Every parent’s nightmare is losing your child in a crowded place. Numerous scary scenarios have run through my head over the years, but I never expected to misplace a child while standing in line together …

When we arrived at Six Flags on Saturday morning, we immediately designated a meeting place to rendezvous if we got separated, and I read the riot act to the boys about wandering off alone, who to ask for help, etc. The day was going along great – the weather wasn’t too hot, and the crowd was quite manageable.

After lunch, we ventured to the outskirts of the park to ride Judge Roy Scream. All three boys wanted to ride it, and the little one was just barely tall enough to ride. He wanted to ride with his oldest brother. So, we got to the front of the line and split into three groups: dad by himself, the middle one & me, and the oldest & littlest one together. The gates opened, and we filed into our seats, buckled up and dashed away on the roller coaster. When we got back to the starting point, three of us got off the coaster and began looking for the other two. They were nowhere to be found! Dad and #2 headed down the exit ramp toward the tunnel, thinking perhaps they had run ahead of us. I stayed behind, scouring the crowd and wondering how in the world we could have gotten separated.

Years or moments later, the other train came barreling down the track toward the exit. There they were – having a grand ol’ time and begging to ride again! The oldest explained to me that when the gates opened, someone cut in front of them, and since the rest of us were a couple of cars ahead, we hadn’t seen the incident. They had to wait for the next train.

I commended my oldest for not panicking and handling the situation well. He did what he thought he should do: stay in line and keep his little brother with him at all times.  If I thought my stomach dropped during the Superman ride, it was nothing compared to those few moments! I knew they couldn’t have just vanished into thin air … what a relief.