I'm Sorry

[speckledhen]

No one need apologize for protecting their kids. No one. This world has gone to H@#L in an handbasket. Don't need to tell anyone that.

 

[lurky]

Good for you being protective of your children. It is your job to keep them safe, so dont apologize for that. I own a barbershop and i have pics up of all my dogs, cats and chickens as well as all my customers in the military. I have one daughter and i have never put a picture of her on display at my shop. I am in a country town where farmers park their tractors out front to come in for a haircut sometimes, but i feel you can never be too safe. My daughter is now 20, but I still look out for her if i can.

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

Speckledhen - I will agree with you there!!! You just dont know who you can trust anymore... Infact the little redhead - Jess... I already had a close call with her a few years ago... It does make me feel better though living where I do... We are surrounded by trees and are far off the main road... So unless you have been invited here... you dont even know we are here....

As for internet safety... After taking the courses I took and then having an Officer from "Blue Ridge Thunder" coming out and doing a presentation.. Oh my goodness... I have learned so much and to be honest it is scary!!! But I still wanted to share with y'all the happiness in my life besides my chickens.

If any of you would like to learn more on internet safety here is the web site to an awesom group of men and women!! http://www.blueridgethunder.com/DefaultHome.asp

All of my children have been "lectured" and know what to do if anything ever happens and they are in the clutches of a stranger, kidnapper, pedophile.. etc. As you can tell there are 3 of them that I need not really worry about, I know they can take care of themselves... but that still does not stop me from worrying or protecting them!!! The youngest is well informed and educated in Karate... she doesnt look like much... but she can put a hurtin on you

Thanks all for the replies... Have a safe and happy weekend..... Tes

 

[SpottedCrow]

In the good old days it was more like don't go to Old man whomever's house...
With MY reputation, I'm surprised I don't get to eat ALL the Halloween candy.

I don't blame you for not wanting to post pics...I won't let my DS have a Myspace.

 

[cheepchicks]

Please do not feel you are over protective. I do not believe there is such a thing. I was told that one rainy winter day when my MIL wanted to take my daughters to Kansas to visit their uncle. I did not want them to go and told my Husband so. He told me I was over protective. I was afraid of him after years of physical and verbal abuse and so I let them go. On the way there was an accident as the rain had turned to sleet. My eldest child was killed and to this day my youngest lives with the last images of her grammy and sister bloody.

I only wish I had been brave and strong enough to say no.

Kim

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

OMG Kim, I am so sorry that happened to you!!! That is another thing... Their grandmother is moving to Arkansas... and wants to come get the girls and take them for the summer... I have said a FIRM NO my mother is 70 and has done nothing but cause problems for years!! I did let them stay with her this summer... but they were only an hour and a half away I could go get them at any given time... I am just so unsure! I will trust my gut instint though... Thanks for telling me that story... although I know it is hard for you!!!

Thanks everyone... I think its time to take the pics down now... I am sure everyone that has wanted to see them has... and if you didnt... I'm sorry...

Tes

 

[ozark hen]

you are right just trust your instincts, don't give it another thought just do what you feel you should do and don't apologise to anyone. My heart goes out to you Kim, no one can know your pain but we wish we could help.

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

Ozarkhen... thanks!!!

And thanks to everyone else!!! I believe with this post we have touched on a subject that is actually left in the dark way to much... I wish all your children safe and happy lives!!!

Tes

 

[cheepchicks]

Thank-you all for the kind thoughts. This has been many years ago. Though you never get over it...you do learn to live with it.

First of all please know that I am not trying to take over this thread. But let me tell you all one more story. This one not so sad but infuriating. Let me set this up so you will understand just how patient predators of children are sometimes.

My daughter was 6years old when she survived that accident. She has run the gamut of emotions, & survivor's guilt has been terrible. We spoke about it when she needed to but these things take time. Her father never really cared for her because he had Alyssa who was the golden child. When Alyssa was killed all of a sudden this man who never had room for her suddenly had time to be the perfect parent. I knew it was put on & the ensuing years would prove me right. Though for Chelsea's sake I would rather have been wrong. When she turned 10 her father remarried. I spent the next several years trying to explain to her why Daddy had no time for her. Very difficult when you are also trying not to badmouth the other parent. When she turned 10 her Daddy began a campaign of undermining her confidence. He would write her letters calling her names...slut, whore etc. He told her school was unimportant and that girls didn't need an education. I fought this campaign on a daily basis while trying to provide her with as normal a childhood as possible. To this day he still is running that campaign but my daughter has decided she no longer needs this in her life. They are at this time not on speaking terms. She says she loves him he is her Daddy & someday when he is well again she will speak to him.

Okay now for the meat of the story. During the time above my Sister met a man and fell in love. Chelsea was 8 at this time. Being the victims of a child molester ourselves ( my father) we are very careful about who gets to be around our children. So this new man of my sister's did not spend anytime at all alone with Chelsea. He was a photographer and would take pictures of all the kids. Always with one of us present. He & Chelsea developed a bond in spite of our "over protective" ways. He actually helped Chelsea to heal in many ways. Luckily Chelsea & I had developed a close bond & she told me everything (even some stuff a parent would rather not hear). Things went on like this for many years. There were some signs of potential trouble...such as he spent alot of time reading her web page. When she turned 16 she came downstairs from her room and told me about a person whom she thought was Jesse (my sister's by now not so new man) was bothering her online. She showed me some emails (soliciting nude photos of my child), he was pretending to be 16 and from some exotic place or another. He had a web page complete with blogs & pictures of himself. We did some research & proved this person to be Jesse. We then printed out the emails and gave them to my sister. She asked him about it & when there was denial threw the printed emails in his lap. He confessed & she dumped him. ( He is now in counseling the police were uninterested, his parents were not & insisted he seek help.) Way too late though as all the confidence he had helped Chelsea rebuild was shattered. She was broken-hearted.

This all could have ended much worse if I had paid attention to those who made fun of my being over protective. Luckily I did not & the bond that my child & I have made her feel confident in coming to me with this trouble she was having.

Also, please don't forget that the predators your child faces on the internet could be a group of his or her own peers. She showed me alot of bullying that the kids she went to school with were doing to other kids through their web pages & told me about emails some kids were getting that were quite violent in nature.

While the internet is a great source of information and learning. Please pay attention to your instincts. They are most likely correct. If something smells bad...it probably is bad.

Chelsea is now 18 and starting college this winter. She is doing quite well and her Mommy (yes she still calls me Mommy) is very proud of her.