"Yes, two are from Alaska, and one is an English Major in College, and one has been in jail the last 4 months, so he hasn't been able to participate much."
Well, Kriston, I read "Protecting the Gift" and usually take your position, but my heart definitly skipped a beat here.
Eeek! Yes, I'd be pretty nervous there, too. My kids are still too young for that kind of online interaction, so that may explain some of my attitude. When they get into interactive game playing and MySpace and such, I'll definitely be more...<ahem>...concerned...
I just see other moms at the park hovering, and I think, "Really, nobody wants your kid. And if someone did, there are 20 of us moms nearby ready to jump the guy and call 911. Sit down and relax, would you?"
Once there was a <gasp> dad <gasp> playing "good guy, bad guy" with his son, and all the other boys at the park joined in. The other moms heard "bad guy" and saw the running (never mind that the kids were chasing the man, not the other way around...) and FREAKED OUT. Seriously, it was like all reason had left their heads and they went into full-on child protection mode!
I tried to reason with them: he's being pretty obvious, what with all the running around DIRECTLY in front of us...don't you think he's just playing with the kids? They're laughing and chasing him...don't you think it's a game? etc. But until they had confirmation that one of the kids was his, all the moms were just nuts about him. It was the craziest thing.
Can you imagine a predator galloping around at full tilt like that? I still think it was completely ludicrous! And that seems to be the dominant mentality in this area at least: panic about kids' safety first; think...never!
Sorry. I won't keep posting about this. I know it's totally OT! It's just one of my personal issues.
I've never heard of "Protecting the Gift." What is it?
