Kate Stewart: Would you protect your child at any cost?

With my now unlimited internet working like a dream, I spent the weekend with my new best friend, Net ... Net Flix.

Electric blanket on high, we curled up in bed together and watched a plethora of classic movies. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Flying High, Animal House and The Blues Brothers. Marvellous memories of my misspent youth.

I also watched the most recent remake of The Omen and though not a patch on the Sam Neill original, it got me thinking about the anti-christ and how they would rise in the world of politics.

Hmm ... my warped and twisted mind wandered off, unaccompanied by an adult. Who's just given birth to a little girl in the sixth month of the year? And what a deliciously fiendish ploy to disguise the devil as a female when believers are probably expecting a bloke.

How's that for equal rights?

Having frequently worried that one of my Life Forms may well be the anti-christ, I had mixed emotions. There was a sense of relief but it was tinged with a dash of regret ... it meant one less excuse to "off" the offspring.

All this thinking was doing my head in.

The movie called for a parent to kill his own child.

I started thinking more about parenting in general and making those tough calls.
Do you protect your child at any cost, regardless of the circumstances? Is there such a thing as too much loyalty and how many of us wear blinders when it comes to our own kids?

Though it may horrify many, I, for one, would have no problem turning in my own child when it comes to certain acts. Maybe it's that non-maternal streak in me or perhaps it's just a simple case of my moral code.

Many may view it as the ultimate betrayal and judge me to be a bad parent because of it but it does beg the question. Where do you draw the line when it comes to your holding your kids accountable for their actions?

And when, if we choose to aid and abet them, in the guise of protective parenting, do we sell our own souls to the devil?

It's a very subjective issue, with more shades of grey than a trashy E.L.James book.

Many who turn a blind eye to their children's actions may claim ignorance, which in most cases is a pretty lame excuse. Our kids should be the very last thing we are ignorant to.
Of course, as parents, we want to see the best in them, we want to believe that "our child" could never be capable of committing bad/criminal deeds.

You only have to look as far as the parents and or partners of infamous serial killers ... supposedly dumbfounded by the truth, despite the obvious photofit resemblance and the fact they were not home on every night in question.

Unless they lived completely separate lives it's almost laughable to think that they didn't have an inkling.

Just as no previous criminal history does not equate to no crime being committed. It just means they haven't been caught ... yet.

But in today's world, more than any other, our kids are better equipped than ever to keep secrets and live double lives.

A plugged-in parent, though, will intuitively sense that something is going on and hopefully take appropriate action.
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