Anonymous wrote:Last night i was cooking dinner at 5:45 p.m. and suddenly realized DS 11 yr old 6th grader was not home - was 1.5 hrs late. I called neighbors/friends -no one had seen him. I called the afterschool club leader - he said he was walking home that day. We had talked in the morning about him walking home - but he was now 1.5 hrs late. I turned off the stove, jumped in the car and drove in the direction of the school. Along the way, i saw the cop who always stakes out the school zone/25 mph speed trap. I pulled over and started sobbing. I lost it. he escorted me to the school - no DS. He called in 'back up' and asked for a description and a "where would he go?" Only then did i think of the public library - drove there (with police escort!) and there he was! GRRRRRRR i made him apologize/thank officers and call everyone I had called and tell them he was at the library and had not contacted me.
he doesn't have his phone right now b/c he's been so naughty lately we took it away! He get's lackadaisical with his, uh, manners and we have to confiscate the electronics every so often. But he was using the computer at the school and could have sent me a msg or used their phone!
Later i was so embarrassed by summoning police presence. I hope i shook him up but i felt badly that i had not thought of the library sooner. amen.
But you do realize that the police and adults involved are more likely to be pissed with you and think you are an idiot right?
Your DS had a phone, but you didn't let him use it. Actually he probably didn't think to ask the librarian to use the phone. My 11 yr old would not. She didn't grow up asking people in businesses if she could borrow a phone and she never saw me do it. Why would she? She grew up watching adults each have their own cell phone. He may not even realize that the library has a business phone and that people in the library would even be allowed to use it.