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Home › Relationships

Sheila Nevins | 10/21/2009 12:00 am

Sheila Nevins: A Day at the Zoo

By Sheila Nevins RSS
Alert me to Sheila's new posts
In response to: Have you ever lost your child, even for a moment?
Sheila Nevins
Yes, at the Bronx Zoo. It was devastating. He was hiding behind a tree to see if I would go look for him.
Read more about: Children, Family, Relationships

5 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Linda Myers
In 1988, my youngest daughter was 10 years old  in the annual fall city parade.She only had about seven blocks to walk, and then was suppose to meet us on the other side of the town square. The parade ended and she was no where to be found. I knew she was in a familiar area because we only lived a few blocks the other direction, although the whole county shows up for these parades I was in a panic, that only grew as I could not find her. I had the foot police looking for her, and still she was not found. This was before cell phones were being used by everyone, and your panic grows to terror. It took a couple of hours to locate her. She had seen her aunt, uncle and cousin when the parade ended and just tagged with them completely unworried about herself or if anyone would wonder where she was. This was a little girl with a brilliant mind and common sense which was way under par. When she was found, I was so relieved and later upset with her. She bought herself a week in the yard to get the jest of being able to be located. She had more times afterwards where creating panic and terror still seemed to not make sense to her. Now I watch her with my grandaughters and can’t believe what she allows them to explore feeling all is normal. When they decided to play in the car trunk, her answer was to show them the way to pull the emergency cord to get out again. Beautiful woman that just keeps the heavens working overtime!
By Linda Myers on 10/21/2009 6:22 am
Lisa Cohen

There’s a lot of heated conversation these days about whether kids are really in danger, or whether the hype has locked them in the house forever. Certainly, they need to learn how to fend for themselves and know the joy that comes from doing so. I’m with the Free-Rangers on that one.

The statistics are reassuring, even if they’re not definitive (the researcher himself has qualified them and asked for better numbers). But really, the overwhelming stats are that your child will get to school safely every day.

Unless your child is that one in a million. (And don’t we all think that?) Then the statistics mean NOTHING. I spent five years living in the shoes of the Patz family for my book, AFTER ETAN, and still cannot imagine how they made it through. One time, his first time, walking two blocks to the school bus stop on his own. Despite all the number crunching to the contrary, that’s all it took.

I’m just saying that if you’ve ever had that heart-clutching, terror, even for a second, of your baby lost from sight, it’s enough to overreact forever after. That’s when statistics are no more than a worthless piece of paper.

And by the way, playing in the car trunk? Emergency cords don’t always work. That sends a chill up my spine.

Lisa R. Cohen, AFTER ETAN:The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive http://www.afteretan.com

By Lisa Cohen on 10/21/2009 8:10 am
Dawn Smith
My daughter had my infant granddaughter( in her carseat) in a cart at a local department store. She bent down to look at a pair of shoes and when she got up her cart was replaced with one that had a pillow in it. That is how fast it can happen. Luck have it my daughter ran and found the woman with her cart and child in it. The woman said "Oh I must have grabbed the wrong cart". Yeah right. Like a pillow and a baby in a carseat look so much alike. In my daughter’s panic she let the woman go. That woman is lucky Grandma wasn’t there. They’d still be looking for her body parts if that was me. Call me old fashioned but I know where the kids are every minute. Friend’s house? I want the phone number and address and speak to the parents first. There are too many weirdos out there to take chances with the safety of our children.
By Dawn Smith on 10/21/2009 1:24 pm
V B

The woman said "Oh I must have grabbed the wrong cart". Yeah right. Like a pillow and a baby in a carseat look so much alike. In my daughter’s panic she let the woman go. That woman is lucky Grandma wasn’t there. They’d still be looking for her body parts if that was me.

  I would be the same way. I’m not a Mom, but I have had children entrusted to me and god help anyone who got between us.

By V B on 10/23/2009 4:15 pm