"Lost boy"

"Can Shelley please come to the front of the store. We have Samuel."

Samuel loves Trader Joe's. If he could pick his favorite store to grocery shop, it would be TJ's. The workers are super friendly, there's always prizes for the kids and Samuel's favorite, child size carts. Our TJ's is small, about four aisles. Pretty hard to get lost in.

Shopping with Samuel is allot like taking a walk with him. He gets distracted looking at things or talking to people. He is usually five or ten feet behind me, pushing his little cart. I don't worry about him. He always finds me. And it's not like we are in a huge grocery store. If I call his name at TJ's, he could hear me, wherever he is.

So, when I hear the announcement, I don't run in a panic to get him. My response was a roll of the eye and a quiet, "He's not lost." I'm sure the moms around me thought I was some heartless parent who cared nothing for their kid. Honestly, I did think about leaving him for a second. It's much easier and quicker to shop without him. And he has been out of control lately in anticipation of Christmas. But, I did the responsible thing and made my way to the front of the store.

There he was, surrounded by people, craning their necks to look for a frantic mom. Samuel was standing in the middle, with a huge and slightly mischievous look on his face. I calmly walked up, thanked the people who had stayed with him and took him by the hand. He looked up at me and said, "Am I in trouble?" I answered, "Were you really lost?" His face told it all. "I just wanted to see how the speaker worked." Of course he did.