onder moeder's vleugels

eldest has a tendency to panic when i should be around but she cannot see me. this panic expresses itself as a massive howl, big tears that refuse to be dried for at least 5 full minutes, with quite a bit of gentler sobbing to follow. i heard such a howl the other day in the supermarket. she and youngest had run off in an attempt to hide from me and i merrily went on to the vegetables isle, knowing that youngest usually finds me and if not, then i'll find them easily enough.
howl!!
(ah - had forgotten eldest does not feel quite as confident just yet)
so i explained that honestly there is nothing to worry about, you must just search all the isles systematically and also, i will always find you and if you really are scared or worried or you really cannot find me despite searching very carefully, then you can always ask the people in the orange & brown outfits to talk through the microphone and tell me i need to come & collect you - and then they will tell me where they are with you, and then i will come and find you. OK? ok. eldest sniffed, calmed down now, but remained close by my side for the remainder of the shopping expedition.

i should have seen it coming...

youngest, as usual, clearly had had his ears peeled when i was having my little chat with eldest.
next thing i know, person in orange & brown outfit comes up to me, points at eldest, and asks: 'do you have another one of those?'

gawd! of course. youngest had immediately concluded this whole idea of mama being summoned up via microphone was mega exiting & he decided to try it out straight away. he had basically raced to the other side of the supermarket, beamed at orange & brown person and told her he'd lost his mummy. not quite as convincing as the howling for some reason...