smudges story reminds me of one similar.
I had driven up from London to Blackpool with my 2 year old daughter to spend a weekend with my family who'd flown over from Dublin.

Checked into the hotel and took the little hotel lift to the 4th floor. I had a pram with the child in it, suitcase and multiple small bags one seems to accumulate when they have small children. outside the room I realised the pushchair wouldnt fit through the door so took my daughter out of and set about the complicated process that comes with folding a modern pushchair. The corridor we were in had a firedoor either end so I wasn't worried about the child.

Having got everything into the room, I saw my daughter at the end of the corridor and she disappeared around the corner. There was nothing there but the lift and she couldnt reach the button so I assumed she was waiting for me so she could could shout Boo to me as I came around it. Ready to fake surprise I turned the corner just in time to see the lift doors closing with her in it.

As this was a shitty hotel in Blackpool, there were no displays on the wall showing which floor the lift was on. I shot down the stairs floor by floor waiting at every floor a few seconds to see if the door opened. Got to the ground floor and nothing. no sign of her. Now i was well panicked and I shouted to the receptionist and anyone else within earshot if they'd seen a small child come out of the lift. Nothing. Ran outside the hotel and looked up and down the road. still nothing. Ran back in, saw my dad, told him I'd lost Sophia and to stay there while I ran back up and checked every floor.

I ran up the stairs and along every corridor screaming her name in that high pitched voice of the demented. Still nothing. Got back to me dad at reception and by now I'm a gibbering mess beginning to run through several horrific scenarios in my head. just then the hotel manager comes through a door with my daughter in his arms. She looked completely nonplussed about the whole drama. Turns out there was a basement level function room in the hotel and there was a wedding reception being held there that day. Shed gotten out of the lift in the basement and wandered in. Someone noticed she didnt belong to anyone at the wedding and called the manager.

oh I'll never forget the relief of that moment. worse 10 minutes ever.

tl:dr - Blackpool is a shithole and I'm a shit parent.
( sneep used to date Freddie Starr's hamster, Sun 23 Dec 2012, 9:55, 2 replies)

yep, my two year old son was taken down to the lobby on his own, after the lift doors closed almost immediately after i'd stepped out of it. i could hear him screaming all the way down.
one of the worst sounds ever.
and one of my many parenting fail moments
( real i'm not happy 'til you're not happy, Sun 23 Dec 2012, 11:40, closed)

^ clear admission of noncery here

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 24 Dec 2012, 10:10, closed)