Re-open the Butterscotch Palace

I do not intend to make light of the disappearance and possible death of a little girl, nor am I mocking mental illness in any way, but I have to ask: wouldn't the good ol' Butterscotch Palace seem like the perfect place for parents who intentionally harm their kids?

I haven't really followed the story of this little girl, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from her bed on vacation in Portugal while her parents dined close by. But her parents have, in recent days, been named official suspects in her disappearance, since Madeleine's blood was found in their rental car almost a month after she vanished. The police now suspect that the little girl was accidentally killed by one or both of her parents, and that they didn't dispose of the body until later.

It could be that the Portugese police have run out of leads and are wrongly suspecting the parents. These people could be grieving and miserable, now nervous about a loss of focus in their daughter's investigation, and completely innocent; I have no idea. But if this girl WAS killed by her parents, I have to wonder: what kind of deranged people kill their kids?

It seems as though it's in the news more and more these days. Murder-suicide, leaving mothers and fathers and children dead. Someone fed up with life takes their pain and frustration out on their kids, leaving them shot or driven into a body of water or shaken to death, or worse. The argument always seems to be the same: "I had a psychotic break, I thought they would be better off dead than alive, I did it for them." Well...how thoughtful. Your "Parent of the Year" award is in the mail.

A psychotic break that results in the death of your child is reason and cause for your institutionalization, in my books. A parent's responsibility, first and foremost, regardless of the circumstances, is to protect their child from harm. Failure to do that is something which, unfortunately, sometimes can't be helped; the effort put into ensuring the safety of your kids is what must help families coping with accidental death sleep at night. For a parent to intentionally negate this duty is criminal, in my opinion, and for the parent to intentionally bring harm, injury, or death to their child, is INSANITY.

Think of it this way: a man is holding a gun to your child's head, and says he'll shoot if you don't hand over your wallet. It is a parent's responsibility to hand it over, as any one of us would do in a heartbeat, with a big smile on our face, if it meant our kid would be safe. For a parent to not hand over their wallet? That's criminal, and one would have to question that person's sanity. But for a parent to be the one holding the gun?? What kind of person is that? A sick one, as far as I'm concerned.

My kids can take me to the brink sometimes. There are days where I think my hair will just spontaneously turn white, and that I might not make it through the day without booking a ticket to France and getting away for a few years. I'm home with my kids all day, my husband and I never get an evening to ourselves, and I deal with the same problems that any average family does, maybe more. But I would never hurt my kids. There are times when I have to walk away from them, for fear of putting them outside with a "For Sale" sign around their little necks, but I would never hurt them. Neither would the majority of you. The people who can't deal with life, with problems, and who snap and kill their own kids, need to live in a psychiatric hospital, there are no two ways about it. If they'd kill their own kids, what would they do to me? Or to you? Or to Joe Blow down the street?

And this is to say nothing of the parents who "accidentally" kill their kids. I'm not sure what "accidentally" killing someone would involve, in fact I shudder to think, but anyway...suppose it was an accident. Your child is laying at your feet, in pain, or bleeding, or unconscious, or worse. Wouldn't your first instinct be to call the police? The ambulance? To spill your guts? Ooze remorse and emotion at the loss of your child? Or if not, once the police came asking questions, wouldn't you tell them everything you could in an effort to explain yourself and comfort the rest of your family?
A better question might be...if you had "accidentally" killed your own child, would you hide the body, report her disappearance to the police, and launch an international search for her? Or would these be the actions of a parent who lost their temper, got carried away, and now doesn't want to accept responsibility for their actions? Think about it. These are not the actions of parents whose daughter had "an accident".

Not the most well-worded, cohesive blog on record, but I attribute that to the painkillers and lack of sleep. One thing is for sure: if I ever did anything to my kids, I would hold no ill-will toward the person who turned me into the Nova Scotia Hospital and threw away the key.

Long live the memory and intention of the Butterscotch Palace.