For me, the most inexplicable thing the parents did - and admitted - was to go out again the following evening, after Madeleine had asked her mum over breakfast why she hadn't come when she and her little brother were crying the night before. What were the parents thinking? The children were in unfamiliar surroundings and Madeleine had clearly expected to be comforted when waking in the night. So I have to wonder how fully or truthfully Kate responded to her daughter's question, if at all:
Q : Mummy, why didn't you come when we cried for you last night?
A : I didn't know. I couldn't hear you because I wasn't there. We were having dinner as usual with our friends, in the restaurant the other side of the swimming pool.
Q : Will you be going out again tonight?
A : Yes, but you know where we'll be and it's not far away. If you wake up again before we come back, please try not to cry, because we won't hear you and you might wake the twins.
Or did Kate just shrug off the question without offering any explanation or reassurance? How could she have given any reassurances in the circumstances? In any event, did it not dawn on Kate or Gerry that any one of the children could very well wake again that evening, wanting their mum, and be even more distressed by the same lack of response? Worse than that, one could set off the other two howling, or Madeleine could get out of bed to fetch mum and dad, only to find them missing. How frightening would that be for a child of her age? Kate said she would have known where they were, but the idea that she could have ventured out in the darkness via the swimming pool to find them, just doesn't bear thinking about. Best case scenario would be staying put, too afraid to leave or unable to open the patio doors by herself. The regular checks, just to listen out for crying, were not enough if there was any chance of an older child being able to get out of bed and wander off.
So... if the children were given something to help them sleep - and to stay asleep - the McCanns might have expected to enjoy their meal out in relative peace and with a clear conscience that the kids wouldn't wake and get upset this time. Understandably they were hardly likely to admit it. But the irony is that a lurking predator would also have been able to take full advantage of the fact that all three of them were out for the count, lifting Madeleine from her bed and carrying her off with relative ease. If anything was going to put off this opportunist abductor, it would have been three tiny tots yelling their heads off!
Another irony is that Gerry had remarked pessimistically, at the start of their holiday, that he wasn't there to enjoy himself. And boy, did that turn out to be an understatement! I do remember what it was like to go abroad with a baby and then a toddler, and I used to describe it as less like a holiday and more like just a change of scenery. It was still full-on 24 hour parenting, and we chose to do without nannies or babysitters. So in that context Gerry's remark made perfect sense to me. Yet he then did his best to enjoy himself anyway, with catastrophic consequences.
Love,
Caz
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Q : Mummy, why didn't you come when we cried for you last night?
A : I didn't know. I couldn't hear you because I wasn't there. We were having dinner as usual with our friends, in the restaurant the other side of the swimming pool.
Q : Will you be going out again tonight?
A : Yes, but you know where we'll be and it's not far away. If you wake up again before we come back, please try not to cry, because we won't hear you and you might wake the twins.
Or did Kate just shrug off the question without offering any explanation or reassurance? How could she have given any reassurances in the circumstances? In any event, did it not dawn on Kate or Gerry that any one of the children could very well wake again that evening, wanting their mum, and be even more distressed by the same lack of response? Worse than that, one could set off the other two howling, or Madeleine could get out of bed to fetch mum and dad, only to find them missing. How frightening would that be for a child of her age? Kate said she would have known where they were, but the idea that she could have ventured out in the darkness via the swimming pool to find them, just doesn't bear thinking about. Best case scenario would be staying put, too afraid to leave or unable to open the patio doors by herself. The regular checks, just to listen out for crying, were not enough if there was any chance of an older child being able to get out of bed and wander off.
So... if the children were given something to help them sleep - and to stay asleep - the McCanns might have expected to enjoy their meal out in relative peace and with a clear conscience that the kids wouldn't wake and get upset this time. Understandably they were hardly likely to admit it. But the irony is that a lurking predator would also have been able to take full advantage of the fact that all three of them were out for the count, lifting Madeleine from her bed and carrying her off with relative ease. If anything was going to put off this opportunist abductor, it would have been three tiny tots yelling their heads off!
Another irony is that Gerry had remarked pessimistically, at the start of their holiday, that he wasn't there to enjoy himself. And boy, did that turn out to be an understatement! I do remember what it was like to go abroad with a baby and then a toddler, and I used to describe it as less like a holiday and more like just a change of scenery. It was still full-on 24 hour parenting, and we chose to do without nannies or babysitters. So in that context Gerry's remark made perfect sense to me. Yet he then did his best to enjoy himself anyway, with catastrophic consequences.
Love,
Caz
X
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