My wife thinks I'm only a little crazy.
Posted on 12/19/2006 6:02:19 AM PST by WestTexasWend
MIDLAND, TX (AP) - A 3-month-old baby was left unattended in a shopping cart for about an hour Sunday when her parents accidentally left her behind, police said.
Shoppers noticed the abandoned baby at a Toys "R" Us store, Midland police Sgt. Alfredo Grimaldo said.
"It was a misunderstanding among family members," Grimaldo said in Monday editions of the Midland Reporter-Telegram. "One man took the kids home and left the ladies to shop. But when he took the kids, he didn't take the baby from the cart."
The family members, who were traveling in different cars, didn't realize what happened until they all got home and nobody had the baby, he said.
"We don't think it was really a child abandonment issue. It was just a misunderstanding," Grimaldo said.
Police spokeswoman Tina Jauz said Child Protective Services is looking into the case.
MY GOD! HOW THE HECK DO YOU FORGET YOUR OWN CHILD??? I just don't understand these people? How preoccupied can they be?
Mary and Joseph left Jesus in the Temple..........
Hey, if they left the kid in the car, this never would have happened.
Maybe he should think of his baby as a $3800 LCD HDTV....
With the keys in the ignition and the car running to keep the child warm.
I can understand how this could happen, with both parents thinking the other had the baby. This happened one time to my 8-year-old niece at church, when her parents (who had driven separately to church because of separate responsibilities) each thought she was going home with the other. When they got home they immediately realized their mistake because she wasn't with either of them!
Meanwhile, my niece was safe with friends at church and was soon home again with her family. I'm glad this story turned out the same way, with the baby reunited with its family.
There are many sad cases of parental neglect. I don't think this is one of them.
The moral here? If you don't want your infant left alone in a Toys 'R' Us, you must breastfeed.
When you have parents in separate cars, it can happen. Years ago, my husband and I took our crew of 4 to their pre-school open house. Time came to go home, and we climbed in our vehicles. We got into the garage and found we only had 3 kids. Thank goodness the school was only about 2 minutes away. I got to the school, and there was my daughter [age 4] having some more punch and cookies. I felt like a dog that this should happen to my child. Thank goodness she was completely unaware.
"Cleanup on Aisle 4"
Why even go that far? Put the kid in a bouncy seat in front of the boob tube..prop a bottle just to be kind. Lock the other kids in a bedroom (goes without saying: turn on another boob tube) then they wouldn't have needed two cars...saves on gas.
I just don't know how you could forget a baby. My older children would have surely reminded me .
Excellent point. People should realize that this type of thing DOES happen. It is not neglect, nor is it a lack of love for the child. Rather, it is an oversight and happens when both parents don't completely communicate and believe the other one has responsibility for a child. Thankfully this did not have tragic consequences.
This type of situation is different from those "parents" who intentionally leave their child behind - at home or in a car - to go shopping, or drinking, or whatever. THAT is neglect and should be prosecuted.
I thought this was bogus until I read that they were traveling in separate cars. Yes, I see how it could happen.
But, did they get the PS3? That's what's really important this holiday season...
What about when a parent forgets their child is in the backseat on a hot day and the child dies. Is that neglect or an oversight?
Ten years ago when my third child was four or five years old, we all took off in our van to pick my mother-in-law up at the airport. I had four kids at the time. We were halfway there and my oldest son (age 10) said, "Where's Mikey?" WHAT????? It took him that long to realize he wasn't with us? That was before we all had cell phones, so we couldn't call the house to reassure him. We ended up driving back only to find him sitting at the computer playing a game. When we told him that we'd all left without him, he said, "Cool! It's like Home Alone!"
My wife thinks I'm only a little crazy.
About 50 miles down the road, one of the older kids said, "Hey Dad? Where's Danny?" They were mortified....(no cellphones back then) Yet... when they returned... found the kid eating ice cream and watching the ball game with the establishment's owner. CPS nor the cops were called ....because the guy knew they'd be back. Stuff happens.
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