Posted on 06/29/2006 1:07:30 PM PDT by rawhide
A 5-month-old baby died in a minivan Wednesday after the mother apparently forgot to drop the child off at day care.
The tragedy was discovered about 5:30 p.m. outside the Wonder Years 2 day care. The baby's mother stopped at the day care after work to pick up the child and was told by staff that the baby had not been dropped off. She realized then that the baby had been in her minivan all day.
"The mother had forgotten to drop off the child at day care in the morning," said Curt Kreun, owner of Wonder Years 2. "She actually came in the building to pick up the child and then realized what had happened."
The child was in a car seat in the back of the vehicle, according to Sgt. Jeff Burgess of the Grand Forks Police Department. A Wonder Years 2 staff member made the 911 call, according to Kreun.
(Excerpt) Read more at grandforks.com ...
I'm happy for you. But even the best birth control fails and as another poster pointed out, spouses die and circumstances change.
The truly amazing thing is how often the parents come late to pick the kids up so they can take care of shopping and other errands, and hire a babysitter on weekends so they can socialize with other adults. The children are clearly regarded by too many as a burden instead of a blessing.
Sad (for the child).
I would not have called a mother a monster, but I will bet that there are not NEAR so many "have to"s on here as "choose to"s.
Single moms of course are usually have tos, although they have choices too (before they got pregnant) (but that choice is gone now anyway) but the married moms, with computers and internet and often newer vans or cars and other sweet amenities?? They call lack of planning "have to"
And don't bother defending yourselves, if this doesn't apply to you, don't say anything, I'm not talking about you, and if it does apply to you, no defense is going to work.
decent idea, but better is a temperature alert instead of a proximity device because it would be a lot cheaper and more reliable.
Watch it!!! You're judging us
Actually, it is about the death of a precious child. May God hold this child in His precious arms and may He console those who loved this little one.
And no "mother" forgets her 5 month old.
I don't blame her for putting her 5-month old in fulltime day care since I don't know her circumstances. What I can't understand is how a mother of a little baby could not think of the baby during the day, not check in on her, not have a moment of "wait--I don't remember dropping her off..." and just strolling in to get her at 5:30. Is it drugs? A low IQ? Complete self-absorption?
I can't imagine doing that myself, although I'm far from infallible.
And while I do pity her, an innocent baby is dead through her neglect.
Good point. Out of sight, out of mind. Idiot legislators mandate the baby must go in the back seat and face *away* from the driver (for the sake of the children, don't you know), so it really isn't shocking that more mothers forget the kid is there. When the child was riding face-forward in the front seat, that would be far less likely to happen - although it could still happen.
See? It's not choices that place a parent out in the workplace, it's the inability to survive without both parents working. Uh huh.
I don't know how we survive, been home with the kids for 15 years now, son/dil have a parent at home for 1.5 years now. I guess we aren't surviving.
I don't mind at all if someone says they can't afford it, who am I to argue. But DON'T EVEN start whining about no one can afford not to have 2 working, cause i know it's not true. If you're in NYC, move.
I guarantee that people who say this have LOTS of nice expensive amenities. You notice no single moms ever claim they can't survive without 2 parents working!
I don't know the percentage. I'm darn sure it's a heck of a lot more than your "monster" comment called for.
Granted, there are a lot of people who put their children in daycare who do not have to. But it's not always that simple.
Proximity could be determined using IR sensors to determine if adults are present.
A simple key attachment could also be used..
Hmm - a solution that wouldn't require any modification to most vehicles with car alarms would be a two piece device.
The first piece is a key ring attachment.
The second piece is a sensor pack that monitors the baby seat.
When the key ring attachment is taken out of range, the sensor pack checks the baby seat for the baby. If the baby seat is occupied, the sensor will then set off the car alarm. This is achieved by the sensor pack being keyed to the car's car alarm system. This isn't difficult to do. Future car alarms could have specific alarm sounds to indicate a baby in the car unattended.
but I will bet that there are not NEAR so many "have to"s on here as "choose to"s.
Single moms of course are usually have tos, although they have choices too (before they got pregnant) (but that choice is gone now anyway) but the married moms, with computers and internet and often newer vans or cars and other sweet amenities?? They call lack of planning "have to"
___________________-
I'm a single mom - I chose to stay home - It took a little looking, but I found work from home. (I'm no where close to what I was making in the 'corporate' world) But, quite honestly, except that I have an older (but still in good shape car) there's not anything that we don't have that I currently wish we did have.
Are you saying mothers are better off now that many of them have been brain washed to believe that they must work shortly after childbirth?
Most of the people posting have made it clear that overworking a mother with a baby will result in tragedy. They do not lack compassion.
A single mother. That's not the problem (even if it does seem a little callous). The problem is that the stupid idiot left a baby to roast alive in a car.
String her up.
I see your point. I suppose you might become blasé about your sacred responsibility for a precious human life. After a few months an infant is "same old, same old" to you.
"It does seem there's a lot of knee-jerk judgments in FR lately...or maybe I;m just noticing it more? But it IS disheartening." It has always been that way. I try to think, "There but for the grace of God go I."
At the very least suspicious.
Not to be morbid, but wouldnt the car have smelled when she got in-at the very least like a dirty diaper?
i guess i have a hard time understanding how she could drive all the way to the daycare and not realize that something was wrong.
Maybe im just overly worrisome, but if im tired, i always rehash my day-did i turn off the curling iron, coffee pot?? i guess its hard to understand, even if tired, someone forgetting that they didnt drop thier baby off at daycare.
Poor baby:(
It would have to be standard with the car - if not, the only people who would have them would be the hyper-vigilent, who'd not likely leave the kid in the car in the first place. But, still a damn good idea.
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