I wanted to relate a story that happened to me, Jenn, and Ansley Wednesday at the zoo. In the end, I'm gonna relate this to free range parenting.
We were all hanging around the hot dog stand, waiting in line to get some lunch. Ansley spoke to Charlie (who is 3), reached into her purse to get her wallet, and when she looked up, Charlie was gone. We all looked around for him, and when we didn't see him immediately, we started to get a little worried.
Now, let me be clear, Ansley was not letting a 3 year old have the run of the zoo. That wouldn't be free range; that would be stupid. And yet, children sometimes get lost. It happens A LOT, according to the zoo peopleguys.
So, we split up to look for him and to alert security that he was missing. He was gone for nearly 30 minutes, and let me tell you, we were pretty scared. In the end, a security peopleguy found him near the zoo train and brought him to us.
What I wanted to say was not that it is good and free range to let a 3 year old go all over the place in the zoo alone. We would never let that happen on purpose; we will be even more vigilant now, with Charlie and with our other babies. What I want to say is that the premise of free range parenting is right. The world is not a pit of evil pedophiles lurking behind every giraffe, waiting to grab up a cute little blond 3 year old. The world is filled with worried moms who helped us look and zoo employees who radioed his description and helped him get back to us.
It's not that a tragedy never happens. It's that a tragedy usually doesn't happen. I hope we never lose a child again, but if we do, I know that there is a nearly 100% chance that he will be safely found and returned to us by the decent people who populate the zoo and the rest of our neighborhoods.
3 comments:
What if the pedophile IS the giraffe??
I'm glad Charlie is safe.
I don't know much about "free-range" parenting but good parenting should include teaching a child what to do if they become lost. They should know their name, the name of their parent or guardian, address, and phone number. Without scaring the bajeebbers out them they should be taught whom to look for if they need help. A woman with children or a family would be a safer choice than that strange man with bare legs in a trench coat.
BTW were those paleo hotdogs?
Erving,
All of that teaching is consistent with free-range parenting, and has been/is being taught to all of the children Kelly discussed in the post. Our kids are taught to find a mommy with children if they ever get lost.
The child in question is 2.5 years old, too young to be counted on to understand and provide that information to the people helping him. We're not even sure that he understood that he was "lost" if you know what I mean, it's a function of his age and stage of development.
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