Yesterday, as the kids and I were returning home after a quick trip to the grocery store, that obnoxious beeping sound interrupted the song on the radio. You know the one I’m talking about right? The one that is ALWAYS followed by “this is a test of the emergency broadcast system”.
Only yesterday, that message didn’t come.
Instead, a woman’s voice came over the airwaves and announced an Amber Alert.
It was the first time in memory that I’ve ever heard that system actually used for anything other than a test.
The woman on the radio gave great detail, explaining that a three-month-old baby was missing. The baby had been sleeping in the car when her mother left the vehicle running while she ran into her mother’s house to deliver a bag of food and let her two-year-old child use the restroom. She was only inside for a matter of minutes, but that’s all it had taken for the unattended car to be stolen.
I want you to consider for a moment what that mother must have felt when she returned to find her car gone. Her infant daughter tucked safely inside.
Can you imagine what must have gone through her head? Can you imagine how totally and completely crippling that fear would have been?
It’s easy to place blame on that mother. After all, who leaves an infant in a running car for even a moment?
I have actually.
I live in a very rural dessert area, in a gated community in fact. I don’t want to be too specific here on the internet but suffice it to say that we do things every single day that could end up disastrous if the circumstances were right. Or wrong I guess, depending on how you look at it.
Many times I’ve opened the garage door and started my car, with a child or two strapped safely into the seatbelt, only to realize that I forgot something. So I get out of the car and run into the house without thinking twice about who might be watching.
I can’t imagine living any other way, in fear of what might be lurking. But then again, after hearing this news story, I realize that I really ought to be more careful.
The three-month-old baby was found a little over an hour after the kidnapping. When they found her she was still strapped safely into the car seat, sound asleep.
She never even knew she was gone.
But Mom did. Oh did she.
There aren’t a lot of details being released about the case. From the sounds of things though the couple that they suspect in the crime didn’t realize there was a baby in the car. Apparently they were just looking for a car to steal and they found an easy target.
I’m sure that Mama won’t make the same mistake again.
And now I won’t either.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh.my.gosh. The horror. I just wrote about this mommy “controversy” at 5 Minutes For Parenting last week.
http://www.5minutesforparenting.com/158/never/
Steph
You’re a great Mom … but things can happen in an instant. Give them all a big kiss from me!
I wish I could say that I never leave my kids alone in the car, but that’s not true. There was a similar story that I heard long before I ever had kids, but it stuck with me. So, while I don’t ever keep the car running if I leave kids there, I will sometimes leave them alone in a non-running car. That, of course, brings up the problem of it being too hot in there with no a/c going. Growing up in AZ, I heard too many stories of kids that were left in hot cars. I try and only leave them in the car during the warmer months (I don’t live in AZ anymore, and our hot months really aren’t that bad) if I have to just have to run back in for the diaper bag that’s always right by the back door, or if I’m walking the older one up to his friend’s door. Instances where really I can count to 60 and I’m back in the car. Still, the question about leaving kids unattended in the car or not is all around a difficult situation
Oh, I have chills. It is too awful to even think about. I admit to running back into my house just for a second when I’ve forgotten something and my baby is already strapped in. I don’t want think in those terms that there are horrible people out there that would do something like this, but it can become reality before you know it.
I admit, I too, have done this. Our garage is at the rear of our house, and I have forgotten something or have come home and the kids are asleep and I unload the car first (groceries, shopping bags, etc) before waking them just so they can get those few extra minutes of precious sleep. We are all human. We have all done something you think will be ok (as I am sure she did when not wanting to wake her younger one just so her older child could use the restroom) and it turns out to be the opposite. But, I WILL think twice before doing this again, even if it is AT OUR HOUSE!
MY heart is beating so rapidly right now. I’ve done it too, appreciating that we no longer live in a big apartment building and taking advantage of having a driveway. Steph wrote about this recently at her 5 min for parenting site too.
I just can’t imagine. THANK GOD they were just looking for a car…
I think just about everyone has done this from time to time. I know I am guilty. Just about once a week I realize I forgot something and run back into the house.
Thank God everything turned out fine in the situation. That poor Mother.
What a scary story, but I’m so glad that little baby is okay!
This gave me chills. I’ve done it too — because we live in an area exactly like the one you do (minus the desert). It’s easy to let your guard down. Especially if you live “in a small town.” Thanks for the reminder to be more aware.
That’s terrifying. I’ve always been a complete freak about never leaving my son in the car without me in it or right outside it. As tempting as it can be (and believe me, it has!), it just seems like too much can happen. Thank God the baby was okay.
I can’t imagine how scary that would be! It only takes one time to scare you straight!!! Good for you!
I have to admit that I do this pretty often. Many times when I have been with the kids at a playdate or running a long list of errands, they both fall asleep in the car. When I get home I take the baby in and set her down and then go out and get my sleeping toddler. I often leave the car running so that it keeps him asleep. Though I live in a very safe area, you just never know and I will not be doing that anymore!
I’m delurking today. I so do the same thing. It really does make you think!!!
My husband is constantly telling me to watch and be smart and don’t live in a “mommy bubble”. Its so easy to be blissfully ignorant and make innocent mistakes. Got to be careful and think, without living in fear…somehow!
HORRID. I’ve done that but I almost always turn off the car. I do at least think of that. But still. SCARY STUFF.
That’s so awful! I admit to doing this as well, and it always bothers me when people attack the mother. Remember that lady who left the baby in the car while she was 5 feet away putting $ in a Salvation Army collection bucket? She was arrested and I couldn’t believe how many people thought that was ok. Any mom with more than one child has had to do this at some point.