We live in a very small town. It is like 3000 people in the whole county. Wonderful place to raise children! You always see kids walking to and from school, walking to the library, riding bikes, even playing on the side streets etc. We watch out for each others children. Once my daughter fell when she was walking in town and I got a call to let me know she had skinned her knee. Another time I got a call from someone to inform me that she didn't do so well about looking both ways before she crossed a street. (bet she never makes that mistake again)
We live 2 miles outside of town but the days I work I take my two children to daycare. My oldest is in 5th grade and so she goes to the babysitter and then walks 1 1/2 blocks to school and then after school the 1 1/2 blocks back to the sitter.
I get a call about 3:20 today from a friend who tells me that there was a girl playing in her yard and a man pulled up, asked her if she wanted a piece of bubblegum. She then said no and when she went to run away he tried to grab her. The parents then called the police and within a few minutes there were police and county police all over the town.
So, I race to pick up my daughter from school so she isn't walking anywhere. I tell my sitter that as of tomorrow I will be picking up all the kids, there are 4 of them, that walk to school from her house and taking them to school. Everyone in town was calling everyone they could think of with kids to let them know and make sure that their kids were safe and to be on the look out for the car and driver this little girl described. I got probably 17 calls myself from other parents.
Well.....the police chief in town is a friend of ours and he just called me to tell me that the little girl had made up the whole story!!!!! I am now breathing a sigh of relief but at the same time it has really made me think about how we think we are so safe in our little town. It did make me hold my kids a little bit longer tonight.
Even though the little girl did make the story up it was great to see the fast response. It was really a wonderful thing to see. Everyone pulling together to make sure our community of children were safe. I sat my children down again tonight and we went through the whole "Stranger, Danger" thing. It is heartwarming and yet heartbreaking all at once.
I was reminded again today why I love my small town!
We live 2 miles outside of town but the days I work I take my two children to daycare. My oldest is in 5th grade and so she goes to the babysitter and then walks 1 1/2 blocks to school and then after school the 1 1/2 blocks back to the sitter.
I get a call about 3:20 today from a friend who tells me that there was a girl playing in her yard and a man pulled up, asked her if she wanted a piece of bubblegum. She then said no and when she went to run away he tried to grab her. The parents then called the police and within a few minutes there were police and county police all over the town.
So, I race to pick up my daughter from school so she isn't walking anywhere. I tell my sitter that as of tomorrow I will be picking up all the kids, there are 4 of them, that walk to school from her house and taking them to school. Everyone in town was calling everyone they could think of with kids to let them know and make sure that their kids were safe and to be on the look out for the car and driver this little girl described. I got probably 17 calls myself from other parents.
Well.....the police chief in town is a friend of ours and he just called me to tell me that the little girl had made up the whole story!!!!! I am now breathing a sigh of relief but at the same time it has really made me think about how we think we are so safe in our little town. It did make me hold my kids a little bit longer tonight.
Even though the little girl did make the story up it was great to see the fast response. It was really a wonderful thing to see. Everyone pulling together to make sure our community of children were safe. I sat my children down again tonight and we went through the whole "Stranger, Danger" thing. It is heartwarming and yet heartbreaking all at once.
I was reminded again today why I love my small town!
