The Case of the Missing Kids

In the last post I established the fact that peace and quiet is a luxury at our home.  I was enjoying one of these rare moments Friday evening after cleaning Janie's house.  I got home just before sunset, tired and ready to sit down for a while.  I told the kids to enjoy the cool, fall air and play outside until dark.  

I went in the house and did just what you would expect, sat down on the couch with my Macbook in my lap, surfed and wound down a bit.  After a while I thought I could hear a faint sound that sounded like the kids screaming.  My kids are loud and they scream and yell a lot (it's imperative that we live in the country), so I've learned not to panic each time I hear something suspicious going on outside.  If they need me, one of them will run inside for help.  

Sitting there in the room that's almost dark by now, I'm reveling in the fact that I'm alone, all alone! Ah, the glory of it!  All alone with no one to bother me, no one to ask me to do something, no one yelling at me. But what is that strange, far away din that sounds like "Mooooooooooooooommmmmm!!!!"  And it's nearly dark by now, where are the kids?  Overcome with curiosity and a little trepidation, I got up and went outside.  

I went out the back door, but no one but the dog was in sight, who begged and pleaded with me to play with him.  I quickly apologized and went off in search of the kids.  I walked around to the front:  nothing, no one.   And then I heard it again "MOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!."  It was a chorus of all three of them calling for me with an urgency that made my heart jump!

I ran in the direction of their screams, up the drive way to the front field.  I couldn't see them, but I knew they had to be sitting on the other side of the hill in our front pasture.  I kept running, praying with each step that this was just some kind of joke.  What kind of predicament could they be in that could possibly prevent all three of them from coming to the house?  Whatever I expected it was surely not what I found when I topped that hill.  

There they were, all three of them sitting in the grass, shivering from the cold, clutching their bare, sticker covered feet!  I couldn't contain the giggle that emanated from the deep sense of relief I felt and the comical sight they made.  I didn't laugh for long, because Trent was really upset.  He got the worst of it:  stickers in his hands and feet and even on his little rear end.   He was so distressed, tears streaming down his sweet, little face "Mom what took you so long?  We've been yelling and yelling for a long time."  Talk about the guilt trip of the century!  I bent down and pulled all the stickers out of him before moving on to Kristen and Tyler.  I told them to stay put and I would be right back with their shoes.

I don't know how many times I've told them to wear shoes outside. They don't listen.  They know the risks and they choose to gamble! What's a mom to do?