When a mother gives birth, whether it is in a hospital or home birth, NO ONE gives you a user manual or guide on how to raise children.

One thing that Micky and I decided when we had our boys was that we were going to take them on vacations outside our state. I had been teaching for a while and I knew of some students who had never even left the state on vacation.

We started taking our sons with us on vacation from the very start. Andrew was only one week old when we took him to his first car show in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

We wanted to make sure that our boys knew there was more out there for them to explore. Luckily, one of the gifts my parents give us every year for Christmas is money for a vacation. They wanted us to make memories for our families instead of just getting more “stuff”.

Through the years we started getting a reputation in our family of always leaving late and losing children on our vacations. Usually, it was Chris that we lost and couldn’t find for a time.

Disney World/Cruise

We were pretty nervous taking the boys to Disney World. Weeks before our trip we were actually considering the leashes that attach from your child to your wrist. We also looked at a new technology that used a GPS bracelet for the child and an app on our phone. But we decided with all the boys wearing the same color of shirt for the day and picked up some identification bracelets from Disney for the boys to wear.

We stayed on property at the Port Orleans Resort and used the Disney Transit System to get us from our hotel to the parks. What made it so convenient was we would go to the park in the morning, have lunch, and then head back to the hotel for a nap. Later in the afternoon, when there was less heat and humidity, we would be all refreshed to go back and see what we missed.

One afternoon, heading back to our hotel, I was sure we had all of the boys with us on our bus. I was visiting with Andrew and Carter having fun standing on the bus ride to the hotel (it was their first time “standing” on a bus). I looked around to see where Chris was and couldn’t find him. Panic started sinking in as I am rethinking if he was with us when we boarded the bus.

The bus was packed with people and it was hard to see the back of the bus as we were in the front. Eventually, more and more people disembarked the bus and my view was getting better. With relief, I could now hear Chris’ voice, just couldn’t see him. We were getting close to our bus stop and now I could see that Chris was having a lovely conversation with an older woman about how his day was and was asking her questions about her day. We had to have a conversation with Chris that even though it was good to talk with people, he needed to stay close to us.

Texas

We became big NASCAR race fans after Micky and I went to Kansas City for a race. Well, we HAD to get our boys to see one. So let’s take them to one of the biggest racetracks on the circuit…Texas Motor Speedway.

Luckily we were able to stay with my cousin in Waco and drag him along to all of the events of the weekend. He was a big racing fan too.

Friday night was the truck race. It isn’t as big as an event as the Sunday race but there were still tens of thousands of people there.

Right before the race was to start, we found our seats and we wanted the boys to get their snacks and use the bathroom so we could stay put once things get going.

My job was to take the boys to the restroom and then Micky would get their snacks. My cousin would stay in our seats to be there when any of them came back. Andrew was pretty easy. He had his break and snacks and stayed with my cousin.

I took Carter and Chris to the restroom and was waiting outside for them when they finished. I told them, “I am staying RIGHT HERE.” They both headed in and a couple of minutes later, Carter came out. We both waited a couple of minutes more….no Chris. I sent Carter back in to see if Chris was still in the restroom. He couldn’t find him. Crap!

I called Micky to see if Chris found him or if he went back to our seats. He said he didn’t see him. We lost Chris. Thousands of people and thousands of seats to look for a little Kindergarten boy.

Micky found me and I had tears streaming down my face. He took Carter and brought him to my cousin who ended up watching him and Andrew. Then Micky was going to pace the HUGE concourse for our little guy. Micky told me to stay put because that was the last place Chris saw me.

15…30…45 minutes go by. No Chris. The National Anthem was starting, people were heading to their seats. No Chris. I just stood there with tears still streaming down my face. Some people looked at me strangely wondering what was wrong but didn’t want to say anything or get involved. Questions swirled in my head while the minutes were ticking away. Was he hurt? Was he taken? Did he go into the wrong seat section? Is he scared?

Micky was asking all of the chains of command with the security staff if they have seen a little redheaded boy. 90 minutes later from when we lost Chris, an officer told us that they had him safe in one of the VIP areas.

As soon as I saw Chris, a huge weight came off my shoulders relieved that he was safe and sound with us. I asked him what happened and he told me, “I couldn’t find you so I did what my teacher told me. I found someone with a badge.” Wow! How smart was that? We finished that weekend without incident again and we made sure Chris was always holding someone’s hand and I was off bathroom duty.

Chicago

We were lucky enough to find an apartment for rent downtown in Chicago. We drove 13 hours from Vermillion to Chicago and then didn’t move the suburban for the whole week we were there. Chicago has an amazing transit system that can take you anywhere you want in the city. One afternoon we decided to walk downtown to Dick’s restaurant for lunch.

We walked past shops and tall office buildings for what seemed like miles. At one point we stopped to make sure we had everybody in tow. All of a sudden, while we continued our walk, we were surrounded by businessmen in suits and women in skirts and heels. It must have been the lunch rush. We came to a busy intersection and Andrew and Carter wanted to know which way we were going. I think at that point Micky and I was making a decision on the direction we needed to go.

Carter started to follow all the people when the WALK sign lit up. The next WALK sign lit up and Andrew followed everyone that direction. We couldn’t see those two for a few moments with all of the adults around going wherever they needed to go. Micky yelled STOP! to both boys and at that point, we had three sons on three different intersections of an extremely busy street. Amazingly, that was the first time Chris was with us.

I do have to admit, it has been easier with teenage boys on our vacations. Many times they just want to hang out at the hotel and order pizza. Fine by me! We usually stay at Embassy Suites hotels because of the 5:00 pm Manager’s Special with free drinks and snacks. And we know that all of our boys are in the same building.🤪

It’s only a matter of time that our vacations are going to be back to just the two of us. As our sons grow and leave the nest I will miss not having them around to go with us. I am just blessed we have been able to give them a little piece of the world to explore. I hope someday they will understand and appreciate what we have done for them.