It was a mistake to go out today. Really, it was. See, Jenn running on only three hours of busted up sleep? Not good at all. I was a bit cranky, and my already short fuse got a little shorter when I didn’t get the seven hours of sleep I had anticipated. But I had to go out. I had an appointment to go to, and I needed to pick up something for dinner tonight.
So out we went – Alyssa, Ryan and I. We took care of my appointment, and then went to the grocery store. After I had parked the car and was in the process of taking Ryan out of his car seat, I thought I heard a baby wailing. I looked around, didn’t see anything, and went ahead and grabbed Alyssa. As I was locking the car and securing my hold on both kids (Ryan propped on my hip, Alyssa’s hand in a death grip so she couldn’t dart off into the busy parking lot), I realized the crying was a lot closer. Next to us was a red mini-van. I looked inside the sliding door window. In the mini-van were not one but two occupied car seats. In one was an infant, probably no older than five or six months. In the other was a little boy, older than Ryan but younger than Alyssa. No adults were in the mini-van or around the mini-van. Both babies were crying, and from the looks of their faces, had been crying for more than just a minute or two.
Let me preface the rest of this rant by saying that I hate it when parents leave their children in vehicles. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I find it to be incredibly stupid, irresponsible and dangerous. I personally feel and advocate that parents/caregivers be held responsible if anything should happen to the child being left alone in a vehicle. Whenever I see a child unattended in a vehicle, with no adults around, I do not hesitate to whip out my cell phone and call the police to report the children, the type of vehicle they’re in the license plate, and of course, the location. Sadly, in the last year alone, I’ve called in four different incidents.
As I headed into the store with the kids, I managed to get my cell phone out and called the police. I was walking by the service desk when I was describing the vehicle and location. I had just hung up the phone when someone near me exclaimed, “Oh my god – are there kids alone out in the lot?” I told her yes, I had seen two babies in a mini-van, and had just called the police.
Suddenly this blonde, total soccer mom looking woman comes running over. “Those are my kids!” Let me tell you, if looks could kill, I would have annihilated this woman on the spot. I looked right at her and told her that the police were on their way, if they weren’t here already. She freaked out, saying that there was nothing wrong with leaving her kids in the car. I told her there was EVERYTHING wrong with leaving her kids in the car, and why the HELL would she do something so irresponsible?
You know what she said to me? I shit you not, her exact words were: “But it’s hard with two small children!” Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Mind you, I’m standing there with Ryan still on my hip, all twenty-nine pounds of him straining my arm and shoulder, and Alyssa tugging at my hand with all of her might and thirty-four pounds. I sarcastically informed her that there were wonderful inventions out there such as slings, strollers and shopping carts that can help with the transporting of children.
She went on and on about how much she loved her kids, she was a good mom, yadda yadda yadda. I told her she was incredibly irresponsible, and how dangerous it was to leave kids in unattended vehicles. The weather may not have been an issue, but what about kidnapping? Carjacking? Freak accidents where a moving vehicle slams into her stationery one? You just never know, and it is incredibly stupid, selfish and irresponsible to risk the wellbeing and possibly the lives of your children for a little convenience.
Finally, like a peacock, she reared up and eyed my children condescendingly, informing me that she had FOUR kids altogether, and they were just fine. I shot back that having four children doesn’t make her stupid and irresponsible parenting choices anything but stupid and irresponsible, and I thought she was stupid and irresponsible. And, by the way, have fun with the police, as I just saw their car pull up in the parking lot. At that point, you could have heard a pin drop in the store. The silence was deafening, and the woman seemed to visibly shrink in front of me. Ryan started squirming, so I took the kids over to the cart area, grabbed a cart and deposited them into it, and we went on our way to shop for dinner.
So, yeah… as the title says, I shouldn’t have gone out today. But then again, maybe it’s good that I did. Granted, a lot of my built up frustrations were expelled when I ripped that woman a new one, but perhaps now that she was publicly reamed and hopefully cited by the police, she’ll think twice about leaving her children alone in a vehicle.
Well done! I’m glad you said something to that woman and I’m glad you phoned the police. I can honestly say I rarely see kids being left in the car. My mum always did it with us when she went in to pay for petrol but I couldn’t do it. There’s too many bad things happening in the world where children are concerned and I just couldn’t leave my children in the car even if I was only going to be two minutes.
Wow, good for you! I agree that it is irresponsible to leave your kids in the car. I would NEVER do something like that if I had kids.
Jeez. That’s something I will NEVER understand.
How do people think it’s even remotely okay to leave your child in a freaking car in a parking lot? I don’t even think it’s okay to leave a pet in the car. It’s just cruel and leaving room for something horrible to happen. The more and more I see people doing ridiculous things with their children, it makes me wish that parenting classes were required well before people became parents. Hell sometimes I wish some people weren’t allowed to breed at all.
Back in the day, my mom would leave me in the car for a minute or two to pay for gas or buy cigarettes at the gas station. I was always within her sight, and NORMALLY, my older sister was in the car. She also locked all the doors, and I was old enough to know better about strangers, etc.
But these days, people are just crazy, and any parent who leaves their child unattended in a car while they go GROCERY SHOPPING (and therefor can’t have even half an eye on them.) is retarded. I’ve called the police on parents before, and I definitely won’t hesitate to do it again if I have to.
I do not hesitate to whip out my cell phone and call the police to report the children, the type of vehicle they’re in the license plate, and of course, the location
And why should you? It’s illegal and stupid. It’s irresponsible to say the least. If she made a mistake in a moment of bad parenting or something whatever, she needed it called to her attention so it doesn’t become a pattern. If it were hot out, someone wanted to take them, etc. Like you said.
Now, I think they need to make a reality show for us called When Housewives Shop For Dinner. All I really wanted to do was get the finishing touches for my lasagna and I ended up telling two oversized losers that just because they choose to smoke doesn’t mean they need to stand in front of the doors, block my way, and force my four year old to breathe it.
I’m so sick of stupid people today. I can’t believe this lady stood there and argued her point with you instead of running right to her car and formulating some reason she did something so stupid to tell the cops.
I am the same way. I don’t have kids myself, but I will not hesitate to call the police when I see children left unattended in a vehicle. It’s actually illegal where I live and I’ve seen more than one child be removed, right in front of the parent, from the vehicle and placed with child services.
People consistently amaze me with their irresponsibility and stupidity.
That’s sad. I could never do no crazy shit like that. Leaving my kids alone. I am way to over protective for that. I hope she gets what she deserve. People like her do not need kids.
Kudos to you! I’ve done that same thing quite a few times and I will continue to report every child I see left unattended. There is just no excuse for it. None whatsoever.
Kudos to you!
I think it is absolutely horrible when parents leave their children in the car. I can honestly say I do not think I’ve ever left my child in the car unattended… even if it means making someone from inside the house come out to watch him while I run in to grab something! I am proud of you Jenn! There need to be more people like this.. =)
I think that was a very smart thing you did. Maybe it’s a really good thing you were out today because no one knows what could have happened if you hadn’t spotted those kids.
I would have done the exact same thing. That is a huge peeve of mine. I take my boys everywhere with me and while it sometimes is lots of work I would NEVER leave them for a minute even. Like you, I think parents should be held accountable for such stupidity. Good for you for calling the police.
Good for you calling the police I would have done the same thing.
How dare she do that??? I could see if the kids were 9 or 10 but that young? WTF…… I dont know how many stories I’ve heard of kids dying from being in vehicles alone… ugh
Wow. Good job calling the cops. I’da done the same thing too. I swear some people shouldn’t be allowed to reproduce.
I’ve never seen any children left in cars around here. Well.. I’ve never seen any children period in East Lansing, but I never saw any left in cars back home either. I didn’t even know it was actually illegal. Is it just punishable by a citation or what?
Good for you! I would of done it too. I ONLY leave my small ones in the car if I bring Destiny (shes 12) along so she can keep an eye on them and I lock the door behind me.
I hope that woman got a ticket or something.
Some people are just so irresponsible, I’m only 16 yet I know that you should never leave young children unsupervised like that – I get angry when I see stuff like that happening too, I get annoyed because I know theres nothing I can do to stop it.
Its good that you went out today, as you were able to get rid of a load of frustrations onto someone who definately deserved it
I think it’s great that you called the police and told the woman off. I hate parents like that, it’s been said over and over again, but you should have to take a test in order to have a child.
Good on you for calling the police on her. I would’ve done exactly the same thing. It’ll be interesting to see if she is charged with anything because if she did that here, the police wouldn’t hesitate to charge her with endangering the life of a child (I’m not too sure on the wording of the particular charge).
Wow, that is really sad. I would have done the same thing. I wonder what happened after you left. Don’t people know better?
in california it is against the law to leave your children in the car… i’m not sure if it is the same there. you would have to be seriously demented to leave your children in a car though- even if there is no law!
You did the right thing. I can’t believe that she sat there and argued about how good of a mother she is, as her kids sat in the car and baked. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold outside–it quickly becomes stiffling inside the car and while they may have not had a heat stroke as they would in the summer, it was probably still unbearable since I assume they were dressed warmly.