Wouldn’t you know it? As we discuss allowing kids to be kids, and play outside, on their own, along comes this little cautionary tale from Dayton, Ohio ( http://wtvr.com/2014/06/17/mummified-corpse-hanging/ ).
Yup–a boy decided to explore the abandoned house on his block, and what do you think he found? He opened a likely-looking closet, and there, gently swinging back and forth, he found the mummified body of a man. Authorities said the poor sod had been hanging there for five years, having apparently committed suicide. Gee whiz, you off yourself and no one even notices? “Yo, have you seen so-and-so around lately? Nah, he must of moved or somethin’…”
Yipes. My friends and I loved going into abandoned houses! Our imaginations generated plenty of excitement.
But if we had ever actually found some poor guy hanging in the closet, turned into a mummy…! Yeah, that would’ve given me the heeby-jeebies for a while.
On the plus side, though, this kid from Dayton is going to be the star of stars among the other kids. “That’s Danny–the kid who found the mummy! Wow!” They’ll all be jealous. He’ll be able to tell this story for the rest of his life, and probably will. “Grandpa, tell me again about the time you found the mummy hanging in the closet!”
Of course, you can always keep your kid tightly under wraps–kind of like a mummy, come to think of it–and never let him do anything at all on his own. That way he won’t have any experiences you haven’t planned for.
I have discovered that there are a few nuts out there who think that’s a good idea. It must be more than a few, or people wouldn’t be raising their kids like bee larvae.
God help us.