I have kept my opinion on the topic of the young child falling into the gorilla area a few days ago to myself. I have read so many articles, posts, comments and blogs on the story that I now can't hold in my unsolicited opinion any longer.
What has amazed me the most is how many people are saying what a bad mom this mom is for not watching her child better. For argument sake let's say 1/4 (this is really low balling how many I truly think) of those people don't have kids- so what they say really has no relevance in this matter If you don't have any idea of what it is like to parent a toddler you really shouldn't have an opinion. It would be like me telling a runway model what they did wrong. Pointless.
There are variations of what the mom was doing- taking pictures- watching her other kids-whatever-her eyes were not on her child. GASP! So this means the other 3/4 of these judging people have their children in their eye sight at all times. Seriously, these people have never sneezed, took a picture, had their attention diverted from one child to another, never ever had a distraction during their time as parents?
We have no idea how quick this boy can get away from his mom-some are smooth movers and get out of reach very fast. Haven't these judging people had their child run quickly away? Surely they have stories of their own kids, climbing stairs before they realized, picking up a knife or scissors that they thought was put away, climbing a bookshelf, on top of the chair, out of their crib, coloring on the wall, on and on and on. No, their child didn't go to play with a gorilla (count your blessings instead doling out judgments)
I have read many parents say if I am taking pictures my child is in the picture. That is a great way to keep on eye on your kids! I never thought of that before- I would take some of the animals by themselves. Shame on me. Now, I am counting my blessings neither of my girls wanted to be one with the animals.
I have read people say nothing would stop them from going in the area to get their child. Ok. I would jump in front of a car , go into a fire,etc for my kids and grand kids. I would want to climb into the area as well. But I am not built in a way that my body could go through the opening a small child could get through. Have you seen the mom? She isn't a Tinkerbell size,either. Not many parents are. Maybe she wanted to do just that-can you imagine the anguish she was feeling not being able to physically go and get her child? No one knows what she is thinking yet so many want to judge her for yelling down to her kid trying to comfort the only way she could.
Could the mom have done a better job in that moment? Maybe. Let me count the ways I could have done better in a moment as well........
As far as all the animal "experts" out there-well unless they are truly a highly trained expert those opinions matter not. There is no way you can know if he was protecting or going in for a kill. I do know that in the 80s, overseas, a little boy fell into a gorilla area and one gorilla did protect that boy by guarding him from the other gorillas. GUARDED him. He even put his hand on the boys back in a protective manner. When the boy started crying and screaming he ran off. There was no dragging of the boy,cornering the boy or isolating him. Sure sounds different from what we all saw in the recent video.
I have seen comments about how dare they kill Harambe, an endangered species now MORE endangered! Well, not quite true. They have his sperm. They will make a baby gorilla and the world will ohh and ahhh over it when it is born. The experts handled it in the best way possible, even though they were going to have to kill a beloved animal, to save a small child. Human vs animal. Simple.The heartbreak the employees of the zoo must feel is terrible. They lost someone they loved. Very sad day for them.
Do I judge others at times? Sure- I am human. I don't hate on others when I do judge. I reel myself in and realize my mistake of judging (most of the time). The mom is just a human as well. One that will hug her son tighter and make better choices in the future, hopefully.
I believe things happen in life to wake us up. God needs to get our attention and thump us on the head. Maybe this was one of those moments without drastic consequences. I hope so for the little boy's sake.
I hope maybe it is a lesson for all the "super parents" out there when their time comes to have a "moment" because, obviously, they haven't had one yet.
