So I called 911 today...

[Unregistered]

I think that you are an awesome provider and you took every precaution
This can happen to anyone she hid on purpose
I would like to know what the moderators think though

[Blackcat31]

I think that you are an awesome provider and you took every precaution
This can happen to anyone she hid on purpose
I would like to know what the moderators think though

Michelle,

Again...THIS is the kind of behavior that got you banned.

Enough is enough.

[mls620]

Sending you a big :hug: !!!

...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.

[MarinaVanessa]

Okay so this one time around 9pm I went in to check on my DD (she was 3 or 4 at the time) and she wasn't in her bed. I checked under her bed (convertible crib) in her closet, in drawers, cabinet doors, the hallway closet, the bathroom ... you get it. My BIL lived with us at that time and so he, my DH and I checked everywhere. My aunt lives nearby so I went over to see if she had gone out to her house ... nope. About 20 minutes of looking for her from the time that I realized she was missing we called 911.

Police came and brought a dog which sniffed her blanket and our entire house looking for her then went outside. The dog followed her scent for a mile down a walking path that we regularly took but didn't find her. The police ransacked our house looking for her, went door to door and even neighbors helped out and went out calling her name. I was at home and could hear multiple people calling her name. My FIL stayed in the house with me. Hours later my FIL calls out downstairs that he found her.

She had squeezed herself under her toddler bed between an under the bed shoe organizer and her bed and had fallen asleep.

Yeah ... don't worry, I won't judge you.

[Kabob]

We always hope and plan for this never to happen to us...

I definitely would remind the kids that hide and seek is not ok at daycare and maybe have a plan in place for the future. Maybe split the group into 2 to help make head counts easier for you and your assistant? I just wouldn't want that heart attack again. That's so scary! At least 911 wasn't needed. happyface

My ds has figured out how to unlock and open doors, so now I have to make sure the doors and ds are secured before I even take my eyes off him...he thinks it's great fun to try to escape mommy...or try to release the dog or cats...

[NoMoreJuice!]

Thank you all for the kind words of support! lovethis you guys for that. I have had her in my line of sight ALL day and she just got picked up. She and mama had a talk last night and assured me that no more hide and seek would be happening at daycare.

Some of you have more terrifying stories than I do! I LOL'd so hard at the cat bell comment, btw. It's funny because I really think it would work!!

Hope you are all having a great Thursday! School starts on Tuesday here so we are partying every day this week and Monday! I'm going to miss my big helpers.

[e.j.]

Glad it turned out okay but I'm sure your heart was racing even after you found her! It can happen so fast. One minute, you see them and the next, they've disappeared.

I went shopping with my sister one day and took my godchild with us. One minute I was talking to my godchild and the next, searching frantically for her. My sister had tried on a jacket and asked me how it looked. I turned for a second to take a quick glance at her and looked back to find my god child had disappeared. We couldn't find her anywhere. After several very frightening minutes, we heard her giggling and found her sitting under the clothing rack, hiding under all of the clothes. They can move very quickly when they want to!

[Go play!]

I called 911 when my son went missing while I was here doing daycare. I was freaking out but I had just seen him. He was hiding in a laundry hamper and it was still standing. He heard me tell the daycare kids we were going for a walk and didn't go. I didn't know whether to hug him or yell at him when I found him. It's so scary! I'm glad it turned out all right.