Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/695013
42 KIDS BAY AREA NEWS GROUP GRADE SCHOOLER PARENTS' BIGGEST FEARS ESSAY BY CHUCK BARNEY ILLUSTRATION BY MARIE ASSÉNAT O nemomenthewasthere.Thenext,hewasgone. We were vacationing at the Disneyland Hotel when David, then 5, raced to the elevator trying to be the first to push the button. One problem: He didn't wait for us. The elevator doors closed, and he was whisked away to who-knows-where. Immediately, we split up and searched various floors. And after David didn't show up for what seemed like forever, parent-noia set in: Had our boy been abducted? It didn't help that my wife, Diane, and I were journalists routinely exposed to terrible stories. We were conditioned to think the worst, even though the tragedies we read about are extremely rare. In those early school-age years, you feel helpless at times. Your child is growing more independent. You're not always there to hold his or her hand. "Stranger danger" becomes a thing, and fleeting moments of uncertainty — losing sight of your kid in the grocery store or in an unfamiliar place — can send you into high alert. We're hard-wired to keep our children safe. When kids are in danger, parents will do whatever it takes to help them. So, given our deeply ingrained need to protect our young ones, the momentary panic that sets in when we think our kids might be in danger makes perfect sense. Fortunately, the elevator terror at the hotel didn't last as long as it felt. A group of young tourists found David and guided him back to us. Our faith in mankind was restored — along with our ability to breathe. A N D L I T T L E S T