Mom Gets Sidetracked Unloading Groceries
This is the story about a woman in Utah who left her sleeping child in the car while she unloaded her groceries. 3 hours later she remembered him. It was too late.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3188541
I will be the first to admit that I have left my children asleep in their carseats. I have never left them alone. Everytime they have fallen asleep in the car I have sat in the car or, once last spring when the weather was really nice, I opened the sliding door & sat in my lawn chair next to the van while Julia played in the backyard. No matter how busy I get I never forget my children. This kind of story is told too often.
Here is a letter that was read on one of my favorite talk shows regarding this story:
Dr. Laura,
Is it that time of year already? Along with the beautiful flowers and the warming spring weather, it's once again time for supposedly loving parents to KILL their babies by FORGETTING THEY EXIST. It seems like it has come particularly early this year. Here in Utah, we've barely had three days over 75 degrees, but that was time enough for one mother to forget her 18 month old baby for THREE HOURS while he suffered and died in her car. It wasn't on the way to work or daycare that this happened either, which is the usual excuse ("I'm not the one who usually drops him off at daycare, so I forgot he was back there!"). Rather, this woman got "sidetracked" while unloading groceries from her car. That is the word used in this news story - "sidetracked." For three entire hours she was "sidetracked," and forgot her little baby existed. She was busy inside the house while inside her car it got hotter and hotter and hotter. I wonder what that poor little baby's thoughts were as the heat grew unbearable in the back of that car. I can imagine his eyes darting around, frantically trying to see where his mother went. What was in his mind as the tears rolled down his cheeks and he waved his arms and wailed for someone to help him? And what, I wonder, was so very important to this woman that for three hours it slipped her mind that she was a mother? What task or conversation was so vital that for three hours she never thought to wonder why she didn't hear her 18 month old infant playing, crying, or laughing? For three hours she didn't wonder if he needed a snack, or if his diaper needed changing, or if he was getting into the dog food. Now that precious baby is dead forever. He suffered and died all alone in a hot car because his mother was "sidetracked." I have a two year old son, and in six weeks I'll be introducing him to his little brother. I have a lot on my plate, but there is nothing so important in this world or any other that can push my two sons (born and unborn) out of my thoughts. I can't imagine a day, an afternoon, or an hour passing by without their needs, comfort, and happiness constantly running through my thoughts. My life - my thoughts, actions, emotions, and sense of value in this world, orbits around the sun of their needs and happiness. That's what a mother's love is. I am not perfect, in fact, I am tragically flawed, but I have never been so "sidetracked" that I forgot I was a mother. I feel deeply for this woman - I really do. But I also can't help but wonder what kind of parent is so easily distracted from the most important task that God can give a human being? Thank you so much for all you do, Dr. Laura, you helped teach me how to be a strong woman, a devoted wife, and a loving mother. Please continue helping women get un-sidetracked.
Lucy
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3188541
I will be the first to admit that I have left my children asleep in their carseats. I have never left them alone. Everytime they have fallen asleep in the car I have sat in the car or, once last spring when the weather was really nice, I opened the sliding door & sat in my lawn chair next to the van while Julia played in the backyard. No matter how busy I get I never forget my children. This kind of story is told too often.
Here is a letter that was read on one of my favorite talk shows regarding this story:
Dr. Laura,
Is it that time of year already? Along with the beautiful flowers and the warming spring weather, it's once again time for supposedly loving parents to KILL their babies by FORGETTING THEY EXIST. It seems like it has come particularly early this year. Here in Utah, we've barely had three days over 75 degrees, but that was time enough for one mother to forget her 18 month old baby for THREE HOURS while he suffered and died in her car. It wasn't on the way to work or daycare that this happened either, which is the usual excuse ("I'm not the one who usually drops him off at daycare, so I forgot he was back there!"). Rather, this woman got "sidetracked" while unloading groceries from her car. That is the word used in this news story - "sidetracked." For three entire hours she was "sidetracked," and forgot her little baby existed. She was busy inside the house while inside her car it got hotter and hotter and hotter. I wonder what that poor little baby's thoughts were as the heat grew unbearable in the back of that car. I can imagine his eyes darting around, frantically trying to see where his mother went. What was in his mind as the tears rolled down his cheeks and he waved his arms and wailed for someone to help him? And what, I wonder, was so very important to this woman that for three hours it slipped her mind that she was a mother? What task or conversation was so vital that for three hours she never thought to wonder why she didn't hear her 18 month old infant playing, crying, or laughing? For three hours she didn't wonder if he needed a snack, or if his diaper needed changing, or if he was getting into the dog food. Now that precious baby is dead forever. He suffered and died all alone in a hot car because his mother was "sidetracked." I have a two year old son, and in six weeks I'll be introducing him to his little brother. I have a lot on my plate, but there is nothing so important in this world or any other that can push my two sons (born and unborn) out of my thoughts. I can't imagine a day, an afternoon, or an hour passing by without their needs, comfort, and happiness constantly running through my thoughts. My life - my thoughts, actions, emotions, and sense of value in this world, orbits around the sun of their needs and happiness. That's what a mother's love is. I am not perfect, in fact, I am tragically flawed, but I have never been so "sidetracked" that I forgot I was a mother. I feel deeply for this woman - I really do. But I also can't help but wonder what kind of parent is so easily distracted from the most important task that God can give a human being? Thank you so much for all you do, Dr. Laura, you helped teach me how to be a strong woman, a devoted wife, and a loving mother. Please continue helping women get un-sidetracked.
Lucy
posted by Beloved at
6:43 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home