Re: OT Find Madeleine

Sally,

This has it the news over on this side of the pond too. How horrible for those parents!

Debbi in SO CA

Sally Sw> This is really for European members of the Group.

we here in NZ got the news of wee madeleine from day one and continues. i shall do as requested with hopes someone can add some/any new info to this investigation. seems the portuguese police have some odd rules to adhere to that is making this less than effective. thanks for this, Sally. jeanne

It is a horrible situation all around. Alas I do feel it was one that could have been prevented - by the parents booking a babysitter and not leaving the kids alone in their hotel room / unit. The reason they didn't (which we heard over here) was that the kids didn't like strangers. Well and good not too like strangers but to leave the kids alone night after night in a foreign country - not good at all.

That aside, I do so hope they find little Maddy safe and well somewhere.

I just spent the weekend in Denmark - everyone I talked to knew enough details to know about the distinctive pupil Madeleine has. The news is getting around more than this relative realises.

Hanne

Sally Sw> This is really for European members of the Group.

I heard that it was because the parents didn't trust srangers to watch their children. I sincerely hope that they find this darling child alive and well...and SOON. ANd I also sincerely hope that her parents are NOT given custody of her again.

DH and I have talked about this over and over again.....never would we (who are obviously not as educated as a couple of doctors should have been) leave our children alone like that. One would have gone and gotten food while the other stayed with the children, then we would have eaten in the room, or just outside the patio door with the door open so that we could hear the children.

The sad thing, other than the fact that such an innocent was taken was that, the parents are now going ot have to live with the fact that having a quiet meal was more important than their childrens' safety.

Usually, and I stress the word Usually, most resorts/hotels will have a list of trusted babysitters who will come and watch your kids for a couple of hours while you go have dinner/peace and quiet/etc and for an extremely reasonable rate. We have often used hotel babysitters and whilst you are never 100% comfortable leaving your kids with strangers, you do it. You do it at home when you send the kids to school/daycare/hire a babysitter through a local agency - what is the difference when you are away.

I know that once when we were away and we hired a babysitter, we stayed and talked with her for the first hour, made sure the kids were comfortable, etc. Put my mind a lot more at ease. yes it cost me an extra $15 but it was worth it.

Made much worse by all the hype. If there was ever any chance the kidnapper would let her go alive, there isn't any more. With half the population of Europe on their tail and millions of pounds in reward money riding on it, whoever's holding her has no option but to stick her in a hole in the ground.

Not that Rupert Murdoch gives a shit, it sells papers. (I got chain-emailed a copy of a poster from the _Sun_, from somebody who should have known a lot better - this stuff is really poisonous).

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Nope, your not the last. DS has only ever been looked after by family, and then only for a few hours at a time. DH is taking him over to his mother this afternoon, this gives us some kid free time and she enjoys the time spent with DS. When we go out for dinner DS comes with us, always has.

Taria, you are not the only one. I was also a SAHM and loved every minute. The only reason I went back to work was 'cause the family decided they had found an expensive hobby that they liked. Truly. My job pays for the hobby and the holidays.

My DH and I have prolly been out "together" sans kids gosh, maybe 5 times in as many years? There were times though that we were away on holidays and the kids were too little to stay up eg we went to Hamilton Island and wanted to do the pub crawl. It started at 5.30pm and went' until 9. Kids were golly, 3 and 1 maybe at the time and were not permitted to come (nor would they have been able to stay awake.

Some of us don't have that family support - especially when we were living up north. If we ever needed a babysitter it was easier to pay someone rather than do what my parents wanted - drive 1.5 hours to their house, drop kids off, socialise for awhile, drive 1.5 hours back, go out for a couple hours, drive back to parents 1.5 hours, socialise, pick up kids who had been thoroughly spoilt and untrained, drive home 1.5 hours, retrain kids.

I think we only went out to a few work do's while we were there. Most times we invited people back to our place and I did the catering. Worked out cheaper and fewer headaches.

Yesterday was only the secong time this had happened, the first was Mother's Day this year and that was only due to DH ringing up first and basically saying that we were being driven insane by DS. I'm sure he thinks he rules the houseand can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. Right now he's basically 'demanding' that I take him to the library today. I'd like to know where he got that idea from, I can't take him there today I've got mountains of washing to do!

What about trying a compromise - he helps mum with some washing and then you pop off to the library for a half hour or so (then come back and do more washing (VBEG))????

I know what he does with his own books when he's left alone with them. I'm not about to let him do the same with borrowed library books.

I feel your pain. DD still eats or shreds her books. I just checked out books for summer reading (DS, DNiece, and me reading to DD). DD will *not* have free access to those books at all.

Larisa