Writing Workshop - In the News

Mamakat does this fabulous weekly post and I really enjoy writing it and reading others posts too. Hop on over there to read the directions.

Here are this weeks prompts:

1.) If I sent you four hundred dollars today what is ONE thing you would spend it on and why. ps I want my change.

2.) What are your kids talking about?

3.) Tell us about a local news story that's all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.

4.) Share some blogging advice.

5.) Tell us about that time at the playground when that thing happened.

I'm going to choose No. 3 because it was something I intended on blogging about anyway.

I am going to talk about the missing.

The missing child I have been praying for is named Victoria "Tori" Stafford. She is not local to where I live now...but she lives in the same town as many of the boy's relatives on his bio-dad's side. So this one hits very close to home for me.

Somehow it's different from when I read about cases such as Caylee Anthony or Haleigh Cummings (two cases I have been following for quite some time now). This child could be my child or your child. There are no loop holes in the parents' stories and there is no reason to suspect that this little girl knew her abductor.

This young 8 year old girl was abducted on her way home from school. Video surveillance shows her walking away with an unidentified female in a white parka...unfortunately the video is not clear enough to give out a proper description of this woman.

Here is a link to the story but if you google "Victoria Stafford" hundreds of links will come up.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/04/16/missing-girl-stafford016.html

Just the other night my friend and I were discussing when our boys would be old enough to walk to school on their own or with a buddy...both our boys will be 8 (my boy next month and hers in September)...now I do realize they are still a little young but by 10 years old I know the boy will be begging me to be allowed to walk places on his own. As it is we battle about whether he can go to the park that is one block away with his friends...I just can't let him go...not yet. He needs to be under my watchful eye at all times.

When did the world become this? I remember going to play in the neighbourhood at 7 and 8 years old and not coming home until the street lights came on...things have sure changed in the past 20+ years.