good intentions

you know the saying, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions"? i wonder if others good intentions pave our paths as well as our own do.

my two older children have been difficult lately.

last saturday, a lady in ward showed up at my door. i was surprised to see her as we don't normally associate together. she asked me if i knew where my kids were. they were out playing, but i didn't know exacts. she then proceeded to tell me a story that upset me.
they run a horse breeding facility about a half mile west, across the train tracks, right next to the highway. one of her hired hands, found my children climbing on the corrals, and trying to play with the horses. for the most part, these are not docile animals, and particularly not the studs. they didn't listen when they were told they needed to get down, and they didn't give their names when asked for them. it wasn't until they were yelled at and informed that i would be told what they had been doing that they finally did what they had been asked.
when they got home, we had a LONG talk about their behavior. they had their bikes taken away for 2 weeks, and they were grounded to the yard for 1. the rules were also tightened.

normally, my kids are free to go searching for someone to play with. they know they aren't supposed to cross the tracks, or the highway/main street. because of the above incident, they are no longer free to go searching. they must inform me where they are going, and if they decide to change that position, they are to come or call home and let me know.
apparently, the new rules didn't get beat into them hard enough.

this afternoon, they told me they were going to the school to play. i'm ok with that. it's just a block away, and it has much better toys than we do. dinner time came, and the kids weren't home. shaun went out searching for them. he started at the school-they weren't there. he then walked around the neighborhood-he didn't see them. he went out in the van, and i started calling people.
no one had seen them this afternoon. everyone had seen them this morning for a bit, but not this afternoon. i called the relief society president, and she offered to go out looking for us. i called my visiting teacher, and she went out looking as well.
taylor finally made it home on his own. shaun had found elizabeth. i'm not sure when and how they got separated, but they did. taylor was by the church, and elizabeth was at the park (across the highway).
they'd been home about a half-hour when there's a knock on the door. someone had called in that my kids were missing. i had a police officer at the door.
although, i'm grateful that someone was trying to help, that should have been my decision whether to call the police or not. no one i talked to mentioned it, and shaun didn't say he had anyone call either. i wanted to ask the officer who made the call, but i doubt he would have known.