Two Saturdays ago, I woke up at 7:40am when I heard a knock on my front door. I peeked through the blinds and saw an LAPD officer.
Uh-oh.
My heart started pounding because police officers never knock on doors to deliver good news like winning the lottery.
In this case, they were checking to see if I had noticed anything missing or had seen or heard anything suspicious the night before. It turns out that my next-door neighbors living in the house attached to mine had been robbed overnight.
What time did it happen? I asked.
Well, they went to bed about 11:30 or so he started to reply.
Wait! They were home?!?!
Yes! They were fast asleep in their bedroom while their home was invaded and their electronics and wallets stolen. Neither they nor their dog nor their parrot who squawks non-stop all day long heard a thing.
Even more surprising was that they have an alarm system. But the thieves found an unarmed window and let themselves in.
As you can imagine, this immediately put me on high alert and the last two weeks have seen all kinds of improvements to my own security like padlocks for my garden gates, additional outdoor dawn-to-dusk lighting, a new security system, timers for lights, and blinds for all the windows.
Perhaps because crime and security has really been on my mind, I was particularly affected this morning when I read the Canon4Kids ad on the back page of USA Today.
It had pictures of 32 missing children and reminded me that more than 2,000 children are reported missing in the United States every day. Two thousand children per day!!!
My heart breaks thinking of these children and their families. Even more shocking is that, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the majority of these children arent taken by strangers but are taken by people they know.
If youre still teaching your kids the old-fashioned stranger-danger message that NCMEC deems ineffective, you need to learn how to deliver more relevant, age-appropriate messages that will empower and protect your children in potentially dangerous situations.
As my neighbors recently discovered, after you or your family is the victim of a crime its too late to prevent it.
So please dont put off having another chat with your kids. Do it today. Yes, your pre-teen may roll her eyes and cry out Mommmmmm but that annoying conversation may someday save her life.
And be sure to do a quick security assessment of your own living quarters pronto.
Everything I recently did to better protect myself were all things that I should have done four years ago when I moved into my home.
How, I wonder, did I let them keep getting pushed off?
How did I find the time and money to get my hair done, go to Pilates, buy gifts for family and friends and yet not find the time and money to do these critical things for my own safety?
How? Because we never think it will happen to us.
Oh, if only it was as easy to protect ourselves from crime as it is to protect ourselves from the weather!
Todays VPOD features a fabulous vintage 1960s leather coat that will keep all the nasty elements at bay.
Its a safe and secure fashion choice for a Vintage Crusader.
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