Always The Unexpected

I just never know what to expect during even the most mundane outings with my children. One would think that with only 2 kids, life would be a little more bland. But not with my two! We went to the bank this morning. Both kids had done chores for my mother-in-law (who currently needs extra help around the house & yard due to recent knee replacement surgery) and she had paid them for their efforts. So both DS & DD had checks they needed to deposit in their savings accounts. Now, I have taken both kids to the bank many times before without incident and had no reason to believe this time would be any different. They're 11 and 7 now....how difficult could it be? I found out the answer to that today.

I had both DS & DD fill out their own deposit slips (want to start them early on knowing the ins and outs of financial responsibility!), then we headed over to the nearest teller. DD made her deposit first. As I was handing her the receipt, I noticed that the amount listed on it as her current balance was way off....as in about $13,000.00 off!! I pointed out the error to the teller, who realized she had printed off the wrong balance. She quickly corrected her error (at this point I should have realized that things happen in threes!).

DD had picked up a sucker from the basket of suckers while making out her deposit slip and requested to be able to enjoy it at this point. She also then asked to get a drink at the water fountain. I gave her an affirmative response to both requests and let her head off for her drink while DS made his deposit. Just before he finished up, DD runs up to me saying, "Mom! Help! My sucker's caught!" I look over to see her holding out a section of her hair away from her head.....with the sucker dangling from it! I tell DS to finish up his transaction as I take DD to the bathroom to deal with the stuck sucker. (Luckily it comes out very easily by running her hair under a flow of water from the sink....so she ended up with very wet hair, but at least the sucker was out!)

One would assume that DS would be waiting for me just outside the bathroom door as he knew that is where we went. We were only in there for a couple of minutes, but when we exited the bathroom, DS was not anywhere to be seen! Someone else was at the teller's station where he had been. I started looking around (the bank is very small & it's very open with even the doors to the offices being all glass) and couldn't find him anywhere. I even looked out the door to see if he had gone to wait by the van. Nope! At this point the bank manager had come out of her office and noticed me looking around. She asked what the problem was, and when I told her I had lost my son she promptly started frantically looking around the lobby (she started by looking at the kids' area, which is stocked with paper, crayons, a small table, and little chairs....until I informed her that he was a tall 11-year-old!). At this point it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, he had decided to go to the bathroom. So I went over to the men's bathroom door and hollered in, asking if he was in there. And yes, that is where I found my son. (And when he came out, we had a little chat about letting me know if he was going to be somewhere other than where I was expecting him to be!) I must say, I never thought I would lose my 11-year-old, especially in someplace as small as our local bank. And especially as this is the child who has never been one to wander more than 2 feet from me at any store or such, ever! But I guess that just goes to show that life will never be dull with these two around!