Lost!

I was at the mall yesterday with my friend Melanie. She has 4 kids, so we had 7 kids at the mall. Ryan was safely in his stroller and Alysa was right there. I was looking for some shirts at Mervyn's and I said - "Max, where are you?".. he answered "I am right here" - this was right behind me. So, I continued to look for shirts. Then a few minutes past and then I said again "Max, where are you?" and I hear nothing. I keep saying his name and asking him to come out... nothing, nothing, nothing and still nothing. By this time I am running around the entire store searching for him. Melanie is doing the same thing. Then I walked back to where we were and again I said "Max, where are you?" I heard this faint - "I am right here". He was probably saying that the entire time, but I just couldn't hear him because he is so quiet all of the time. I ran over to where I heard it and pulled him out from under the pants that he was hiding under. I took him out of the store while Melanie watched my other kids. I hugged him and burst into tears. I told him that I was worried that he was lost. He laughed and said that he wasn't. I told him that he could NEVER do that again. He was not lost in his little minds, but I can't even explain how I felt when I said his name and he wasn't there. It was terrible!