The Disappearance of Madeleine Mccann

LargeAddick said:

This might not make me popular but if you go on holiday then are prepared to leave the kids behind when going out to eat then why have them in the first place?

Our kids (4 boys 7-13 years old) are shattered come 8pm (we're usually first up to breakfast at 7am and down by the pool/beach 9am) and that's even our eldest who is 13 cos we have been pissing about all day , given the choice of some room service and watch telly/ play on ipad in room with a babysitter or come to a restaurant with us they all chose not to come out with us ! (prolly says more bout my bad company)
13 year old comes dinner about half the time  now but is shattered and zoned out come 10pm .

I'm lucky enough to work from home so eat with them every night , I'm glad for a bit of peace and quiet come the evenings on holiday cos they've run me ragged .

carly burn said:

I don't buy the checking every 20mins either.
They would have been up and down constantly. 
 I reckon the Portuguese plod got that bit right. They went back to the block whenever they needed the toilet and popped their heads in.

Why would they even go back to use the toilet though? Why not use the restaurant one?

what bugs me is that there was a nighttime child care service - which did not suit them so they decided to leave the kids on there own, the other parents that were with them also all had kids, find it strange how 6 doctors could all have no common sense, why is a beach resort in portugal safer then anywhere else it wasn't a gated community. it was on the side of a public road

Charltonparklane said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

Charltonparklane said:

Addickted said:

Am I the only one who thinks they weren't irresponsible? They thought they were in a safe place, with their kids 60m away and along with the other parents, checked in on them every 20/30 minutes, to see if they were OK - not abducted.

This is done by thousands of parents on holiday every year. Always has done and is still done to this day.

The twins should be asleep in buggies  by 9pm, put 2 chairs together for the 3 year old. 

Done this on everyone of our holidays and kids never left our side or went to toilet alone (since 98)

Their kids were in kids club all day aswell, may just not have taken them. 

You still take your 21 year old kid to the toilet?

Course not but if my daughter is on holiday with us, even at 20 years of age I still make her tell us she is going to the toilet so we know where she is and when to expect her back. (a pissed up 20 yo girl can be a very clear target going to a toilet) 

My sons also 23 Even when on holiday on their own they still check in via whattsapp morning, throughout the day and at night. 

Might sound very mollycoddling but they are both doing well in life regardless. 

It's not just toddlers who get abducted or assaulted. As a parent you never switch off, we'll, we don't anyway.

So, so true.

If either of my two are away or travelling a distance it's always a 'text when you get there'. I wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would they. They are 28 and 30 this year.

Mind you, it's now reversed - they ask us to 'text when you get there' !  

Mid thirties and running regional sales for the middle East, on landing a text went straight out to my mum confirming I landed, then she'd have to have proof of life from either me or my wife everyday I was there. I'm sure it never leaves you!!

I don't believe the parents had anything to do with the disappearance, but I wouldn't have gone out and left them sleeping. I'll nip to the dryer at the end of the garden or the car on the drive if my daughter is asleep, but I'd never think about going out.

Wouldn't wish losing a child on my worst enemy though. Couldn't even imagine the pain, so I'll avoid this series I think.

Yeah, I had the same reaction when MacKenzie said that. A weird and creepy thing to say.

Greenie said:

masicat said:

Anyone who believes the parents had anything to do with it probably believe Elvis is alive and Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
The very poor Portuguese police was a major factor. Very sad.

This.

They are only guilty of leaving their kids unattended. And that guilt will eat away at them for the rest of their natural.
The Portuguese police are also guilty of negligence, slow response, apathy to the parents plight, not setting up roadblocks etc.
Its all so terribly sad.
Also Kelvin MacKenzie describing Maddie as attractive made me shiver, a little girl is pretty, never attractive.

Kelvin MacKenzie makes me shiver, period.

But yes, a typical slimeball phrase from him.

hawksmoor said:

Yeah, I had the same reaction when MacKenzie said that. A weird and creepy thing to say.

One for Yewtree. 

bobmunro said:

Charltonparklane said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

Charltonparklane said:

Addickted said:

Am I the only one who thinks they weren't irresponsible? They thought they were in a safe place, with their kids 60m away and along with the other parents, checked in on them every 20/30 minutes, to see if they were OK - not abducted.

This is done by thousands of parents on holiday every year. Always has done and is still done to this day.

The twins should be asleep in buggies  by 9pm, put 2 chairs together for the 3 year old. 

Done this on everyone of our holidays and kids never left our side or went to toilet alone (since 98)

Their kids were in kids club all day aswell, may just not have taken them. 

You still take your 21 year old kid to the toilet?

Course not but if my daughter is on holiday with us, even at 20 years of age I still make her tell us she is going to the toilet so we know where she is and when to expect her back. (a pissed up 20 yo girl can be a very clear target going to a toilet) 

My sons also 23 Even when on holiday on their own they still check in via whattsapp morning, throughout the day and at night. 

Might sound very mollycoddling but they are both doing well in life regardless. 

It's not just toddlers who get abducted or assaulted. As a parent you never switch off, we'll, we don't anyway.

So, so true.

If either of my two are away or travelling a distance it's always a 'text when you get there'. I wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would they. They are 28 and 30 this year.

Mind you, it's now reversed - they ask us to 'text when you get there' !  

I still have to text my mum and I will be 46 soon.

hawksmoor said:

Stu_of_Kunming said:

oohaahmortimer said:

LargeAddick said:

This might not make me popular but if you go on holiday then are prepared to leave the kids behind when going out to eat then why have them in the first place?

Our kids (4 boys 7-13 years old) are shattered come 8pm (we're usually first up to breakfast at 7am and down by the pool/beach 9am) and that's even our eldest who is 13 cos we have been pissing about all day , given the choice of some room service and watch telly/ play on ipad in room with a babysitter or come to a restaurant with us they all chose not to come out with us ! (prolly says more bout my bad company)
13 year old comes dinner about half the time  now but is shattered and zoned out come 10pm .

I'm lucky enough to work from home so eat with them every night , I'm glad for a bit of peace and quiet come the evenings on holiday cos they've run me ragged .

Leaving your kids with a babysitter is totally different from leaving them alone though.

There was a night time creche there, but the McCann's decided not to use it.

hawksmoor said:

Stu_of_Kunming said:

oohaahmortimer said:

LargeAddick said:

This might not make me popular but if you go on holiday then are prepared to leave the kids behind when going out to eat then why have them in the first place?

Our kids (4 boys 7-13 years old) are shattered come 8pm (we're usually first up to breakfast at 7am and down by the pool/beach 9am) and that's even our eldest who is 13 cos we have been pissing about all day , given the choice of some room service and watch telly/ play on ipad in room with a babysitter or come to a restaurant with us they all chose not to come out with us ! (prolly says more bout my bad company)
13 year old comes dinner about half the time  now but is shattered and zoned out come 10pm .

I'm lucky enough to work from home so eat with them every night , I'm glad for a bit of peace and quiet come the evenings on holiday cos they've run me ragged .

Leaving your kids with a babysitter is totally different from leaving them alone though.

There was a night time creche there, but the McCann's decided not to use it.

Which is why I've always belived them to be wronguns.

Even if that was their only crime, it's bad enough.

thanks for this @MrOneLung this shows that is was not the same as having dinner in your back garden - unlike gerry mcann said, its ridiculous 

palarsehater said:

thanks for this @MrOneLung this shows that is was not the same as having dinner in your back garden - unlike gerry mcann said, its ridiculous 

Depends how big Gerry McCanns back garden is 😉

One of the party would have to walk from the bar around the pool, and out through the security gate of the Ocean Club, a distance of some 60 metres.

Once out of the complex, they would have turned left on to Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins, a public road, and go a further 60 metres up the hill, through a three-foot high gate which cannot be locked, up a flight of steps and then in through rear patio doors, which were not apparently locked.

Definitely not the same as having dinner in your back garden!

hawksmoor said:

Yeah, I had the same reaction when MacKenzie said that. A weird and creepy thing to say.

Have you read the way the McCanns describe Maddie? In Kate’s book there are some awful and weird quotes describing her and it makes you wonder

ValleyGary said:

This isn't just poor parenting in terms of an abductor, its also the fact you wouldn't hear cries over a busy tapas bar if a child woke up and was confused, or fell out of bed and hurt themselves.

Load of selfish wrongens.

There was a guy in the documentary staying at the same complex who helped with the initial search and he said he would go and get a takeaway at the tapas bar, while his wife looked after the kids, take it back and eat it with his wife on the patio. That's all you had to do. He also said that the McCann party block-booked a table at the tapas bar for the whole week at 8pm, the reason given was that they were leaving all their children to sleep alone in the apartments, which was written as such in the hotel booking ledger.