I hate to say it, but this woman was right. I left one of my daughters in a bank once because I was running a Christian day-camp and had gone down to town to buy supplies. My daughter was supposed to be with her age group and go wherever they were going. But at the very last moment, she got in my car, and then when we got to the bank - it turned out to be a long and complicated transaction - she wandered off.
And by the time I left, I had literally forgotten that she had been with me.
The bank called me, of course, and it was extremely embarrassing to come back and get my daughter, particularly since she was having a great time and being fed cookies by the bank staff!
I was in Kohl’s department store with my little one. On the way to the men’s pants, he saw some toys.
At the men’s department, I told him to stay close. I looked at the pants for 2 seconds, literally 2 seconds.
He disappeared like a magic trick. I raced around the store looking for him in a panic. I informed the store personnel about it. They posted people near the doors in case it was a kidnapping. They quickly assembled a search party and began to fan out into the store. Suddenly, there he was at my knee height looking at me, just as magically.
Seconds can make all the difference.
When I was about six years old I was riding the subway with my dad and he inadvertently got off the train one stop early, and the doors closed before I could catch up. No big deal- transit staff were getting ready to get me home when he turned up on the next train.