Everyone here is talking about the horrific death of 7-year-old Somer Thompson. She was walking home from school Monday afteroon when she vanished. She was with her twin brother and her older sister. Today, her body was found in a landfill.
Everyone here is talking about it because it happened HERE. It happened 20 minutes away from where I live.
What do I do with this information?
Do I become an overprotective parent? I mean, I already AM an overprotective parent. I’m a helicopter. I hover. I am constantly holding my kids’ hands and they know there is a “time out” in their future if they run away from me for a second when we are out in public.
I guess I never really thought about someone taking them away from me. Until now.
After Somer’s disappearance, my husband and I started researching GPS tracking devices for children. There are a bunch on the market. Most are expensive, but all of them do the job. They let you monitor your kid’s EVERY MOVE. Everywhere they go. Has it come to this?
A woman called into my husband’s radio show this morning with an awesome point. She said that you can’t sit and think about someone snatching your kid or something bad happening to them ALL THE TIME. That would drive us all crazy and create an awful environment of fear for our children.
While the local news was updating us about Somer’s body possibly being found in a landfill, I was on two scheduled preschool tours for Bean. It was just weird timing. I’m about to send my little boy out into the world without me. I really like the school that has locked and coded entrances.
Then, last night I watched Oprah on TIVO and the show was about the happiest people on earth and where they live. Oprah interviewed families in Copenhagen, Denmark. One Copenhagen couple felt so happy and safe, they actually left their babies to nap unattended in their backyard. They said crimes, and especially sexual crimes and kidnapping, were basically nonexistent. Should I move to Copenhagen?
No. I love my country and I would never want to live anywhere else. But today, I did look over my shoulder a little more when I was out with my kids. I did give them lots of extra kissies. I maybe hugged them a little longer.
And I also said prayers for our new angel Somer and for her Mama who’s arms will always ache for the daughter she has just lost.
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