My Early Morning Search for Kiddo

I nearly had a heart attack this morning. Talk about true panic. I've never experienced anything like it before... I was getting ready to leave for work, having already showered, dried my hair, gotten dressed etc... and was going about my routine of checking on the kids before I left for the day. I do this every morning. I go into their rooms and just check on them, to see for myself that they're still sleeping soundly or whatever. Sometimes I'll cover them up with a blanket or, if they're awake, I'll reassure them that everything is OK but it's too early to get up and settle them back down to sleep. This morning, Little Bit was perfectly fine. Sleeping like an angel. I covered her up and quietly stepped out of her room and closed the door. Then I went to check on Kiddo. He wasn't there. Since he has a habit of crawling into our bed after I get up in the morning, my next stop was our bedroom; he wasn't in our bed, either. I knew he wasn't in Little Bit's room because I was just in there. I called quietly, "[Kiddo]?." No answer. Hubby woke up and said, "What's going on?" "I can't find [Kiddo]," I said. He raised up a bit and checked the other side of the bed. "He's not here. Check the couch." I knew he wasn't on the couch because I'd just been sitting on the couch a few minutes earlier. I went back into Kiddo's room and flicked on the light, thinking that maybe I just hadn't seen him and he was piled under his blankets. But no, he really wasn't there. "[Kiddo]?" I called again...somewhat louder this time. Still no answer. I checked the front and side doors to make sure they were locked (you see where my brain went with this...all of it's own accord) and they were indeed both securely locked. So he had to be in the house...but I couldn't think where he could be. Finally, I decided to check the other side of our bed for myself, although I couldn't think how Hubby could not have seen him had he been there. I walked around the foot of our bed and there, silently sleeping with the dog on her bed, was kiddo. Curled up, warm, sleeping soundly. Relief flooded through me as I gathered his sleeping form in my arms and carried him back to his bed. As I lay him on his bed and covered him with his favorite blanket, he grabbed the edge, curled up and said, "Thanks, Mom," and was out again. I'm going to have to have a talk with that boy when I get home tonight. My morning started out just fine, but quickly fell into panic when I couldn't find my son. I really couldn't find him and he didn't answer my calls because he was asleep! Everything was fine, thank God, but I still nearly had a heart attack when I couldn't find him. I think I'm going to be shaking the entire day now. Remind me not to have more than one cup of coffee this morning, eh? TTFN JMS