How do you keep your Daughter safe?

So, I got a Facebook account so I could check it out before I decided whether Delainey could get one or not. I just don't get it. What is the point? It seems like a bit of a waste of time to me. Can someone help me understand?

I can't let her go anywhere alone. Not because I don't trust her, but because I can't trust some other people. Last night we went to a mall to check out a store my husband heard about. While we were there, Delainey had to use the facilities, hmm, hmm, you know. So Scott explained how to get to the nearest one and off she went only to return in short order accompanied by a strange fellow.

Some guy had started to follow her, weaving to the other side of the walkway when she weaved, stopping to show interest in some store front suddenly, when she stopped. Delainey wisely and quickly found the first store with more than one person in it and hung a left inside.

She approached the two men behind the counter and announced that she believed she was being followed. One of the gents asked if she would like him to call security. She said no, but could he please walk her back to the store in which her parents were shopping... and he did. Thank you to that store employee and to everyone else who helps out in a situation like that!

This man asked Delainey to point out the perpetrator, and when she did, he said security had already been called on that guy for picking a fight that night.

Now, one might say she could just be paranoid... but I have actually watched this happen twice before in other stores. Once, in Price Chopper, I followed a man because I thought he was following Delainey (who was, once again, going to the bathroom). And she knew he was back there, because she would back-track and stop and go and all that stuff you would do to see whether someone was following you.

So, I watched for a bit, then I made myself more visible so she could see me and head back to me. He went to the front of the store and sat there.

It causes Delainey to feel quite shook up, and it takes me a minute or two to let the anger settle after these situations. Anger at these men who have no regard for anyone other than themselves. I don't understand how someone could be this way. I don't understand how a grown, and sometimes married, man can't keep his eyes off my young daughter's backside when she walks by. She doesn't wear "hey, look at me clothes." But then I try to remember to pray for them... at a safe distance, though.

Delainey is a beautiful girl. She is friendly and not afraid to interact with people. She doesn't walk with her head down or with the countenance of a victim. Does this sort of thing happen to all girls? Or is it just her? And, you know, so many times she has one or both of the little kids with her. Although, in both of the above instances she did not have any kids with her.

Maybe it is the part of town in which we live (and visit when we go the mall). I don't know. I just need to keep training my daughter to be cautious and wise. And continue to cover her in prayer. I thank God continually for allowing me to take care of His precious daughter. I want to do the job well.

Maybe it's time to get a cell phone...