This weekend I'll post pictures from Tzipi's school program, this morning I just wanted to take a minute to say a few words.
We went to the Parent Meeting at Tzipi's school and there was a police officer that had a presentation about child safety. I "know" all of the rules about protecting your children, but hearing and seeing the facts brought it all to my mind. Thankfully child abductions don't happen as often as people think. Most of the time it is a custody battle. If anything, it just helped me remember how precious life is and how most parents do not realize how important it is to be in the moment. We struggle to get everything done most of the time and we're thinking of a million things and not paying attention to what is currently happening. I'm always going through the rules before we enter a public place together. It's easy when it's just one of the kids, but take them both and they turn into Indiana Jones and sis.
It wasn't a scary presentation, but it was serious. Life is so precious and last night just brought it home. I've never been in the situation where I didn't know where my children were, (thankfully they are both very loud). When Zee was tiny and couldn't hear, he wandered away for a second and I could see him, but he couldn't hear me. THAT was scary. I guess the scariest thing about the statistics were that most bad things happen with family members. It's important to know your family. I don't know most of my extended family, but they are many miles away. The thing about trust is that you have to know the person. Spending time with all of your family is important. I'm blessed that the family here in Texas spends so much time talking, blogging, attending family dinners, attending family functions and the like. I feel safe in knowing that I know my family well.
PS. I wanted to say that I whined and whined about no one responding to my newsletter, but I was so out of it that I totally forgot that TINA was the very first to respond (within seconds) and she was very sweet. So I wanted to apologize for being whiny. I hate being whiny. Thank you for always being so encouraging Tina.
Whine goes well with cheese! A nice gouda, but in limited quantities. Must care for gall bladder!
ReplyDeleteVery well said. I am sure I am too paranoid about stranger danger. I hate to say I have a trust issue. Not necessarily with family, but with others that are very close, but who knows what goes on behind closed doors.
ReplyDeleteLast week I watched a very scary program that I had recorded. When going through the program guide I noticed that Oprah was having a program where Lisa Ling was interviewing sexual offenders who live on some island off the coast of Washington state. They all about said the same thing: that people better be vigilant with who is around their kids when not in their presence. Each of them gave their story, telling how they "groomed" the parents. Their victims were - in every case shown- children of friends or family members. None had picked up kids off the street. They "groomed" the parents to trust them around their kids. Some did it for a long time before doing anything to the kid(s). The kids trusted them because their parent were friends or they were a family member and was accustomed to being around the predator without fear. Most said things like they started out simply playing with the kids. They then would move on to things like having them sit on their lap - like to read a book or something like that. They would oftentimes wrestle or tickle, thus having the child become familiar with being touched by them. They often walk, holding hands, but nothing inappropriate in the beginning. After all, their goal was to get the parent accustomed to, and trusting them around the child(ren). Very scary and thought out. They all basicly said the same thing: do not trust your neighbor, your kid's friends' parents, etc. And they said to teach your kids from when they are a baby to push away a hand if it gets where it shouldnt be (bathing suit covered areas, etc.) and say NO. A child molester doesn't want attention, and if a child learns to make a fuss when someone tries to touch him/her - even someone they love and trust - he/she will move on to another child. Another thing that came out in the program is that just because you have done a background check on someone you will not be able to know without a doubt who is likely to molest your kids because there are MILLIONS of them who have never been caught and are out there molesting every day. They have no criminal record or record because they have never been caught, so a background check will only let you know of the ones who have been caught already. Each one said not to trust people with your kids. I hate child molesters and rapists more than any vile creature on the earth and don't know why our laws are so lax. In my opinion, there should never be a person living and breathing who has been caught doing either crime. Once caught, execution should come shortly after. of another breath waster.
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