Feeling of dread!?

[kellyt01588]

Soo, today my two year old son managed to run away from me and run straight across a very busy road, heaven forbid there was no traffic at that moment in time, But ever since I cannot shake a heavy feeling of dread, anxiety and feeling like a terrrible mother for letting it happen. Anybody else ever experienced this!? I feel like I do not want to let him out of my site ever again! Or out of his buggy lol!!

It is real heart-attack stuff when they do that, isn't it? Hope you told him off!!! Don't worry. You're not a terrible mother, you just hadn't anticipated him running off. My heart-attack moment was when DS (2) slipped into a holiday swimming pool fully clothed even though I was standing just behind him. (Still makes me go slightly pale) Now you know you've got a runner on your hands, keep him on reins or inside the buggy. The dread and anxiety will go with time.

Kelly, my sympathies, it's an awful feeling. Something similar happened to me twice with my DD when she was 2. She was never a child that stayed at my side, ever, and she was/is a bloomin' fast runner so if she ever took off we were in trouble. Once she bolted across an empty car park towards a very busy A road, just managed to grab her.

The consolation is that you learn a big lesson from it, you are not a bad mum, you cannot keep them tied up like Houdini all the time, you can only do you best. I'm sure most parents have what they might call 'near misses'.

I read that when something like that happens, it's good to tell the story to as many people as possible to help the feeling pass! Hope you are feeling better soon, and take it as a good warning about what he's capable of now!

It is an awful feeling - when you feel like you've had a narrow escape - but it'll never happen again, will it.