Parents are once again on edge after a 3 yr old boy was found missing from his home in Sparwood, BC this week. The face of the man believed to be involved in the disappearance will give you nightmares. The face of the little boy believed to be dragging three blankets and wearing Scooby Doo shorts will break your heart.
Having kids changes everything. Especially the way you watch the news.
Here's a piece I wrote about the "balloon boy" back in 2009 and how it affected me:
Don't let anyone ever tell you their life doesn't change after they had kids. It changes. Instantly.
From the moment you hear that first scream, you don't matter. The survival of that child is the most important thing in your world. That's an easy concept to grasp, but the thing they don't tell you is that the survival of every other child in the world is just as important.
5 years ago I would have been chiming in with the rest of the Twittersphere's one liner fiesta as "balloon boy" sped across a Colorado sky in a homemade balloon yesterday. But as I watched the news erupt, I had a different emotion. Like many other parents, my heart sank. I completely understood the inability for parents to watch their child every.single.second. of the day and could imagine Zacharie stumbling something equally dangerous.
I put myself in the place of the parents watching a silver jiffy pop balloon soar to 7000 feet before eventually plummeting back down, the whole while believing their 6 year old was inside. The fear, the dread, the angst is indescribable and while Twitter dropped some jokes, Dads got sober - fast.
@AnthonyFloyd: In skimming through my Twitter stream, it's readily apparent who has kids and who doesn't. Some of you childless ppl seem pretty heartless.
@dougsymington: Hope the wee balloon dude is ok. Meanwhile there are *many* 6 year-olds in your own communities in need of your support
@AnthonyFloyd: Since becoming a Dad almost 5 years ago, my emotional tolerance for "bad things happening to kids" has been acutely diminished #BoyInBalloon
@AnthonyFloyd: That's it. Can't watch video, too much chatter on Twitter. Going dark for a while.
@ChadNorthrup: 6 years ago I might have chuckled over the hot air balloon thing, but not today. Amazing how having kids changes my perspective.
@jaypiddy: As a father of a 6 year old boy I'll admit this really made me sad. - Boy in balloon: http://bit.ly/3K3Uv7
@mollywood: Also, seriously, thank god they found #balloonboy alive. I just cannot handle that particular type of tragedy.
@michaeleckford: I feel you balloon boy, I once hid under the family pool table in a motorcycle helmet. A box in the garage would have been way smarter.
@jaypiddy: If I was six and let that ufo sized balloon of my dad's fly off into the sunset. I would have hid too. #balloonboy
Now, as it turns out, our sympathy for the Father has spun on its head. He's a manipulating liar with anger issues who manufactured a situation to satisfy his own ego.
While you can shut down the Dad and decry the situation, you have to remember - there's still a little boy stuck in there.
As if to top that unfortunate parenting, another video to shock the senses of any parent came from Australia, where a stroller fell on to the tracks of a train seconds before it pulled in to the station.
Parenting is easy. It's the caring about every single kid on the planet that can break your heart every day.
"
Printer-friendly version