It takes a village to raise a child is no longer a valid statement. There are so many awful people out there that we tend to keep our young close on hand.
Gone are the days when they were sent out the door to play after breakfast not to be seen again until their belly called them home for lunch and the dinner bell ran to call them home at night.
Gone are the days when the little ones could stand and talk to a passing elderly person to learn about their life. and for the elderly to spend a moment with the youth.
Gone are the days when an adult stops to help a child in need for fear of being accused of something other then kindness.
Gone are the days of trust.
I live next door to a dentist office and across the street from a funeral home. This exposes my children to a lot of different people. some we know, most we don't. While putting the four littles in the van I realized the youngest wasn't wearing shoes. I told them to get belted in while I ran in for the shoes. As I turned my back to go inside, a man must have walked out of the dentist office because when I came back out a few seconds later with the shoes, he stood right beside my van talking to my children. My heart skipped a beat and dropped to my stomach. What was he doing? what was he saying? why was he beside my van? I couldn't there fast enough. In reality he was about 2 feet from my van. he had his hands in his pockets in a non threatening way and he was just simply talking to them. Likely lured to the van by Grace. She loves people. all sorts of people and always manages to make friends where ever she goes. The man smiled at me when I walked up and told me that Grace was having a hard time getting Eli into his seat to buckle him. He smiled at me, told me the children were beautiful, told me to have a good day and walked away.
I felt a moment of shame for instantly wondering what harm the man could be bringing to my children. Telling myself that he seemed nice. Just as quickly telling myself that things are not always as they seem.
I wish there were not so many untrustworthy people in the world. So many evil people who bring harm to children. I know there are more well meaning people than the evil ones, but the evil ones are SO awful that we can no longer trust ANYONE.
