O, gosh, Jeana. When my middle son was five, he was in the Nashville Christmas parade and I lost him on Music Row. I was petrified! We walked all over the downtown area, the Vanderbilt area, etc looking for the float and never could find it. Finally, I called my ex for the phone number of his business associates who had the float he was on and he told me all was well, that they had my son at a record company and gave me the address. When we walked up to the building, the back door was open and I could hear my chatterbox talking a mile a minute keeping them all entertained. He was a character, not a bashful bone in his body.
Parades are horrible because of the closed off streets. They should prepare parents for such traumatic experiences. I was ready to call the cops.