Oops, we lost our 3-year old in the Seattle Airport

Now what? Hint: Don’t Panic

A while ago I read about a JetBlue mix-up where they swapped two kids, and sent them to the wrong airports, and thus the wrong parents. That reminds me of our little adventure some years ago.

A few summers ago we visited my parents as usual, and then all together went on a six-city tour, including to Alaska, with our then three-year-old son. All was good and he’s a trouper, having no issues with trans-oceanic and transcontinental flights, a dozen hotels, etc. In fact, he loves hotels, airplanes, and airports.

It’s thus ironic that we lost him in the SeaTac airport.

Exactly how is not important, but suffice it to say his mom and I both thought the other one was watching him while we waited for our flight at the gate. With no one watching him, he simply wandered away. For 10-15 minutes, at least. In a very crowded airport terminal, mid-summer.

Oops

Suddenly we both realized: no son. A quick look around revealed he wasn’t in our field of view, not watching airplanes at the glass. He was really not anywhere around as far as we could see.

No son.

Well, this is a new experience. After a few choice words on who was supposed to be watching him, it was now time to find him.

My first tip: Don’t Panic.

It’s just a small problem to be solved. Realistically no one is going to steal or fly away with our kid. He’s just curious and wandering, in a pretty safe, if busy, place.

Fortunately, this was in the SeaTac North Satellite, which is an isolated island terminal by itself, and there is no way out except on an airplane, or the subway train.

Unfortunately, our son loves subway trains.

So off I go in search of him, first heading for the subway to verify he didn’t wander back down there on his own and head off to other terminals for his amusement. Nope, all clear and there’s no one there, so either he’s still in this terminal or he’s already gone and thus someone will find him elsewhere later.

Then I go back up to the main floor and begin a more systematic search gate-by-gate. Wow, there were lots of small kids around there. But he’s not any of them. So I keep going around the terminal, gate-by-gate.

Finally, after a few minutes of this, and halfway around the terminal, I spotted him at a gate stand with an agent. That was good. A little relieved, as he’s about as far from our original gate as possible.

I walk up and said, “hi, there you are”. Turns out a nice woman had seen him wandering and took him to an agent who was preparing to page for a lost child. The system worked as designed.

The nice woman did want to confirm I was his real dad and not a child thief, so she asked my son if he knew me, which was worrying as he didn’t really speak English (he and I spoke Chinese to each other until he was five), but when I asked “Who am I” he was smart enough to say “Daddy”.

Case closed. I reminded him to not wander off and then we promptly forgot about it.

Don’t Panic

So, if it happens to you, don’t panic and don’t be frantic. First, the kid’s not going anywhere for a while. Certainly not on a plane and unlikely out through security on to the street, or even the subway. Someone is sure to find him.

Second and more important, no one is going to steal your kid. It just does not happen. Worst case he’s in some shop, in a cafe kitchen, or opens an exit door. All manageable, though it was not fun to imagine having to search a dozen shops and random places.

Third, people are really nice and will take a wandering child to an agent or police, they’ll page you, you’ll find them. If he wanders to another terminal, oh, well, they’ll find you, too.

People tend to panic in these situations and franticly search or even break down, but this doesn’t help find your child, nor does yelling at him/her or others. Practical worst cases just aren’t that bad and this rather common challenge is sure to resolve itself with a bit of practical thinking, a systematic search, and the help of strangers.

Chalk it up to life’s experience and be thankful it wasn’t a busy shopping mall, city park, or other much more accessible or easy-to-exit place.

Take a deep breath and, as they say, carry on.