Don't judge a book by it's cover

My heart holds graves fears for a little 6 year old girl that has disappeared off the face of the earth some months ago. I feel for the parents. My son once vanished for more than 3 hours from a shopping centre.

I had taken my eye's of him for no more than 10 seconds. As night time fell, and the centre voided of its occupants except for centre management, the search police, 2 detectives and 2 DOC investigators drilling me about my parenting skills, we all held graves fears as to the were abouts of my beautiful 2 yr old son. He was eventually found in a tight sleeping ball, totally unaware of the chaos, heartache and panic he had caused. 23 years later I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

Splashed across the papers, the parents hardly sent their daughter to her first year of school, giving the general public an impression that neglect ruled their household, therefore unworthy to be parents at all. We don't know the circumstances as to why the little girl barely attended school. Let's not judge a book by it's cover and with newspapers, we all know that headlines that bleed, lead.

When young Ritch started kindergarten, he only went to school 2 days a week out of the mandatory 5. I was in the last year of my degree, living in a small country community that was barren of the essentials suburbia has to offer, like child care.  I had to leave for Uni much earlier than his school bus arrived, and I would be home much later than he would be in the afternoon. Leaving a 5 year old alone in the most haunted house in the district or possible the state wasn't a friendly option.
Originally I organised a neighbour to take him along with her daughters that attended the same small school, also look after him after school. After 2 weeks, one afternoon I found him waiting at the front gate for me. The neighbour wanted to go shopping so she sent him home. He had to walk along a lonely country road for more than a kilometre, too terrified to be in the house alone, he waited at the gate. I wasn't very happy.

Forcibly moved to this location due to a marriage breakdown, I had 2 choices to make, quit Uni and let Ritch go to school everyday or take Ritch with me. Most people would have chosen the first option, I decided on the later. Speaking with his school, I took work sheets with us so he could still continue his school work. He attended all aspects of University life with me. No one protested as he seemed to fit right in.
The first day he wanted to carry my art folder, but it was bigger than him, so he tried to carry my 2 very heavy tool boxes that contained all the art supplies. "Mum, he says there has to be an easier way!". The next morning he darted to our shed and pulled out the market trolley and a hockey strap, throwing them both in the car. This is what he used to pull the around the boxes around between classes. Why didn't I think of that?
During most classes he did all his school assigned work, but in art history, he listened intently to the lecturers. By the end of the year he was a walking encyclopedia, for most of the year he was a great study mate.
As his teacher from school said to me unburdening my heart "Not all education is begotten had school. The best education is from home, the heart and the child's social environment"