The Mystery of the Missing Kindergartener

It's been two days now, but I'm still not over the scare I had on Monday. I'll probably never be over it completely, but I'm thinking the sustained trauma is probably a good thing. It helped me to see what steps I need to take if one of my children ever goes missing again and reminded me of the level of vigilance I need to maintain at all times as the mother of young children.

But I'm getting WAY ahead of myself here. I need to start at the beginning of this Nancy Drew-esque titled tale. On Monday morning, a miracle happened. At 12:20 pm MDT, Sadie Rose Durham laid down on a bed and fell asleep for an afternoon nap. This hardly ever happens these days (and it's unheard of without a fight!). Sadie was really tired and I was glad to see her getting the rest she needed. But, I was in a bind because Chloe needed to be walked to the school bus stop in just a few minutes. I tried to figure out what to do. Did I dare leave Sadie sleeping to walk the half block away? Did I wake her up and forfeit any hope of a nap? Those options weren't attractive, so I was glad when I had the idea to call my neighbor, Carrie, to see if she'd put Chloe on the bus for me. She lives RIGHT by the bus stop and has to pick up her own son from the morning kindergarten bus at the same time. I called her and she immediately agreed.

Honestly, I didn't have a second thought about this arrangement until I got a phone call 40 minutes later. It was from the school and after identifying herself, the secretary asked me if Chloe was sick. I was confused. I thought maybe Chloe was in the clinic. "Well, she wasn't sick when I put her on the bus, but I guess maybe it's possible. She was a little tired today, " I replied. The receptionist was immediately alarmed. "You put her on the bus? Because she's not here." My heart caught in my chest as I gasped, "WHAT?!?" The secretary started asking questions like did I see her get on the bus with my own eyes. Obviously, thanks to Sadie's nap, I hadn't. I explained that my neighbor had put her on the bus. The secretary suggested I call her to see if Chloe actually got on the bus. Of course that was my next step, but I was panicked. Carrie is very conscientious and if Chloe hadn't showed up or if she hadn't gotten on the bus for some reason, she would have called me herself a long time ago.

I fought the impulse to run out into the street and start screaming Chloe's name. I called Carrie and asked her what had happened. Carrie wasn't too concerned; she explained that Chloe DID get on the bus but that it had been VERY late (Carrie apologized and said they had gotten so caught up in talking and playing "I Spy" that she did didn't notice how very late it was. She didn't wear her watch). Armed with this new information, I called the school back. According to Carrie's time line, the bus wouldn't have had enough time to get to the school yet.

Unfortunately, the secretary had more bad news for me. Chloe still hadn't arrived and only one other child was missing from the class. Not the bus-load I had expected. "Should I call the police?" I sputtered, not knowing what else we could do. The secretary said she was going to go down and check the classroom herself. She told me to give her a couple of minutes to do that and call back. Those were the worst minutes of my life. I tried to imagine what could have happened to her. Did somebody grab her from the parking lot of the school after she got off? Did the driver abscond with her? Or was it more innocent, like Chloe falling asleep in a seat and remaining on the bus while the unknowing driver went off to more routes? I tried to think of the next logical step I should take. Each possibility would require a different course of action. And my brain was so enveloped with panic that I knew I couldn't trust the 60 different plans I had just come up with. I prayed and then I called Carter. I told him what was going on in a choked voice and asked him what I should do. He told me to call the school back immediately and ask them what to do. So I did.

There was some good news. After talking with the class, the secretary discovered that everyone there had arrived at school by either walking or getting rides from their moms. Nobody else had been on the late bus. And, just as we were deciding on our next move, the secretary saw the late (over 20 minutes late, by this point) bus pull up and Chloe hop off. Relieved doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. The secretary apologized for the whole situation. She said when buses are THAT late they usually call ahead and that there's usually more than two children absent from class. I said, sure, but she'd still shaved YEARS of my life with that scare. I hung up and called Carter to let him know everything was okay. I was still really upset and he asked what he could do for me. I asked him to call the school to figure out how we could prevent this from ever happening again.

He did. He called the school and they said they were sorry, but it was really the transportation department that had made the error in protocol--they are supposed to call ahead when they are so late. So Carter asked for THAT number. He reached a harried woman who informed him that 20 drivers had called in sick that day. Normally they do call ahead when they're running late, but because of the mess they had on their hands calling substitutes and rerouting things, they hadn't gotten around to it yet. She apologized profusely and said the circumstances were so bizarre that this should never happen again.

I hope she's right. It was a perfect storm of events and it's hard to blame Chloe's 15 minute "disappearance" on any one entity. If I had walked her to the stop myself, I would have given up waiting much faster and driven her myself like the other moms did. Or, if Carrie had worn her watch, she would have sent Chloe back home to get a ride. If more kids had waited it out at their bus stops, more than two kids would have been missing from the classroom and would have led the secretary to call to check on the bus herself. If 20 drivers hadn't been out that day, the transportation lady would have informed the school before they called me.

Still, that scare has helped me see that tucking all three children safely into bed each night is more a result of divine providence than I realize. I don't think I'll be taking that hug I get from Chloe when she hops off the bus each day for granted for a very long time.