Ever "misplaced" your child?

Up until last week I could proudly say "Not me"! Well, guess what? ME (and mammy; had to throw that in there for good measure) It's the day before I run a 5k for the 1st time with a knee that has been less than cooperative, so I'm more than nervous about finishing it and I decide I need a new shirt to wear. "Mammy, feel like running some errands with Ky and me?" Sure she says and I bet she wishes now she stayed home to catch Days of Our Lives! Dick's sporting goods at the Mall, huge store, mall and parking lot entrance and we are poking around. Kyle USUALLY stays close and has never been the kind of kid to wonder or bolt so of course I have my eye on him while we are walking through clothing racks. I lost site of him in the time it takes to look down at your radio station in the car and then back up at the road. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION "Ky, Kyle, K...y..l..e" Where the heck did he go as I assuming I'll spot him any second now because, come on, how far could he have gotten in 2SECONDS!!!! "KYLE, KYLLLLLLEEEE" my steps are much faster and its been around 15 seconds at this point...Mammy is on the search as well and we both head in different directions...her towards the mall entrance and me towards the parking lot. At this point around 30 seconds or so PURE PANIC sets in...I've had panic attacks for quite a bit of my life, but I have NEVER felt like this. You know how people say sometimes that your life flashes before your eyes? I had no idea someone brain to conjure up so many scenarios in such a short amount of time. I pictured him being dragged in the parking lot with a stranger (he is VERY trusting of people), his face on milk cartons, lost and alone, wandering into the mall into a sea of people and I am frantic. SCREAMING his name, yelling to Lulu who's also screaming for him "Do you see him, do you hear him" "KYLE ANSWER MOMMY, WHERE ARE YOU?" The few people around me who worked in the store DID NOTHING! NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING! I didn't have time to be pissed about it that moment, but ARE YOU KIDDING? I don't care if you think I'm a lunatic parent who should have been watching her kid better, but he's lost and you're going to continue to fold clothes? Anyway - after a VERY LONG 2 minutes I can hear him.....I hear his voice and it's like someone started my heart again. I rush to the sound of his voices yelling for him to keep calling me and he's playing golf. Yup, you read that correctly.....putting the fake green in Dick's Pro shop. Mammy and I were beyond crying...we had to catch our breath and be so thankful that none of those sickening thoughts..........ugh. "Kyle did you hear us, where were you?" "Were you scared" "No mama, I was right here, I wanted to play golf!" Oh the innocence! Then he tells me later on "Mama why did you get lost today in the store?" The single most frightening moment of my life. All I can think of is Adam Walsh and he was picked of by some psycho in the same scenario. Predators would have had a field day with us. I don't mock or criticise those who choose to put there children on leashes anymore. I plan to never feel that panic again.