I'm sick of hearing about Madeleine McCann

Going off thread slightly and more on to the case itself the thing that I could never get my head around was that they left THREE kids (all under the age of three or thereabouts iirc) unattended.

None of us are the perfect parents, we all have made some sort of parenting mistake over the years but to leave three toddlers unattended beggars belief to me - if one kid at their age starts to cry then the other two quickly follow - so I'm amazed that someone wasn't on hand to look over them.

Never rang true to me that bit.

largehat wrote:

And Sluffy wants me to promote Natasha to friends I have on another site. She's going to drive them to despair if any of them rock up on here.

We don't need Largehat's friends, trust me.

they left her in a hotel room... its not like they left her in the street, wasn't their fault.

There is more to it than that. The McCanns were both doctors and they went on a family holiday with two other families who were also work colleagues and had children as well. The three families were all staying in the same complex and all the children were put to bed. The three families took turns in checking on the children. Yes, they were wrong to leave their children unattended but they were in a relatively safe ( until then ) part of Portugal.

Their only mistake was in letting their hair down thinking they were out of the rat race for a couple of weeks. I would imagine as Doctors they were looking forward to the break.

Not only have they lost a child but they have been pilloried in the press as unfit parents. Jesus Christ, they made one mistake which will haunt them every single day of their lives and still they are subjected to abuse. I just don't get it, I really don't.

As parents, we have all made mistakes where our kids are concerned but thankfully the consequences have not been as disastrous. I have got nothing but sympathy for the McCanns. They were and are decent parents whose children were not victims of abuse or malnourishment. The terrible guilt of their one mistake is their raison d'etre and that is why they will never give up trying to atone for that terrible night.,

also if people wern't interested it wouldn't get printed

i agree with reebok trotter

I think Maddy's face haunts decent parents. It's a case of ' there but for the grace of god.'

Had this kidnapping occurred in the UK then it would have been dealt with far more professionally. The Portuguese Police were inept because they had never come across a child abduction of a tourist before. From an early stage they nailed their colours to the mast and decided that the McCanns were implicit in Maddy's disappearance. This deflected their resources away from looking for the real culprit. One thing the UK Police will always tell you is that you must never get tunnel vision. You have to keep an open mind until all avenues of enquiry have been exhausted.

The Portuguese were woefully inadequate.

Agree with RT, also, I would add that its only in the last decade, with the advent of child carers provided by hotels, holiday reps, etc, that leaving kids together, and checking every now and then, has fallen out of favour. I remember the days when it was the accepted way to look after them all. What wasn't taken into account was the fact that somebody, especially in a quiet hokiday resort, was prepared to break in and steal a little girl. I think the McCanns have proven, both at the time, and since, that they are good parents, and to make comments about whether they are lower, middle , or upper class, detracts from the point that their daughter was kidnapped, and may, or may not, be dead.

The problem i have with this is, you Just don't leave Children on their own, no matter what, they can get up to all sorts, ok they were asleep but.they can easily wake up .

But i do feel for them as a Family.