It's the little things: A dad and his daughter meet Utah Jazz player Jeremy Evans at a Utah Flash game

Last weekend, I took our precocious and fearless 4-year-old daughter Abby to the Utah Flash game with her sister and a friend, both 11.

Stupid me.

What man takes a 4-year-old girl from a family with a history of attention deficit disorder to a professional basketball game? A dad with free tickets, that's who.

Midway through the first quarter, Abby had already cried twice because the cheerleaders were rude. They didn't throw HER a t-shirt or a packet of those inflatable plastic noise sticks. (The ones that when banged together produce such a loud, ringing sound you imagine the cacophony inside an NFL player's helmet when he suffers a concussion.)

Finally, worn down, I agreed to take her to the play area for rambunctious kids, but not until the yellow numbers on the scoreboard all said zero.

When the first quarter ended, we went up to the concourse. First we went to get a free balloon, then we began the long trip all the way around the outside of the arena, where every ice cream stand and popcorn booth is a landmine when you are escorting a 4-year-old.

I started to steel myself for the excitement of reaching the area behind the south basket — six trillion kids oh-so-patiently taking turns on two inflatable bouncy thingamajigs. As we walked, I looked down at Abby, then turned slightly to throw something away and then turned back to her.

She was gone.

Vanished. Vaporized. ... oh ... no ... Kidnapped, hoisted into the nearby elevator or restroom, hair cut short and tossed into the back of a waiting van pointed toward Canada.

Minutes of panic.

I ran through the bathroom. Twice. I retraced our steps. Thrice. I tried to think like a hyperkinetic 4-year-old who loves crowds and adults. No luck there.

I needed help. I rushed to an usher. "Help me. ... She has blondish hair. Wearing a white floral print dress."

The usher interrupted me, pressing her earpiece deeper into her ear. ... "Was it a cream floral print dress?"

"Yeah," I said. "Um, yes, that's it. Sure."

"Good news, she's down by your seats near the floor."

I hustled back along the concourse to the portal right where I'd lost her and headed down the stairs. There was the little socialite. Abby entertaining three ushers and two policemen. And wearing .... a RAINBOW-colored floral print dress.

Stupid male.