Sound Familiar?

My younger brother, who will become a father this fall, recently sent me the following link to a newstory with the subject heading, "Sound Familiar."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080804/ap_on_re_mi_ea/odd_israel_home_alone;_ylt=ApgS4DeIYIzg8tGAFycdjlIDW7oF

The story is about an Orthodox Jewish family in Israel with five kids who accidentally left their youngest child, a three year old, behind at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, while the rest of the family made their flight to Paris. The little girl was found wandering the duty free shops. Thankfully, the child was reunited with her parents and siblings in Paris via escort on the next direct flight. Just reading the story is enough to give any parent a heart attack - but unlike so many other similar news stories this one has a happy (enough) ending.

My brother questioned my familiarity with the story because, as one of six children in my family, it seems I was the one forever getting lost. I still can remember the exact intonation of the loudspeaker lady at Nordstrom's asking me to "Please meet my party at the Shoe Department," when I was probably around fifteen. But my most vivid memory is when, in an age long before text messaging, e-mail and even cell phones, I was accidentally left behind at my synagogue one Saturday morning after Shabbat services. [Ed. note: Although I am beyond impressed with how quickly the girl was reunited with her family - it begs the question if it was really simply modern ]technology or if Israeli secret airport security is just THAT good...] In my case, mom thought I was driving home with my dad and my dad thought the opposite, that my mom had me... I thought the girls went with my mom and the boys with my dad, but no one (i.e. my older sisters and/or parents) inadvertantly neglected to tell me about the change of plans. Et voila, I spent an afternoon with Rabbi Spector educating him in the ways of Cabbage Patch naming principles (he even brought up Tallulah Aimee during my wedding ceremony - and speaking of - hmmm...maybe one theory behind the crazy celeb baby monikers is that celebs are naming their kids after the cabbage patch dolls they had growing up.... just a thought...) waiting for my parents to finish driving carpools and make it home to get the dreaded phone call...

The parents in the Israeli story are going to be questioned for negligence. Thankfully, my parents were never questioned. But in today's age of toddler-tethers and mommy arrests for leaving a baby in the car while walking 10 feet away and making a donation with two other kids, it does make you wonder where the line should be drawn.... The Babish is also called "The Wandering Jew" by some of his distant relatives because he never stays still and is always on the go (hmmm...after revisiting the past, maybe his personality is more like mine than I care to admit). But, I am still amazed at how my mom and dad were able to, well sort of, most of the time keep track of where we all were. Perhaps as a result of my past - losing the Babish is one of my biggest fears. I can't bring myself to tether him - so I'm just trying to teach him to hold my hand in a busy place, or I strap him in the stroller or sling him when I need to really keep an eye on him and just deal with the protesting. When we are in a safe area, like a large playground, and I have the energy to follow him - I let him wander, hoping he can get his wandering fix during those times...