I am pretty understanding of these things, and I think that the torture these parents go through is probably punishment enough... But I think that a- sending a kid to daycare is part of the problem (someone should have thought about where the child was for a few hours) and b— the man you talked about at least thought about his family mid-morning, which jogged his memory. I seriously question where we are as a society when it is considered acceptable for two parents to not know where their 2 year old is for 8 hours (as supposedly happened in this situation).
That’s what happens when we aren’t raising our own children.
I still believe that even the most conscientious of parents make mistakes. I'll go further. I believe that, at some point, every one of us has had a lapse in judgment that could have been serious -- a time when our eyes left the road, when we were distracted by something and careless -- but most of us have never suffered tragic consequences due to those lapses. Some of these situations might even end up as part of the family legends, funny stories that are retold on holidays about how Billy climbed on the roof one time, or Sally got lost at the mall. It wouldn't be funny if Billy fell and broke his neck, or Sally got kidnapped and murdered. But they usually don't, thank God, so we parents laugh and commiserate about the frustrating, exhausting, joyous days with young children.
Our children have given me many a gray hair. I'm sure their angels are exhausted, and I thank God that by His graciousness they have been kept safe, sometimes in spite of their all too fallible parents.