The Almost Amber Alert

Last week we had people over to celebrate our furniture removal.  It was a lot of fun.  As you may notice from my last post our home has a lot of floors.  Four to be precise.  

The dining area is on level 1, the playroom is on level 0 (thats how we roll here in Europe the first floor is always neutral and called 0).  So the adults are chatting away in the dining room and our friends' two year old daughter Kherington decides to go to the playroom.  No big deal.  Stella and Tiger are still eating and we are having a good time until we realize it is super quiet downstairs.  Too quiet.  

We go down to check on Kherington and about 10 minutes has gone by.  I should also point out here that Kherington is two years old and a tiny little thing.  

When we get downstairs there is no Kherington in the playroom or the garage or the laundry room or bathroom.  In fact there is no Kherington in my house.  The door is open and she is gone.  We look up the street and down the street and see no sign of her.

Everyone goes into panic mode.  Seth and Kherington's mom run towards a nearby park and I check the house further.  We look in the yard and start screaming her name.  

Ten minutes go by and there is no sign of her.  I start to think maybe it is time to call that famous 112 emergency number.  

I go to the backyard one more time and come back and there she is walking home.  No idea where she went or what she did.  She was gone probably 20 minutes and somehow came back.  Panic.

Part of the problem with this whole situation is my new house.  It doesn't lock from the inside unless you have a key.  And you can't get out unless you have a key if you locked.  Frankly as far as fire safety goes it is a nightmare but this is Belgium and you get what you get.  My kids luckily have yet to decide that leaving the house is a good idea but I am now a little wiser and a hold my babies at night a little tighter.