I've said it before and I'll say it again

TROUBLE SINCE CONCEPTION!! M that is! Ugh.

Took out the trash today, dumpster is maybe 100y or so from the house. Didn't close front door completely, M usually follows me out. Today she didn't, got back to the house and she'd locked the door. Luckily D let me in. M is no longer watching TV so I figure she's gone upstairs. I putter around downstairs for five minutes or so and then go upstairs, no lights are on in their rooms (it's dark cause of the curtains) so I look for M and call out to her. No answer, don't see her. I go back downstairs to look for her, don't find her, go back upstairs, repeat. Ask D if he's seen her and to help me look. I go outside to see if she's gone out even though D didn't lock the door on me (he was engrossed on the computer). So after five minutes or so I still can't find her and she's not answering to my escalating yells and threats to call police if she doesn't come out.

Go back outside, phone in hand, bang on neighbors door who had *just* come home when I took trash out as that's the only house M goes to when she goes outside. At this point I start freaking out and call 911 as it's maybe been over 10min since she's been gone. Neighbor hasn't seen her and starts knocking on doors asking around for me. I send D to look out back again. G gets home and starts looking too. He searches the house twice as well.

Finally five more minutes later the sheriff's deputies start showing up after I've talked to the 911 operator, described M, etc and she tells me they'll help look and send up helicopters if need be. Officially freaking out at this point and scaring D. One of the deputies has me come inside and wants to re-search the house yet again, we look around down stairs and as we go to go upstairs, M is walking down with a big smile on her face. I start yelling, asking where she was and why she didn't answer me. She doesn't say anything. I grab her and go outside to let everyone know she's okay. So thank you to the five deputies and eight neighbors who helped look for ten minutes. One of the deputies wanted to call an ambulance for me, but I said I could calm down on my own. Geez, I'd think they'd be more concerned if I *wasn't* hysterical over losing my kid!

She finally told us that she'd been in her closet (where G and I had looked twice, separately) but she has the bifold doors and one was halfway open and she was sitting in the little V that it made. So she's been lectured by us about answering when called to. One of the deputies gave her a plastic badge and a stuffed puppy dog to which I thought, "Yeah, let's give her toys and encourage her to play hide n seek." LoL.