In that exact order too.
It was terrible. Awful.
We had just walked up the long pier from a lovely few hours spent at the beach when the terrible awful (phrase stolen from "The Help") happened. There was a crowd of people standing around at the top of the pier waiting to use the showers/hoses. It wasn't like Concord Mills on Saturday morning crowded, but lets just say there were a ton of people hovering around trying to get sand out of who knows where. Seriously, why hasn't anyone invented a bikini bottom that doesn't fill up with so much sand that it looks like you've had an accident in your drawers? Ladies can I get an amen?
Oh, back to the terrible awful, right.
Husband R heads off to the bathroom to change clothes while toddling A and I wait for our turn to rinse. I'm not very good at sitting and waiting. If I'm not being productive I feel like I'm wasting time. So toddling A and I head over to the one square inch of open seating and I throw the beach bag onto the bench and begin organizing. All the wet things in a pile and all the dry things in a pile. Grab a beach towel, wrap all the wet things up and stuff them in the bag. Grab the dry things and...toddling A? Toddling A?? TODDLING A???
Child lost.
I look behind the bench, behind every single person there, no toddling A. I begin yelling, "Has anyone seen a little girl in a purple bathing suit?" Crickets...really, everyone just stared at me. So I ask again, "HAS ANYONE SEEN MY BABY?" No answer, I think one old lady with no teeth shook her head. I give her some credit, I guess. I run down the ramp towards the beach, I run the other way towards the parking lot. I scream in at Husband R. "I can't find Toddling A, really I can't you need to get out here." To which he replies, "I'm in my underwear!" Great, just great. My baby is missing and my husband is in his underwear.
Mind lost.
30 seconds, that felt like 900 hours, passed. Panic sets in. Then I hear, "Is that her?" And sure enough, here comes Toddling A, toddling, as she does, out of the women's bathroom. She was terrified. Less from her disappearance and more from the insane expression plastered across my face. I ran over to her, scooped her up and told her to NEVER again leave mommy's side. She replies "Toddling A scare Mommy." Nicely put my child, well done.
Cookies, almost, lost.
I held back the vomit and the tears but not the shaking. Husband R, finally, fully clothed comes back out and gives me a sarcastic mother of year award. I refuse to accept this award and we hurriedly and embarrassingly rush off to the car.
The terrible awful happened on Saturday, so I've had two days to replay the scene over and over again. Where did I go wrong? What can I change so this never ever ever ever happens again?
I was so concerned about standing around and not being productive. I was focused on my beach bag, not paying attention. And it's not like any of that really even mattered.
The moral of the story?
Get distracted by the insignificant and you'll lose sight of what's important.
So yes, from now on, there's less of the trivial things and more of Toddling A. Less laptop and tv and more kisses and dance parties. Less feeling like I always have to be doing something and more sitting around snuggling. Not only do I never want to literally lose her again, but I also don't want to miss any of her growing up.
Who care's if my dry towel gets soaked by my sopping wet, sand filled bikini bottom anyways...
