a mom question
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 2:27PM
Today, as I walked into Starbucks and saw two cops waiting for their peppermint mochas a few things crossed my mind.
The first was a flashback to when I was 17 and got busted by the cops for sneaking off campus with some friends to buy slurpees--apparently there is this thing called "truancy" and it is illegal. Thankfully the bottle of booze in the trunk of my friends car that may or may not have been intended for the slurpees remained undetected and we escaped with a warning and a call to our parents.
Then I wondered if Starbucks has replaced the likes of Winchells and other donut chains. I really don't see very many donut shops anymore. I really like maple bars...
And then my fantasizing of buttery, yum-yum maple bars turned to panic. I suddenly felt like I did when I was 17 years old and questioned by the cops at 7-11. But this time it wasn't a bottle of vodka the car, it was my own two kids that I left in their car seats and I suddenly thought, holy cr*p, is leaving your kids in the car against the law?
I don't do it often, but I do it, once in awhile if I have to run in somewhere quickly, especially if one of them is asleep and if I can get a spot right out front. So I started to feel guilty. And I started to play out a scene in my mind of the cops walking out the door, noticing the kids by themselves, and then coming back inside saying, "Excuse me, Who is the Mother of those kids?" I felt like a schmuck. I started to sweat and wonder how I was going to talk my way out of it. I really don't like confrontation or getting into trouble. I was more worried about what the cops were going to say than with what was going on with my kids.
Somehow the gods of rogues and hooligans were looking down on me and my drink was called up before theirs. I made a swift escape and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw that my kids were just as I had left them.
So now I need some moms out there to give me the scoop. Am I overreacting or under-parenting? Is this something all moms do or should I be expecting a call from CPS?
Reader Comments (7)
OMG...I totally remember that day...as if "you're wanted in the principal's office" wasn't bad enough...there was a cop car out front!
And regarding the mom thing... of course everybody does it. There is no way I am going to get two kids out of the car for a 5 minute stop at the dry cleaner. It takes longer than that to get them all buckled in. Just don't do it too often, don't leave them for too long and don't do it on a hot day.
Love ya, Lisa
I feel a lot more comfortable doing it now that my oldest is 12 - I feel like she's pretty much a second "adult" in the car now. She's old enough to babysit, so she's old enough for me to leave the kids in the car with her. I honestly didn't do it too much when the girls were younger - I was one of the "those moms" that could picture horrible things happening to her children if I were to leave them alone in the car - like, some car jacker would jump in the car and take off with them, or someone would slam into my parked car, or a swarm of bees would somehow make it into the car and sting them all -- I have an overactive imagination.
Someone I know told me it is illegal and that the kids have to be within your sight to be left in the car. It's made me wonder too because I've started doing it a bit more often now that mine is 7. He sometimes brings a book or his Leapster in the car. If I need a Sunday paper or milk, I see no reason he has to come in with me. I'd be interested to have someone in law enforcement answer.
I do it ONLY if I can park right at the door and my child is within sight the whole time. Usually it's at the gas station or 7-11, some kind of drive-up facility. I hate doing it, too, and always worry that I'll be called out for it.
Hey Mur. I used to only if I could see him within a leap and the doors locked, keys in MY hands! But then just recently in Australia a Mum did that and right in front of her eyes her car was broken into and stolen with her infant still asleep in car seat. I don't trust ANYONE not even for a second.
What is a bigger pain, getting your kids out (5) mins or never seeing them again! That's my two cents!
Thanks for all your feedback guys! Chances are slim that anything would happen, but the slim part is what scares me! I like my friend Hayley's M.O.--she calls the Starbucks ahead of time and tips the barista to bring her drinks out. :-)
Actually, I did just learn that it is illegal to leave any child under 8 yrs. old in the car....but just the same, I am often tempted....especially if I am just running in to the dry cleaners as how the heck are you to take all those clothes in and pick up all those clothes with a child in your arms?