Today we decided to go to Wal-Mart on the spur of the moment so that Accalia could check out their toys. She loves to fiddle with all of the electronic toys, and since we don't really have any at home, this is usually her only opportunity. Anyway, we were wandering through the toy department and I called to Accalia to come over and look at something. She yelled "No!" and ran. This is not something she's in the habit of doing. I did a sweep of the toy department and surrounding area and didn't see her anywhere, so I went to a nearby employee and asked for helping finding her.

This employee dropped what she was doing and immediately took me up front. On the way, she asked for a description and was scanning all of the aisles. When we got to Customer Service, the employee there immediately took her description and then made an announcement over the loudspeaker for a Code Adam with a description of Accalia. There were about a dozen employees around that I could see, and they all dropped what they were doing to search. Even the customers nearby took notice. About 10 seconds later, an employee came over with Accalia. She had seen Accalia running up to the cash registers, grab a candy treat and head to one of the ride on toys at the entrance. Accalia wasn't scared at all. She came up to me smiling, asked if she could have the treat and said she had been waiting. HUGE sigh of relief! I'm a calm person and wasn't panicking during this time, but I was SO, SO relieved to have Accalia safe and secure in the cart.

I was so impressed by the Wal-Mart employees. I know they take this Code Adam stuff seriously, but I was just really impressed by how quickly and smoothly they went into action. Of course if someone had intended to take Accalia, it may have been too late with how quickly she ran to the front of the store near the entrance.

After that, we had a talk about why it's not a good idea to run away from me or Cory in public, why I was scared (that someone would take her), and what to do if a stranger approaches you. We've talked about things like this before and I honestly don't know how much sinks in. I do know that Accalia understands and remembers a lot more than she lets on, but I wish I could just have her pinky swear to never do that again and to stay away from bad people! LOL!

So that was our eventful morning. So far the afternoon has been much less adrenaline packed.