They came back…

And this time they stole the telly … yes, some horrible burglars (possibly the ones who nicked the paving stones) jemmied open a window and stole the TV from our bedroom.  We are Not Impressed, last time it seemed a bit annoying but also a bit amusing, but now we’re quite annoyed and not amused that someone felt they could just reach in our window and take our property.  The police came around to see if they could get any fingerprints, alas there was nothing usable, so we were just left to clean up all the fingerprint dust (the girls actually enjoyed this bit, sitting on the dresser scrubbing away with a soapy cloth) and rue the fact that the windows were not as secure as they looked.  And start to plan a security system.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about people who break the law recently, but my preoccupation is not with burglars but with people who hurt children so badly they kill them.  In New Zealand, a trial has just concluded with a raft of guilty verdicts for a household of useless immature adults who beat a three year old so badly she fell into a coma, and eventually died.  She was in a coma for 36 hours before her mother took her to hospital, and by then she was irretrievably damaged.  In the UK, the papers are full of articles lamenting the case of “Child P”, who was likewise beaten so badly he eventually died.  

I’ve resisted reading a lot of detail about these cases, because words describing such evil and unbelievable acts make me ache.  I think of my small children, how delightful, innocent, sweet, open and loving they are, and my mind won’t even let me imagine someone wanting to harm them.  Yet somehow the parents of these two little children either inflicted fatal injuries or allowed other people to do so, and I can only imagine these parents had a piece of their heart missing.  I hope they are suffering indescribable guilt and pain.  And I hope that the people who can make a difference – the policy-makers, community workers, prison managers, counsellors and politicians – do understand why these things happen, so that somehow they can save other children from the same fate.

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The girls are continuing their rampage around the child-friendly sites of Auckland – the zoo, Western Springs, Helensville (a one-off I think), Cornwall Park, the Viaduct, Britomart, swimming lessons, ballet and many many trips to the local park.  They came with us when we voted two weekends ago, and watched democracy in action.  I had a bit of a task stopping them from racing around to observe everyone else putting democracy in action too, luckily the woman with “I’ve voted” stickers caught their attention eventually and I ushered them out, stickers prominently displayed.

The election proceeded, a new government was chosen, and today our new Prime Minister was sworn in.  He’s zooming off to Peru now, allegedly to participate in saving the global economy, before popping over to London to meet Gordon Brown.  Whatever he’s is doing on his global jaunt, he will at least emerge with some priceless future name dropping opportunities.

I hope when he gets back he and his new Cabinet can do something actually effective to stop children being beaten to death.