Parents sometimes talk about how hard it is to watch their children get on the school bus or to watch their children go inside the school building at parent drop-off.
While it may seem like such a small thing to those listening, parents carry with them the worry that something could happen while their child is not within their care.
Mom and TikToker @thatsyessii was a mixture of nervous, excited, and heartbroken that her son was entering kindergarten, especially when the school did not give her enough time to say goodbye to him or let her walk him in on the first day of school.
But on the second day, Yessii's concerns turned into a mother's worst nightmare when she went to pick her kindergartner up at 1:00 PM, only for him to not appear on the school's front curb with his fellow classmates.
Concerned that her son wasn't there, Yessii went into the school's front office, where they looked up her son's file.
When they asked her if she was looking for her son, Romel, they nonchalantly stated:
"Yes, he was reported 'absent' for today."
After watching her son walk into school that morning, experiencing that "special moment" as the two of them waved at each other, Yessii felt her world falling apart with the uttering of one sentence.
You can watch the first video here:
In a second video, Yessii gave a longer account of what had happened.
She and her son were back home, but they were both "scared" and "hurt" from what transpired.
The employee in the front office called every kindergarten classroom, with each teacher reporting that they did not have Romel in their class.
Other than making the phone calls, the office seemed to be doing nothing else to find Yessii's son, and their lack of interest or urgency in the situation sent the mother spiraling.
You can watch the second video here:
Fortunately, much to everyone's relief, Yessii revealed a bittersweet ending in her third update.
Frustrated with how little the front office seemed to care about what was happening, Yessii took matters into her own hands and barged down the hallways of the school, yelling her son's name and hoping he would hear her.
When she received no response, she went outside to the school's playground and activity area, where she approached a teacher supervising an older group of kids.
While talking to the teacher, Romel came running up to her, sobbing uncontrollably. While his kindergarten class was outside, he accidentally joined a first grade physical education class instead of staying with his group to go to school drop-off.
Though he was safe, it was alarming that the first grade teacher did not notice they had an extra student, and that Romel's teacher did not realize they had a missing student.
Also, presumably, Romel was with his class throughout the day until being split up on the playground, leading everyone to wonder when he was reported absent, and how long he had actually been missing.
You can watch the third video here:
Fellow TikTokers were furious on Yessii and Romel's behalf, citing how traumatizing this must have been for both of them.
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
Some also encouraged Yessii to seek out a lawyer for Romel's disappearance and the school's lackadaisical approach.
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
@thatsyessii/TikTok
In a fourth and final (for now) video, Yessii expressed her thanks and showed her happy, healthy son, Romel.
Though she didn't disclose information about it, it seems there are legal proceedings in the works as she was not sure "if it was okay to share anymore information online or not."
Yessii also confirmed for concerned parents that Romel was not attending that school any longer and would not attend that school in the future.
She also used the hashtags "homeschool" and "safer together" in the description of the video, leading us to believe that she might be pursuing homeschooling or virtual schooling as an option going forward.
You can watch the third video here:
While it's a wonderful relief to know that Romel made it home safely, it's also sickening to realize that he was missing and that the school was doing so little to rectify the situation and help Yessii find her son.
If Yessii had not perused the school herself or checked outside, there's no telling how long Romel would have been waiting on the playground.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter