Why you shouldn't trust everybody with your child

The past week, Kenyans woke up to a very chilling story. A young man who was putting up with a woman for years turned monstrous one day and did the unimaginable to her three-year-old child.

On the fateful day, the young man, who is a student at Strathmore University woke up in the wee hours, went to the woman's room, stabbed her then grabbed the baby from her and went and tormented her in the most inhumane way.

The poor angel died in hospital. May her soul rest in peace and may the Good Lord grant her mother comfort and strength during this difficult time. This incident, though unfortunate, is a wakeup call to parents on their children's safety.

Keep it nuclear:

 Do not live with anybody in your house other than your spouse and children. We have this habit of taking in all manner of relatives in the name of helping them settle as they start life in the city.

You would rather give that college-going nephew some money to get a small room as opposed to housing them. Statistics show that the people who molest and abuse children are not strangers.

Never trust anybody with your child:

Not that friendly nurse or that smiling cleaner at the hospital. We've watched several stories on the news of women who lost their babies to friendly strangers who offered to watch the baby as the mother went for a short call.

 I would rather go with my newborn to the washroom and struggle with her as I relieve myself as opposed to leaving her with a total stranger.

No sleepovers:

 Do not allow your child to sleep over in another home. Sleep overs are a common trend especially with the so-called middle class families. You might have this nice host you trust and want your kid to go spend the night at their place but what you may not know that they live with a cunning uncle who is a child molester.

Because you cannot monitor or control what happens when your child sleeps over at another house, you are safer not engaging in such missions.

Friends and monsters:

Teach your child that even that uncle that they trust so much can turn into a monster, thus they should not trust the character too much. I have a friend, an unmarried mother, who is so protective of her children that she teaches her children to treat everybody, other than herself and her mother, like a suspect.

A close eye:

Constantly monitor the activities of your children even from work. Children will be at home for the next two months and during will be up to all manner of mischief at times even endangering their lives.

House girls cannot be vigilant enough to parent when you are at work so keep reminding the girl to check on them lest they disappear from the radar.