guess what i saw today in morrison's carpark?!! (hint: very ignorant parent!!)

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

RIght beside our car in the Parent and Toddler area there was a car parked.
There was a small boy hanging out the window (which was half rolled down so he was hanging over the glass)
Inside the car was a small girl (crying), a toddler and a baby.
4 children under 5 left alone in the car. Where were the parents?
She came out a few minutes later with a couple of pot noodles and a ready meal.
You know those moments when you feel like the worst parent in the world? Just think of that woman!!

and sometimes i buy ready meals

Wow just re-read the few opening posts re lollies etc. Jeeez, glad you don't all live round here, you'd explode in a puff of your own self-righteousness.

Yeah but CM she may have not been thinking straight at all that is my point you never know how you'll react to terrible news (not that we know this lady had had any lol), people in shock can do all sorts of crazy things.

Like buy the pot nooddle! she must be responding to all those adverts pn tele

Don't we all do the "risk evaluation" thing on a daily basis ? I know I do - and maybe sometimes I take the wrong decision - but it's my business, dd is my responsibility no-one elses - and I make the judgements.

There for the grace of God go I !

Just a question for the mums that leave thier kids in the car when going into shops etc, do you rush round with a real sense of urgency or are you quite content that your children are safe? Just interested, not having a go at anyone.

re judging parents based on how many kids they have - do we lose all imagination and empathy the minute we have a child?

I have one child - which makes me feel quite in awe of the struggle parents of more face just to get them out of the door...socks, coats, 'don't wanna go-o-o-o', etc etc etc. Believe it or not, I have the imaginative capacity to think that with 4 kids I might just quail at the idea of getting them all out, supervising them inside the store and getting them all back in, which could easily turn a 6 minute trip into the shop into a half hour excursion.

And would it have been ok to leave them if she had been buying broccoli, wholemeal bread and natural ypgurt?

LOL at this whole thing...it's a windup, isn't it?

Also talking about risks. We all make risk assessments all the time. The chances of anything happening to the children in a car is so small as to be negligible.
you can't live a decent life like that. We live in a culture now where we are encouraged to remove all risk from our lives. I keep hearing an advert offering help and advice on how not to hurt yourself falling from a low height!! Good God

But leaving your kids in a car where you can't see them isn't safe imo. I agree it should be safe - it should be safe to let my dd play out in the street but it isn't.

When I was 6 and my sis was a tiny baby, Mum left us in the car while she went to the co-op to get some shopping. I got out of the car and nearly got run over crossing the road...no judging, just a fact.

agree with Next

prevention better than cure

I hope that I'll come back to the car and someone will have taken them !

lol

What happened to sisterhood? What about hanging around and chatting to the kids to make sure they don't climb out of the car window? Shouldn't we all look out for all children, to some extent, as we're all in the business of raising the next generation, however we choose to do it as individuals?

It feels like a wind up doesn't it?

I must say I agree with the there by the Grace etc.

I live in a fairly run downish part of the NEast - I see lots of families struggling all the time, every day, all day. Don't want to get schmaltzy about it, but just want to really say, when you see something that maybe you don't agree with parenting wise, or a mother that is strugglin, just take a deep breath, and feel for that family.

I don't get the smug posting about it, I really don't. I get there was a safety issue here btw, but the rest is just well.....a judgemental smugfest.

Yes pop3.....when I leave mine I'm always confident they'll be fighting and screaming with such abandon no-one would even consider taking them!

not evryone is as nice as you though AdelaideS.

I dont think my post was judgemental at all "Monday, 19 June, 2006 6:47:22 AM"

I am a parent with not many miles on the clock (eight months) and I do take my daughter pratically everywhere. Fear of her not being there when I get back / screaming her head off / being accused of neglet are part of the reasons that I will take her with me and risk waking her up, even if only popping in for a pint of milk. I like to think I would always take my children with me (when I have more than one!).

I dont view myself as being better than anybody else, or worse, we all do things right and we call do things wrong.

And for the comments on the shopping bags - Morrinsons have clear see through bags.

I don't think it matters really if you are a parent or not - it dosn't take a having children to see trhat some things are not safe.

I leave my eldest 2 in the car when I go into supermarkets occassionally. They can come with me if they wish or stay there - they are 7 and 9. My 3 yr old I always take with me - sadly as he's the most bloody awkward of the lot. The car doors are locked - they can unlock them from the inside if they need to but no-one can get in. Of course they need to be old enough for them to understand basic rules - don't let the handbrake off, don't open the door to strangers, don't try to force each others heads under the back seats, don't swear at passers-by, don't bleed on the upholstery, don't hot-wire the car ...that sort of thing....

But it's OK...I'd rather die than buy pot noodles....

Might just add that it's only when I want a few bits. I don't leave them there while I do the weekly shop - I leave them at home for that ...

With their father...

online shopping solves alot of probs

Quick question to those posters who would never leave their children unattended in a car - I guess you never drive them around in said car either as statistically they're much more likely to be injured or killed in a car accident than kidnapped from a locked car? Or is that different? And if so, how?