I would like to think that I’m fairly laid back when it comes to my parenting.
We set our rules and boundaries and for the most part both Kayleigh and Ethan seem to follow.
Their not wrapped in cotton wool, if they get hurt they are brushed down, kissed better and off out to play but their safety is my number one priority.
Everyone is aware of child abductions, abuse and murders so I make sure ours are always in view. when we go to the park and out and about they always hold hands. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t protect them.
But I admit that going abroad made me nervous, I never let them out of my site.
Then last week reading the BBC news I read about the girl almost abducted in Lanzarote, I felt sick when I saw the picture of where as it was where we had returned from a few weeks earlier. Thankfully the girl was saved before anything had happened but it must have been petrifying for her and the family none the less.
However I witnessed a few things recently that took me by surprise.
There was children no older than Kayleigh who were playing in the park with no parents around. Now granted they may have been watching from their apartment, however they were not in clear view as they must have been inside the apartment.
Then there was the children from the range of 4-8 years old throwing their flip flops in the deep end of the pool waiting for the wind to blow them back to them. Probably a great game….. if they could swim. One parent came out of their apartment to see them and told them to be careful and remember they can’t swim, then proceeded to return to her apartment leaving all of them around a pool that was almost 2 meters deep.
But the one that really got me and it maybe because it reminds me of little Madeline.
There was families who were sunbathing by the pool leaving their sleeping (I assume) babies/toddlers in the apartment whilst they took a baby monitor out to the pool with them but the doors open, anything could have happened.
Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m too protective but I think there is a fine line between allowing them freedom and risk taking and I am not prepared to take that sort of risk.
I’m with you on trying to balance kids safety and allowing them to explore. Explore by the poolside is a big no no! However if I had a monitor I would much rather my little one slept in peace in a cool quiet room, than outside or me being stuck inside. I stress though that I would have to be certain that our monitor worked (We have a motion sensor in it) and I’d probably lock the door unless I could see it.
so hard to get the balance right isn’t it. I think on holiday people feel more relaxed generally and perhaps do things they wouldn’t at home. Having said that there have been a couple of occasions i have seen kids younger than my own being sent to the shops on their own or at the park on their own and it is worrying! xxx