. When he didn't come I told Jim that I'd send Greg over to get Ben after his meeting got out, and then I left. I got the kids settled in and around 20 minutes later my mom called frantically saying that they couldn't find Ben. They started driving around and my brother biked over to our house past the canals to see if he wandered that way. By now it was dark and I called Greg to come help. I felt helpless and frustrated that I was stuck at home and not helping look. Finally at 8:05 I got a phone call from a lady I knew from the kids' school. I knew she lived in my parent's neighborhood and figured she must have Ben. And she did. Whew! Let me tell you - she was an answer to some pretty fervent prayers. After Greg picked him up he spilled his guts to me and this is his side. After we left he came out of hiding and decided to walk home. My folks live in Barkley Ranch and he made it to Ave. D when it got dark. He decided to go back to my mom's house so she could take him home or call me. Going back into the confusing neighborhood is when he got lost. Julia found him crying and wandering down her street, recognized him and called me. The poor kid had cut his heel running in the dark with no shoes on and confided that he had been really scared to be lost in the dark. As angry as I was at him for running off like that, I was relieved to have him home and I'd never seen him shaken up like that. I eventually let him get to bed after many hugs and a long talk. I was surprised that I didn't have a bunch of grey hairs this morning!