More great moments in bad parenting

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So today, among other things, I got to see a small child nearly get run over by a bus. How was your day?

We were taking our lunch break outside this morning. The automatic entrance doors thrust open, and out darted a small child, maybe 3 or 4 years old. Lagging behind him was somebody I assumed to be his mother, carrying a small shopping bag and yelling at the child to stop running.

He ran out into the parking lot--right in front of a city bus approaching. That kid's just lucky the bus's brakes worked well and driver wasn't a maniac, as some of our local bus drivers seem to be.

Of course, no attempt made by the mother to keep the close to her, such as making him hold her hand. Just a bunch of hollering.

Then, back in the store after break, a toddler standing up in a shopping cart which was being orbited by two other small, but older children. Some distance away was a woman I assumed to be their mother, leisurely examining storage carts in our back to campus department.

In this department we have a table set up with metal mesh bins holding a variety of small dorm items like duct tape, power strips, and 3M Command hooks. The child in the cart leaned over the side, thus tipping the cart and sending her crashing to the ground. On the way down, the poor kid hit her head on the table.

And then started wailing.

Did mother rush over to make sure her youngest was okay? Nah. She settled for hollering at the two other kids for not watching the little one. As opposed to sitting the toddler in the fold-out seat in the cart and buckling the safety belt. But that would be, well, parenting.

[Grape The Cat]

I saw this all the time when i was in WM. Parents not paying attention and the kid almost getting hurt or getting hurt. When i was 3 or 4, i believe I had to hold my mom's hand or else be in the shopping cart. I hope the kid in the second situation is okay, the fact that she hit her head(and the mother's indifference) is distressing.

[mikoyan29]

Our local buses are the AATA (Ann Arbor Transit Authority) which of course gets converted to AT-AT....

[Aethian]

On the way down, the poor kid hit her head on the table.

And then started wailing.

Good way for the "mother" to lose her child to brain trauma. Or bleeding to death internally.

[bainsidhe]

Hell, I'm a twin and Mom managed to deal with two of us at once. Stories like this make me

Hope the kid was ok. Wish it had been mommy instead.

[taxguykarl]

Good way for the "mother" to lose her child to brain trauma. Or bleeding to death internally.

And of course sue your store for "neglect".

[Amina516]

Ugh....just no words....

[Seraph]

Holy mackerel! Lord knows I'm not the most shining example, as I let both my girls sit in the basket instead of the seat.....but they know darn well that if they get that privilege, they better keep their butts DOWN. Standing up means instant seatbelt spot, or walking and holding onto the side of the cart.

Usually don't have that problem though, they like peering out the bottom and pretending they're flying. XD

[zombiequeen]

Geesh, I was allowed in the basket but I had to sit still! Most of the time I got to walk beside mum when I was old enough to, because I behaved.
I hope the kid's alright.

[XCashier]

When i was 3 or 4, i believe I had to hold my mom's hand or else be in the shopping cart.

I was the same with my kid. He had to hold my hand, sit in the cart seat with the seatbelt on (walking beside it when he outgrew it), and stay beside me at all times. He even wore a safety harness and leash for a while when he was very young. The fact that this mother doesn't give enough of a damn to buckle the kid in, let alone keep the cart in arms reach at all times, is scary.

[Kogarashi]

I let both my girls sit in the basket instead of the seat.....but they know darn well that if they get that privilege, they better keep their butts DOWN. Standing up means instant seatbelt spot, or walking and holding onto the side of the cart.

This, very much. Youngest will still disobey and stand (she's only two), so she frequently gets deposited back in the seat (when she isn't there from the get-go). Oldest (age 4) knows that if she stands in the cart, she's not getting any treats and has to walk while holding onto the cart. If she can't even comply with that, she loses other priviledges once we get home.

I'll admit, I don't force her to hold the cart when she's willingly walking beside me, mostly because she listens to me and only runs ahead in the store itself (I'm still working on that part). In the parking lot, she knows she's as good as dead (by my hand, not the cars') if she leaves my side. I've made sure to drill that into her.

The moms in the OP? Shameful. Especially the one who couldn't be bothered to check on Junior.

[Caractacus_Potts]

And of course sue your store for "neglect".

A year or two ago in MA parents with two young kids went to a Chinese restaurant to eat and both parents ordered alcoholic drinks. The waiter served them, they weren't paying attention and one of the kids grabbed their drink and took a sip. They called 911 from their cell phone and tried to get the waiter arrested for child endangerment. When that didn't work out for them they vowed to sue the restaurant.

I never saw a follow up. Hopefully someone hit them with a clue x 4.

[PepperElf]

Our local buses are the AATA (Ann Arbor Transit Authority) which of course gets converted to AT-AT....

... this makes me want to see an AT-AT bus...
which perhaps would stop people from letting their kids run out in front of it... hopefully.

my younger nephew loved to try running out ahead, but the family was always quick to stop him and reinforce the idea of safety

A year or two ago in MA parents with two young kids went to a Chinese restaurant to eat and both parents ordered alcoholic drinks. The waiter served them, they weren't paying attention and one of the kids grabbed their drink and took a sip. They called 911 from their cell phone and tried to get the waiter arrested for child endangerment. When that didn't work out for them they vowed to sue the restaurant.

I never saw a follow up. Hopefully someone hit them with a clue x 4.

Either that or someone made it very clear to them that... if they pressed the issue further, they themselves would the ones being arrested.


and in all honesty... one sip? seriously? unless the kid is VERY young that won't hurt them.
Mom & Dad use to let us have alcohol - just a sip. And as we got older we were allowed a small serving on special occasions.

[Seraph]

In the parking lot, she knows she's as good as dead (by my hand, not the cars') if she leaves my side. I've made sure to drill that into her.

Yeeeep. We had one incident with the older kid where we were literally inside the Walmart, at the front doors....she spotted Daddy coming up from the car he'd just parked. She literally dashed through both sets of doors, and out into the parking lot before I could even blink. I think I about busted a lung hollering at her, and nearly broke down in tears when I caught up to her.

She got a decent spank for it, right there in front of the store, and I'm pretty sure she learned her lesson. When we went back into the store, the greeter was just as shocked as I was...although she told me she was glad to see that some parents still believe in spanking. I told her "I think regretting my child's death is far worse than the regret over spanking."

[Misanthropical]

When my little guy was about 2, I got him out of the car in the parking lot of where we lived at the time. He got away from me and darted out in front of a car driving in and only thanks to the driver with quick reflexes did he manage to not get run over.

I apologized all over myself to the driver because I'm sure he gave her a heart attack too.

Around that same time frame I saw a girl of about 5 or 6 years old standing up in the basket of a cart at the grocery store. Her mother asked her to please sit down. That girl let go with so much profanities aimed at her mother she would have made a sailor blush. Her mother just continued to plead with her to sit down. I moved my kids away from them since I didn't want them to think that kind of language was no big deal.

Mostly when I lived in that area I heard parents letting lose with the profanities aimed at their children for minor things like daring to cry at 11 PM that they were tired and wanted to go home.