HOW do you lose a child in 400 sq. ft.? AND, when there are 9 others of you in that same square footage at the same time??? I’m still wondering that, my blood pressure has returned to normal, and I am sure that it is all her Dad’s fault.
My contribution to the project was some painting and sealing one day while Dad and the big boys were at work.
Which led to the lost child.
Of course, those of you that have read my blog for any amount of time have probably already guessed that it was Peanut!
Not wanting to stink up the camper with fumes from the polyurethane, that day we had all the windows and doors open. It was beautiful out, and the kids were in and out. Maybe a mom of 11 kids shouldn’t admit it, but I don’t multi-task well (shhh!).
I lost Peanut.
We all lost Peanut.
Since no-one had been ‘assigned’ to watch her, she slipped through the cracks, and no-one had seen her for a bit (course 10 seconds is all it takes for this one to disappear). Kids flew to the water to check the banks even though she knows better than to go to the lake herself. I drove up to the KOA to see if she had started walking up to visit Hannah at work (she and I had been there not long before to p/u laundry).
No Peanut.
Thankfully, when I got back home from that quick 1/4 mi. drive to the KOA, feeling queasy and wondering when one calls the sheriff to report a missing person, Jake was standing at the front door smiling.
By then I was feeling pretty incompetent as a mother because I should have looked there very first; hiding in our closet is Savanna’s fav past-time! She hides in there, peeks through the partially opened door, and ‘scares’ anyone that comes by (especially Daddy when he gets home from work). We all act horrified and she giggles delightedly. We had not thought to look in the closet because both doors were closed all the way. ~ and how is this all her Dad’s fault?
When he was little, one day his mom couldn’t find him – had the whole neighborhood out looking; they finally found him asleep in the closet under the basement stairs. 🙂 Definitely hereditary!
For the record, remodeling an RV is just like remodeling a house – only much worse!!! One night, after the beds were stained, the boys were not allowed to sleep in the back because of the fumes. I wish I would have taken a picture of the sleeping arrangements that night!
Greg slept in the recliner, Eli and Jake took one of the hide-a-beds, Thomas slept on the little couch, and Daniel and Joel slept UNDER the hide-a-bed. (Occasionally the little girls will beg Hannah to sleep on a hide-a-bed with them for fun, and the little boys think it’s a treat for themselves to sleep under it.?.)
Gives new meaning to the term ‘stackin‘ em in like cord wood’ (huh, Scott? hehehe!!!).
I found out later that Greg got up in the middle of the night and slept on the floor – I’m wouldn’t have believed that he could have found room, and I couldn’t believe that he didn’t pull rank and kick Jake off the hide-a-bed!!! (I would have!)
 
  
i have a mischievous one that has given me that feeling several times…and usually, he’s gotten into the truck to play while i’m frantically searching all 5 acres for him.
glad to hear she was safe and sound in her cubby hole!
I had to laugh. Had the same thing happen to me last winter in our stick house with our then 3-year-old. She had gone to hide so she could scare me, but fell asleep back behind the piano. That was a scary 10 minutes for me – it was below 20 that night, and she was in shorts!
What a delightful picture…so sorry for the scare, every mother’s worse nightmare. Glad it had a happy ending. This is definitely one story that will be repeated in the days/years to come. Wishing you a blessed day.