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 remember a time when it was common for parents to leave kids in the car while they ran errands. Believe it or not, a lot of people didn't realize how hot it gets in a car in short period of time. There were many tragic accidents as a result of that ignorance. People are now better educated on that subject, so it rarely occurs. If people were better educated on how easy it is to forget the most important person in your life during stressful times, these incidence would decrease also.
Any way you look at it, it's a very sad tragedy. Yes, the mother made a mistake that resulted in the loss of life. Not knowing more about the person, I can't form an opinion on what to attribute her mistake to, assuming it's a mistake, and I have no reason to think otherwise. Sheer stupidity? Forgetfulness? Lack of sleep? Selfishness? Could be any or all of those, among others. Is this the person you'd want transporting $100,000 in cash on a daily basis? Not me.
My God Bless you.
You are a rarity. It's nice to know there are still some folk who take the commandments seriously. (Thou shalt not judge...")
I do also.
Good for you! Nice to hear a voice of sanity. I heard a caller on Dr. Laura once complaing about her 6 month old was being bitten and abused in daycare older kids. Dr. Laura immediatley asked her to get her hubby on the phone. The woman's response.."He's at softball practice". Classic! Stuid, lazy dingleberry probably got his wife convinced he was woring as hard as he could and she needed to work. Dr. Laura basically called her and idiot and told her to get her tubes tied
"voyeuristic twits"
Why couldn't I have thought of that description!
Spot on!
This is not exclusive to 2-income homes. A family very close to us makes do - barely - on a single, modest income. The mom stays home with their two young kids. Baby #3 is on the way. They wring their hands and fuss. Woe is us, we can't afford xyz. Woe is us, we have to decide between registering the car or buying food. They give me such dirty looks when I point out that the real choice is between buying food or buying cable service (with packages), buying high-speed internet, eating out several times a month, crawling the mall, buying the latest toys for the kids, keeping the thermostat at 70 in the summer and so on.
I had a coworker friend have a baby a couple of years ago. Her husband was doing post doc work and she, comparably, brought in the big bucks and insurance.
We were visiting one day about how long she would take off after the baby was born, and she secretly admitted she wanted to stay home, give it all up. I told her I couldn't be more excited for her, that she would never regret it. Seems I was one of the only people that told her that, the rest told her she was crazy. Because of that, she was so scared.
About 4 months after the baby was born, she stopped by to say hi. She couldn't wait to tell me that she was the happiest she had ever been and wanted to thank me for encouraging her.
3k a month before taxes is only 36k a year. Depending on the size of the family, that is at or below poverty level.
In other words- it is about being infallible.
Great response!
I think your right, not all the comments are made out of smugness or believing they are better than others. everybody parents different.
i was always worrying-checking in, to make sure he was okay (when with family). when i drove, i would periodically check the back seat to make sure he was comfortable etc. i was the type that got up if he slept more than 4 hours at a time (which was unusual) to make sure he was okay.
so for someone like me, it is very difficult to imagine forgetting your baby in the back seat of a car. i dont say that in judgment, just my mind cant concieve it, which is probally true for many posters here
Oh - I was thinking maybe they'd already received 'em.
Took a pretty good pay cut to find a job that would let me get home more-or-less on time, most nights. I'm home in time for dinner 4 nights out of every five, now, and I think that for an IT job, that's pretty good.
I'm still not home as often as I'd like to be though. Like tonight, for instance. I'm babysitting some computer equipment installs as we speak. Bleah.
However, I'm lucky that my wife stays home - otherwise, there's no way that I'd work after hours, period. We'd figure out a way around the cash flow issues.
My wife and I are your monsters.
yellowdoghunter responded:
Should so we let out all the murderers and child molesters out of prison? I guess that is what you think we should do since we should never call judge anyone.
Yellowdoghunter, you're probably a really nice person and like everyone here, is hurting for the loss of the child and are p*ssed at such a nonthinking idiotic mother. Since we have been on this forum about the same length of time, I will give you an honest reply.
The Biblical quotation must have rung your bell. To answer bluntly, no, of course not.
First, I just don't think it is my place to judge as to what penalty this woman should receive as I cannot ascertain her motive. That is why there are laws on the books to deal with. And this woman will have to face whatever the punishment is.
Second, to classify this woman in with murderers and child molesters as you have done in your reply is a tremendous jump in logic. Until the police can demonstrate it was done deliberately with forethought and malice, I'd call it an unbelievably horrendous, stupid, insert your favorite adjective here - accident.
Third, to imply that I would let murderers and child molesters out of prison is absurd. Murderers apparently do not serve enough time as it is - and child molesters are frequently recidivists.
Anyway, I will add my prayers along with your prayers and those of others for the loss of the child.
And a PS
These threads always get emotional because all of our collective hearts go out instinctively for the welfare of the child - and at the same time are angry at the person who caused it.
No one with children could imagine such a horrible thing, yet it happens. Yearly we read and discuss on this forum of similar tragedies: parents who have had a child drown in a pool due to a ringing phone that takes their attention away, or a mother or father backing over a child playing in a drive way.
Carry on.
Good for the both of you - glad that you had your heads on straight. Feminist guilt (for lack of a better term) is a tough thing to fight against. The only way to combat negative information and peer pressures, is with positives...
Yep. Sounds that way. Many, many countries have populations so poor that the very young are taken care of by other children. E.g. A 6 yr old girl in Central America will take care of her baby sibs. In India, the parents leave their children with relatives as they work in other countries to support the family.
It isn't for no reason that it is written: "All creation groans..."
I have found that when I am judgmental, it is usually because I haven't faced that problem yet. Then I'm ashamed of my prior attitude as I live and learn.
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Maybe a woman who found herself pregnant, decided against abortion and is juggling more than she can handle. Stupid, unlucky, yep but a monster? That's kind of arrogant.
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