I get a fair amount of flack for the shortness of the leash on which I keep my son. I can talk 'til I'm blue in the face about his Fetal Alcohol Effects diagnosis, and how, while he looks and often talks like a friendly and capable 16-year-old, the crucial decision-making parts of his brain are frequently working on about a six-year-old level. So sure, if we can figure out how to give the illusion of independence, that's groovy. But he needs eyes on him, and people who'll know right away if he's not where he's supposed to be, and where he might be at.
So -- I can confess this now because "balloon boy" Falcon Heene (right) turned up safe in his family's attic rather than falling tragically from his family's balloon-craft -- it was not without a certain degree of satisfaction that I watched the unfolding drama of the missing child who, wherever he wound up being, was clearly not being watched with eagle eyes. It was like an answer to all those who suggest I'm squelching the freedom of my own personal six-year-old-in-a-teenager's-body. Maybe so, but you don't see CNN in my backyard, do you?
There are already questions being raised about the Heenes' parenting skills, because these days you're damned if you don't let your children run free and damned if you do. Personally, from what little I've read, I suspect that his brothers put him up to it -- but maybe that's because I've been watching too many Malcolm in the Middle re-runs. The whole thing may turn out to have been a hoax, perpetrated by the family or maybe a traffic-seeking conspiracy of cable news and Twitter.
I hope it will serve as a good reminder, though, that sometimes kids need to be watched, and some kids need to be watched closer than others, and parents who do that are not necessarily insane control-freak hovercrafts. We don't have an accessible attic in our house. The places for a boy to hide are few. The unsupervised outdoor time is nil. I may not be able to avert every disaster, but if you ask me where my kid is, I can make a heck of a better guess than, "See that balloon up there?"
More on "Balloon Boy" on About.com Parenting:
- Balloon Boy Drama Raises Questions About Parenting
- Will the Balloon Boy Get in Trouble?
- Should Child Protective Services Become Involved With the Heene Family?
- "Balloon Boy" Story Rivets the World
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images