How far a leap is it, when parents leave (left) one kid at church or at the gas station?
My mom always kept track of us but the neighbors would take 2 cars to church and often we’d find one kid in the parking lot looking for a ride home. Normal 1970’s.
But when I was growing up, most moms stayed home and raised the kids.
Now that I think about it, I got left behind occasionally at a store! Sometimes my mother forgot to pick me up at school - I have a clear memory of standing all alone in the schoolyard, lol. Too stupid to walk home.
I also remember my mother telling me that she dropped my brother on his head (accidentally) when he was a tiny tot. She kept him out of the limelight for awhile so that no one could accuse her of child abuse. She felt guilty about it 30 years later.