Not lost

I remember being young and whilst at the shop being desperate to get to the toy aisle. The toy aisle is the ONLY aisle that matters when you are young. Except for the lolly aisle, but thankfully those kind shop people are clearly in the business of making the shopping trip easier for kids as there is always a selection of lollies/gum/chocolate right by the registers. This makes it much easier as kids can save their whining for the toy aisle knowing they will eventually HAVE to pass some sort of sugar when they leave.
Once we made it to the toy section, there was a need to play with absolutely every toy you could as you may not get your hands on it again any time soon. I loved the Polly Pockets, My Little Pony, Doctor Dreadful Kits, ANY kind of slime, Trolls, and of course Itty Bitty Bins (how a bin became a popular toy is beyond me!).
I remember being so engrossed and hearing Mum say it was time to leave to finish our shopping but deciding that one minute longer wouldn't hurt - I will just catch up!

Being a child often means you have no concept of how long a minute actually is, and I can quite clearly recall the feeling of running to catch up and finding I had no idea which direction my Mum and siblings went. That sudden feeling of realisation that you were lost was horrible!

Tony has many little fears, and being lost is one of them. If we say we are leaving, he hurries and comes with us straight away. I think I have only lost Tony once in KMart and by lost I mean he was the aisle beside me and didn't know I had moved on. I'm sure those four seconds were some of the worst of his life ;o)

I lose Carter regularly....or perhaps more accurately he loses me regularly! I will suddenly turn around and he is gone. For a rather portly little fellow he is surprisingly fast.

This happened a little while back when my Mum was over visiting. Carter wandered off in Tuggerah shopping centre and I went after him. Mum was with Tony and when Mum realised Carter and I were gone, she asked Tony if he had seen me. Tony knew exactly where I was. He showed Mum where I went and told her;

"I always know where Mum is".

Poor boy probably has to with me always running off after our little runner :o) Whenever we finally have searched the shop and find young Carter, a sense of relief rushes in.

The thing is, when I tell him we were worried, he gives a blank face and asks why. Having to state the obvious and tell we were worried because he was lost and we couldn't find him, he will tell me;

"I'm not lost Mum, I am going for a walk".

Although at the time, this always seems a little insane to me, I can see the logic now. Carter isn't lost - he knows exactly where he is going. But from my perspective, he is lost and doesn't even know it.

I know people like this, and sometimes I am one probably even one of them. I may think I have it all under control and am heading in a good direction, but maybe there are others looking at me thinking;

"She is lost and doesn't even know it".