For those of you who don't have children, I'm not sure you can relate to the amount of terror I felt last night when I realized my 12 year old son was missing.

Well, ok, back up.  He wasn't missing missing.  He just wasn't where I thought he would be. 

Damn, I'm confusing myself.

Ok, here's the story.  Gomez called me at 7:00 pm from his friend Dumpy's house and asked if he could go to the movies with Dumpy.  I asked "Will Dumpy's mom be bringing you home after the movie?" and he said yes.  So I let him go.

Gomez is a responsible kid with a good head on his shoulders.  I've tried very hard to teach him right from wrong and honestly he's been a dream kid to raise.  Now granted, he's only 12, will be 13 in three weeks, so he's bound to pull some bonehead stunts.  He doesn't always think things all the way through.

Case in point.  He didn't think things all the way through last night and tell me that after they movie they'd be taking Dumpy's girlfriend home to another close-by town. 

Now, where he got totally irresponsible, or deceitful actually, was letting me assume that Dumpy's mom was taking them.  When he found out he didn't say "Hey Mom, Dumpy's cousin is going to be taking us and dropping us off, then will come get us, drive us to Nearby Town, and then bring me home."

THAT would have gotten him a whole different answer than "yes" and he knew it.  He even confessed that that's why he didn't tell me.

I keep telling the boys "Don't lie to me.  I will find out and it will cost you dearly.  You can't possibly try to pull something that I didn't consider or know about when I was your age.  It won't work."

Anyway, imagine my surprise when Dumpy's mom shows up here about the time I thought she'd be dropping Gomez off - except she was coming to pick up Dumpy. 

Umm.

WTF?

We finally pieced together what had happened and both of us waited to put the fear of God and Mom into our sons.

What caused the major delay, resulting in Gomez not getting home until after 10:30, was the fact that Our Town is doing major construction work on one of the overpasses for the interstate.  They do work at night when the traffic is considerably less.  There were two overpasses and one has been taken down, resulting in one lane of traffic each way on a major interstate that runs along the edge of town.

Since they were doing work on the overpass the road that runs under the overpass (the only road that allows you into town from that particular theater the boys were at) was blocked.  They were routing all inbound traffic onto the Interstate.  Once that happens you have to drive 20 miles west of town before you can exit and circle back. 

Even at that time of night the traffic is heavy because that's when all the big trucks are out.  It's even worse now that we're down to one lane each way. 

So that's where he was - taking Dumpy's girlfriend home, then stuck on the damn Interstate for almost an hour.  No one in the car had a cell phone.  Gomez had left his home.

That won't be happening again.  He's been instructed to carry that phone with him anytime he goes out and to make sure it is turned on.

So, for lying to me about who was taking him, he got grounded for a week.  He has to do extra chores around the house and he misses out on a surprise camping/fishing trip with his Dad and brother this weekend. 

I have to admit that I'm extremely proud of him in the way he handled it.  He's taking his punishment like a man.  He admitted that he messed up and that he deserves the punishment that he got.

Dumpy, on the other hand, has actually blamed Gomez for Dumpy getting into trouble.  This is really rich considering that Dumpy flat out lied about where he was.  He'd left a note for his mom saying he was over here.  At least I knew where my kid was.  My kid just got caught up in a situation that he couldn't control (stuck on the interstate in traffic).

I did not-so-subtlely point out to Gomez that Dumpy's behavior regarding the blame game showed Gomez what kind of friend Dumpy is.

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Wow, I started out intending to write about the emotions I was going through during all this but this entry just kind of took off on it's own.  LOL

Plainly put - I was terrified.  I was scared to death, while trying to maintain my grip on things and not overreact, but damn it's so hard not to when you don't know where your kid is.  Especially when kids are getting grabbed right off the street in broad daylight.  Boys aren't any safer than girls. 

I couldn't sleep last night, even though I knew he was home safe.  My brain just couldn't let go of the morbid thoughts.  Probably because I kept trying to repress them while I was waiting and they just burst forth after the adrenaline rush was over.

I was tired, god was I tired.  Bone weary tired.  My brain just wouldn't shut up.

I must have hugged him 30 times between the time he walked in and the time he went to bed last night.  I even got up a few times during the night just to go look at him sleeping, as if to reassure myself that he was home safe. 

There's got to be a special place in heaven for Moms. 

Last night convinced me that we deserve one.

I know of at least one Mom who already has a special place in Heaven, cuz I'm convinced that's where this little angel came from. Your account is heart warming... and your thoughts and feelings very precious. I only wish I was in a position to give you the 30 or 40 hugs you deserve.

I am with you - I am glad he's home safe and sound. And if Poseidon ever does that to me, I going to hug him then smack him and then hug him again

Well at least I only had 1/2 hour to worry about Buffy. Both my kids usually take their punishments really well too, which makes me proud of them but also sure that I'm chosen a good punishment AND explained the reasons well to them. Which is usually the reason for the punishment, right? They need to understand too. And I'm sure your reaction when he came home helped with him understand, haha.

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