So I called 911 today...

[NoMoreJuice!]

...because I thought I had lost a child. A 3.5 year old dcg who had just started Monday and whom I did not know very well.

My assistant and I brought all eleven kids inside at ten to wash up and start preschool. As I was helping a toddler wash up, I came back into the living room and asked "Where's ****?" My assistant and dh were both in the room, and they hadn't seen her leave. I saw her shoes lined up against the wall with the other ten pairs, so I knew she had to be in the house. I started calling for her, then checked the office, master bedroom, classroom, and bathroom, with no luck. I looked under the bed, under and behind the desk, in every closet, in both showers, even in my dog's kennel! I started to panic, ran outside screaming her name, yelled at my dh to drive around the block to see if she had wandered out the front door somehow. About 10 minutes had passed since I first noticed her gone.

You can all imagine my insane, breathless PANIC at this time. So all I could see in my mind was a little, blond, shoeless, scared girl that had been abducted by a bad guy in my front yard, where I was standing. I pulled my phone out and dialed 911, sobbing, and picturing the parents shooting at me and the state shutting my daycare down. Just as I hit the send button, my assistant yelled out the door that she found her!

She was hiding in the big, comfy couch underneath the seat cushions. So all the time we were screaming her name and flying around the house looking for her, she was snug as a bug and refusing to come out. I had even picked up the couch to look under and behind it!! When I told her mom a much calmer version of what took place, she commented that the little girl just loves to play hide and seek!
::There's no FaceSmack emoji, but insert an imaginary one here::

I'm fried. I've had three glasses of wine, and I think I'll go pour a fourth. Please somebody tell me that I'm not completely incompetent as a care provider, and that I'm still worthy of being trusted with these precious kids.

[Thriftylady]

You are fine. I lost my own son when he was two and the only kiddo around! He had fallen asleep on the living room floor and I threw a blanket over him. I was so tired that day I fell asleep on the couch. My mom came by and was going to my brothers and my son woke up and wanted to go with her so she took him. I laid back down, woke up later found his blanket on the floor and forgot my mom had come to get him. I felt so stupid when I was about to call the police and my husband reminded me that mom had him.

[KiddieCahoots]

Omg! I'm so sorry, and no.....you are not incompetent. Although you may spring a couple grays from this.
Go for it! Have that fourth glass, and put cat bells on that child!

[Cynthia]

Yes, you are a competent as a care provider, and you are worthy of being trusted with these precious kids. It would not of hit you so hard if you were not.:hug:

[Wubby]

Nope, not incompetent. My hider hid in the shower with the door closed. Shower door always stays open now..... Pretty sure most providers have had a " Oh crap , so and so is missing moment" If only for a second or two.

[AmyKidsCo]

Yikes, how scary!

Totally not incompetent.

We lost our 19 yr old when she was 3 or 4, in a store. She wandered away and sat in a rocking chair. An associate picked her up and carried her through the store, looking for her parents. I was wearing my "#1 Daycare Provider" sweatshirt at the time...

We lost our 15 yr old when he was 2-3. He got up before anyone else on a summer Saturday, unlocked the door, went into the unattached garage, got into the car, then couldn't open the door to get out again. I have no idea what time he got up, but we found him around 8 - way before it was too hot to be dangerous.

We lost our 7 yr old when he was 2. My parents lived 2 doors down and I was always paranoid he'd try to walk to their house by himself. His older sisters (12 & 14) were babysitting, and when we came home they'd been so engrossed in their TV show they didn't know where he was. We finally found him sound asleep behind the rocking chair one of them had been sitting in.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

Oh, my gosh, I know that panic! I had a mom come to pick up her child once, about 1/2 an hour after we'd come in from the playground. He was nowhere to be seen. I knew he'd come in with us, but after looking and looking and calling and calling and with his mom calling and panicked, I doubted myself and was sure we'd somehow left him outside. I ran out and all around the school, looking and calling in a panic. It was winter, and so already dark out. Terrifying. Went back inside to find he'd been hiding under a table the whole time. The legs on the table had been sawed off so it was only a few inches off the floor, so we couldn't see him.

Good for you for being willing to embarrass yourself by calling 911, and for explaining the whole thing to mom. Both must have been so hard.

You deserve your wine. :hug:

[midaycare]

I'm sorry about your day, you poor thing!

It's so easy to lose sight of a child when they are running around all the time.

:hug: Tomorrow will be better!

[Bookworm]

My DD did this twice. The first time she was around 18-20 mos. she liked to play with the pots under the sink. One day, I left her in the kitchen to go to the bathroom. When I came out, she was gone. I flipped out. I ran through our apartment going crazy. I found her under the sink. The one place I never thought to look.

The second time, she was 4 and we were in the fabric store with my mom when she decided to hide under a rack of fabric. They closed the store and and everybody looked for her, customers included. When we found her, she thought it was funny. Needless to say it wasn't funny after I got to her.

[cheerfuldom]

This is one of the few things that I REALLY get onto the kids about. They are in big trouble if I call for them and they don't respond.

[Josiegirl]

This is why I swear we all need a giant velcro wall, stick 'em up there so we know exactly where they are all day.
Glad you found her and didn't have to call 911 after all.

[daycarediva]

This is one of the few things that I REALLY get onto the kids about. They are in big trouble if I call for them and they don't respond.

This exactly. When I say your name, I don't care HOW you respond but you WILL answer.

I have an autistic son who is a runner- there is no way to put into words that panic, it's horrific.

:hug:

[Play Care]

Nope. This is a child who *purposely* hid on you.
This isn't "oh we forgot to do a head count" "I just turned my back for a minute!" or "I left a child in the car at the park for hours and didn't even miss them"

Every child in my care would be getting a firm talking to about what they need to do when Mrs. k is calling their name, and why "hiding" from adults isn't allowed in my program... They can play "hide and seek" at home with mom and dad. And little Miss would be right with me for a long time until I was sure she could remember that rule

ETA: excuse spelling errors, on my ipad and it's acting up!

[DaveA]

I have an autistic son who is a runner- there is no way to put into words that panic, it's horrific.

:hug:

This is my daughter. 2 calls to 911 over her bolting when she was younger. Not counting the number of times we had to tear the house apart looking for her. From what you've described, you handled it as well as could be done. As for dialing 911- they would rather have a dozen calls like this (they're not "false alarms" or "overreactions") than lose vital time in the case of a true emergency.

[melilley]

:hug: You are NOT incompetent!
As pp's said, this child purposely hid on you and you care too much to be incompetent. I've had it happen and I know the panic feeling! Please don't be hard on yourself!