Adventures in Parenting

What do you make of what happened with Balloon Boy Falcon Heene?

Six-year-old Falcon Heene was thought to have drifted up in a helium balloon on Thursday.  The authorities were in a frantic rescue operation that involved military helicopters and briefly shut down Denver International Airport. When the balloon came to a landing, the boy was not in the lower compartment of the saucer-shaped balloon.

The excitement ended when the boy came out of hiding from the attic of their house. He was reportedly hiding because he was afraid his father would be mad at him, and he fell asleep.

I am glad it was a happy ending, at least as far as the safety of the boy goes.

What can we glean about parenting from this incident?

I don’t know what kind of parents Falcon Heene has. They reportedly were on Wife Swap, but I don’t watch TV, and have never seen that show. But if they were normal decent parents, I don’t judge them too harshly.

It’s easy to judge the parents and say, “What were they thinking to let a 6-year-old boy out of their sight?” But I know that kids, especially boys cannot be kept out of mischief. The parents are amateur scientists and built this helium balloon in their yard, so the boy was at home on their own property.

You might also think, “What kind of dad does Falcon have that he was so afraid of him?”  Dads are rightly an authoritative figure, and when a kid knows he has misbehaved, it is quite natural to be afraid of consequences.

The lesson I learned from this is:

This kind of story gives us a good opportunity to open communication with our children. Read this news story to your children  Then ask your children some questions. Ask them if they can relate to Falcon. Ask them if they thought the parents should have done anything different. Ask them what they would do differently than Falcon.

It will give you a glimpse into what your kids are thinking and what they think of you.