single Mom Leaves Kids in Food Court to Go on Interview Nearby, Gets Arrested for Abandoning Them

a reply to: alienjuggalo

You're right, she could've done all that.

Or forked out $20 for a sitter.

Or asked a family member to watch them.

Or asked a friend to watch them.

Or asked to sit at the next table.

Or any number of other things that don't include leaving a two year old in the "care" of a six year old while their parent is "only" 30 yards away engaged in a conversation with somebody. "Only" 30 yards? Super that's "only" a 30 yard head start for a predator. Or "only" 30 yards to cross in the event of an emergency. Had her child been kidnapped I'm confident she would be getting slated for leaving them at a table in the food court while she went for a job interview.

a reply to: Nyiah

I don't think those scenarios are comparable. I have seen the play areas you are talking about. The ones I have seen in the big malls are corralled in and have people watching out for the children. Hopefully with a system to sort out who's kid is who's.

This situation sounds like she just left them at a table in the food court unattended.

Personally if I had kids, I wouldn't leave them in either spot, but especially not the food court with walk-through traffic.

I decided not to have kids until I can afford to properly feed, shelter and care for them and give them the life they need and deserve.

I understand life happens, but generally not if your are responsible with your reproduction devices.

I think each mall should have a day care. It would only take one store, they could charge and have a choke point at the doorway to ensure security for the kids. It would probably be an awesome business venture for someone.

Cheap hourly sitting, while shoppers do their shopping or job hunting.

Why are so many people assuming this is a single mother who is on welfare and had willy nillied her birth control by having two children? Seriously? She very easily could have been a stay at home mom, recently separated/divorced. Husband left, and no child support...just desperately seeking a means to support her family! As far as having friends, family or neighbors watch her children at the last minute...that is rediculously presumptuous! Unfortunately, most friends, family and neighbors are all working to get by in this economy! Or the fact, that not everyone necessarily has family or neighbors that they would trust!

I will add, I am glad that someone had concern for the children, and it is obvious the police once called in, had to follow through to cover their *sses, so can't blame them for arresting her either.

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: Asktheanimals

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
a reply to: reldra

I don't care if your house is burning down.
You don't leave young children unattended.
Read carefully where it says "when she returned"
You can only return if you "left"
Therefore she "left" her kids.

In a food court , from 30 feet away. I can return from the door to the room I am in, I am still returning.

That's great but she said she was "30 yards".
That's 1/3 of a football field.
Ever been in a mall where you go 30 yards without several kiosks, planters, staircases, advertisements getting in the way not to mention all the people milling about.
No way you could be watching 2 children sitting unobstructed unless you were above them on a balcony.
This is just a bad try at a sympathy story where the mother made a mistake in leaving her kids.

I actually don't think she made a mistake. The Galleria in my area doesn't have planters and garbage cans willy nilly, they are usually in lines at intervals. I could sit in the center of the food court and see the food establishment across clearly and I am nearsighted.

The court agreed, kids released to her. Again, if I saw something like that, and was concerned, I might walk by and say "where's mommy?" The 6 yr old would point at her. Case closed.

By her own confession she "Left" the kids only to "return" and cops are there.
She ADMITS leaving them unattended but you refuse to even call that a mistake.
I give up.
I'm going to take a wild guess and say you've never had children.
They don't need predators to disappear, kids love to do that naturally.
Expecting a 6 and a 2 year old to sit and stay at a table after they've eaten for 15 -20 minutes (how long is an interview?) is an exercise in futility. At that age they will not "stay" on command like some well-trained dog.
Her case has not been decided so no "case closed".

originally posted by: queenofswords
Wouldn't it have been nice if there was a program in place where someone required to do volunteer work to earn a portion of their welfare could volunteer to babysit for others who are trying to find work?

In our town there are at least three churches that run daycare centers. They provide free daycare (up to 4 hours) for people needing to go to job interviews. Unless they are running at capacity, they even take drop-ins. Even if they are running full, they usually have people they can call who will care for the children.
Social services has pamphlets with the info printed up about how to take advantage of this service.

a reply to: alienjuggalo

After reading the replies I am a little disappointed.

What happened to Empathy, Forgiveness, and Judge not.

She did the best she could imagine. Maybe some of you would have done things different, and maybe the police should have informed her of the other options she might have.

But why are we condemning a women who was obviously trying to improve her life for herself and her children?

a reply to: alienjuggalo

Thirty yards away is a long distance. By the time she could get there, someone could split with one or both of them. A crowd passing between hr and them, and it would be that much easier. I am not a fan of state interference, by any means, and I applaud her for trying to get a job to support her family, but this was a mistake. I wouldn't call it "abandonment", but it was careless. Maybe she didn't realize how much so. A warning would suffice.

Now, some serious questions.

Was it thirty yards, or thirty feet? The video says "feet". At thirty feet, she should have been able to respond if the kids were crying. If she didn't, then she wasn't close enough. Did she notice that the cps showed up, before they arrested her? Did she approach, seeing them, and get arrested, or did they have to hunt for her?

In any case, kids of six and two aren't old enough, these days, to be that far away from a parent in a crowded public place.

well crowds,shopping centers.....yeah both the 2 and 6 year old needed to be right next to mum or dad,the 6 year cannot look after him/herself let alone the 2 year old....bad move...i am not sure charges are appropriate perhaps a big kick up the ass and a reality check .....

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
well crowds,shopping centers.....yeah both the 2 and 6 year old needed to be right next to mum or dad,the 6 year cannot look after him/herself let alone the 2 year old....bad move...i am not sure charges are appropriate perhaps a big kick up the ass and a reality check .....

Yes, I'd say she's suffered far greater punishment than the error she made.
Part of being a parent is learning that sometimes, despite the fact that you're doing the best you know how, you make mistakes. Most of us don't suffer this type of humiliation and public scorn for our mistakes.
How many times have you who are parents had a close call---something that could have gone south soooo easily? You know, that time you fell to your knees and thanked whatever powers that your error didn't cost your child's health or life?

a reply to: diggindirt

I am as guilty as i am sure most of us are,as kids we scorn our parents for not knowing better,as parents we realize there is no handbook,every kid is different and just to add insult to injury we find out our parents actually knew way more than we could have imagined...

I will keep it simple i was in a shopping center with my son and his mother,we had a minor disagreement and in our deliberation the boy who was 2 at the time wandered off,we found him in the middle of the courtyard near the fountain,quite a way away....lets just say those few minutes were some of the scariest minutes of my life...

a reply to: diggindirt

How many times have you who are parents had a close call---something that could have gone south soooo easily? You know, that time you fell to your knees and thanked whatever powers that your error didn't cost your child's health or life?

16 years ago my daughter was six . She was about 30 yards away . Then something happened that stays with me to this day , i wont go into it . She was 2-3 seconds away from being badly hurt in a place where that should not have happened . 30 yards , 3 seconds , i am not Usain Bolt and could not cover the distance . I found god for a while there and luckily she has no long term disabilities . But 30 yards is to much , believe me .

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: Urantia1111
Get job first, THEN get pregnant twice. She's got those all out of order. There was no one she could have gotten to watch these kids?

Apparently not. Thanks for your logic lesson, but it fails. Maybe she was married befiore. Maybe a contraceptive failed. Maybe she had a business that failed.

You certainly assume a lot, and not in a nice way.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. ...

That certainly is a lot of excuses for someone who was being irresponsible.

funny thing is though, I would bet that there are times at home when most moms are paying less attention to their kids than this women was. and well crap can happen when you're cooking supper in the kitchen while your kids are supposedly watching tv in the other room or sleeping in there bed. tell me oh wise ones, when could a single mom take a shower without leaving their 2 year old unattended?
there was a time when the mom would be expected to be making candles, sewing, cooking , baking bread, hand washing the clothes, tending the garden, and on and on. I am pretty sure there were plenty of times when their kids didn't have their undivided attention! either that or there was alot of houses burning down
when the wax was left unattended!

originally posted by: Urantia1111
Get job first, THEN get pregnant twice. She's got those all out of order. There was no one she could have gotten to watch these kids?

Maybe she should have gotten pregnant a third time, then sold the baby parts for cash to afford a sitter?

It doesn't matter what order she did things in, you can't expect a person to both work to support their family and look after their kids full time.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: alienjuggalo

You're right, she could've done all that.

Or forked out $20 for a sitter.

Or asked a family member to watch them.

Or asked a friend to watch them.

Or asked to sit at the next table.

Or any number of other things that don't include leaving a two year old in the "care" of a six year old while their parent is "only" 30 yards away engaged in a conversation with somebody. "Only" 30 yards? Super that's "only" a 30 yard head start for a predator. Or "only" 30 yards to cross in the event of an emergency. Had her child been kidnapped I'm confident she would be getting slated for leaving them at a table in the food court while she went for a job interview.

Those are the risks you take when you're poor. No one to watch your kids, and no money to pay a sitter. If you're poor you're in much greater danger every day, she probably lives in a higher crime area in her city too, which makes her home potentially unsafe.

Atleast they were in a public mall.

3 Thoughts:

1) Kids have disappeared and turned up dead with the parents far closer than 30 yards... If you can't see them constantly sad shiz can happen.

2) When I was 6 (1st grade right?) I was, at times, miles from from any adult I knew.

3) America has changed...

a reply to: Aazadan

That's a whole lot of assumptions to make about her and her situation.

Turns out she had only recently moved to the Houston area and is attending college. And accepted the interview "last minute" without trying to secure child care before accepting it. Then decided to go use food as a babysitter.

Do poor people move to attend college? The poor people I run across don't have the money to move, let alone move and attend college.

Please tell me this is a satire article. Like from the Onion or something.

Seriously? 30 yards?

I mean holy crap my own mother left 8 year old me in the car for an HOUR to do a job interview for a school. We truly do live in a different time. Was she stupid for bringing her kids to an interview? Yup. But maybe she didn't have any other choice. I really hope her arrest doesn't go anywhere. Seriously. Just a mom trying to do right and be a contributing member of society gets ARRESTED and might get her kids taken away because she TRIED to capture a small part of the American dream.

Jesus.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Aazadan

That's a whole lot of assumptions to make about her and her situation.

Turns out she had only recently moved to the Houston area and is attending college. And accepted the interview "last minute" without trying to secure child care before accepting it. Then decided to go use food as a babysitter.

Do poor people move to attend college? The poor people I run across don't have the money to move, let alone move and attend college.

Poor people get financial aid.. Most of the other sources I am seeing are saying it was only 30 feet not yards. But you can be 30 yards from your kid in your own house.

30 yards is literally about 40 steps 40 effin steps. You have never been 40 steps from your kids? Was your parents ever 40 steps from you? If they were should they be arrested?

originally posted by: Asktheanimals

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
a reply to: reldra

I don't care if your house is burning down.
You don't leave young children unattended.
Read carefully where it says "when she returned"
You can only return if you "left"
Therefore she "left" her kids.

In a food court , from 30 feet away. I can return from the door to the room I am in, I am still returning.

That's great but she said she was "30 yards".
That's 1/3 of a football field.
Ever been in a mall where you go 30 yards without several kiosks, planters, staircases, advertisements getting in the way not to mention all the people milling about.
No way you could be watching 2 children sitting unobstructed unless you were above them on a balcony.
This is just a bad try at a sympathy story where the mother made a mistake in leaving her kids.

30 yards is only 1/4th of a football field, you cant forget the endzones you guys are making it sound like 30 yards is a long way , its the distance from home to first, guys run it in 3 seconds lmao

a reply to: alienjuggalo

And there's an enormous difference between 30 yards in one's house and 30 yards in a mall in the middle of the day.

Ignoring that is just plain ignorant.

As for your "home to first" comment: Billy Hamilton of the Reds made it from home to first in 3.3 seconds and word is that's probably a record. Mickey Mantle supposedly did it in 3.1. So yea, professional athletes who are laying down drag bunts and know what they're doing before they do it can't run 30 yards in 3 seconds. You wanna try that again when it comes to a mother in an interview in the middle of a mall?