I have a child missing!

Don't panic, I know where she is. But my subconscious seems to forget sometimes. It is surprising to me to realize how often throughout the day that you take a little tally of all of your children. It reminds me of when they were all little and I would take them to the park. Every few minutes I would take a little count and make sure I knew where all three of them were. Now I only have Brenley at home, which is much easier.

What I didn't realize is that during the day I take a mental note of where they all are. It is easy when they are all at school, I don't really think about it then. But it was surprising to me how many times yesterday I wondered where Rachael was. She is in Utah, and I know she is safe, but yesterday I found myself thinking strange things like,"we can eat dinner as soon as Rachael gets back" or "I wonder if I need to go pick up Rachael?".

Then there are the practical things, like noticing that nobody is helping me with dinner. And when I need help with Brenley, I instinctively call Rachael first. It is probably a good time for Kindyl to learn more responsibility, I guess. She is perfectly capable, I should probably just remember to ask her to do more things.

If you think I am confused, you should hear Brenley. While the kids were at school, she didn't notice. But when Kindyl came home from school and I took her to her friend Tangy's house at about the same time I would be picking up Rach, she looks at me and goes, "Mom, where TT?" (tt is Rachael. It is how she said "sister"when she was little. She is perfectly capable of saying Rachael now, and does sometimes, but still prefers tt)It seems like she learned to tell time. Then when we sat down for dinner, there was confusion all over again. How do you explain these things to a two year old? She will be very happy when she gets her sister back.