Innocent Mistake or Gross Neglect?
Have you guys heard about the missing 4-year old girl from England? Her family was on vacation in Portugal and her parents left her and her 2-year old twin siblings alone in their hotel room while they went to dinner. [???] When they came back, she was gone and has been missing for over a month. Authorities think she has been kidnapped by an organized p*dophile network.
This story has me both brokenhearted and outraged.
Any thoughts?
Mamalaw is a group blog about three moms and wives who just happen to be lawyers too. We have seven kids between us which means that we have no shortage of funny stories, touching moments, reasons to rant and the occasional kernel of parenting wisdom. In our "spare time," we founded 
8 comments:
I'm a little horrified about that too. The article I read made it seem like the restaurant was just next door, but that's still too far when you're in a strange country, strange neighborhood and have no baby monitor.
I do feel for them. They made a horrible mistake and I'm sure they'll never be able to forgive themselves.
I am always torn by these kind of stories. I feel for the parents and family. I cannot imagine how I would feel or what I would do.
BUT, on the other hand, you cannot leave your kids alone - at all. I'm skeptical of being in the yard while the baby is in the house asleep. I'm always listening for her. So, how in the world could you leave two toddlers alone in a hotel in a different country - all while you eat???? NO!!!!! I strongly advocate for some alone time, but that should have been fully thought through.
Please don't even get me started. Though I feel for them to an extent, haven't you ever heard of take-out? Never would I have done that!
One of the things about vacationing with kids -- you don't get dinner alone. I read an article about the family and I felt horrible for them, but I also wondered what were they thinking?
What were they thinking is a good question. My kids never sleep well in a strange place. I could just imagine one of them waking up, and then walking out of the hotel room after they realized we weren't there. Very scary.
OMG. This is heartbreaking and terrifying. I'd vote for gross neglect though- a 4yr old watching not one (which is bad enough) but TWO 2 yr olds? C'mon...
And how scary is it that this family was being so closely watched for someone to have the opportunity to kidnap the child? My goodness...
I just hope they find the child unharmed.
And they actually received an audience with the Pope... here they would have received an audience with social services. It is very bizarre.
Here's the thing - I've lived in Europe. I know a lot of people who are either from Europe or have also lived in Europe. The culture is different over there than our overzealous, paranoid, don't-let-kids-out-of-our-sight, American culture.
While I totally understand the inclination for us Americans to gasp indignantly and say "I can't believe they DID that" and then, either outright say or secrently feel, that they somehow had this coming because they left their kids unattended, I personally just feel sorrow for the family. While I myself would never leave my kids unattended like that, I also know that they were eating at a restaurant only a few hundred yards away, and that an adult went back every 30-45 min to check on them. It certainly doesn't sound like they threw some Cheerios at the kids and told them they'd be back in the morning.
It's tragic, but I also think it is so typical of our culture to immediately judge the parents. Sad all around.
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