Yesterday, at a shopping center in Miami, yet another baby was forgotten in an automobile, and died tragically. The mother worked there and simply drove to work, got out, and never thought of the baby again for 6 hours. The temperature in the car is thought to have gotten up to about 130 degrees. How very tragic...
I'm sure she will never be the same. While the news didn't show her on camera, you could hear her wails of anguish, someplace just off camera. It was heartwrenching.
While some might question this mother's ability to parent, I immediately thought of something else. Suppose the woman was simply sleep deprived, working around the clock to pay her bills. Suppose she's short on rent this month, and consumed with thoughts of homelessness. While I have no idea if this was indeed the case, it is certainly a possibility.
I'm just not sure if I'm in a position to judge her, especially as she plans a funeral for her toddler. I'll reserve judgement until all the facts have come to light.
Your comments--priceless!
At first thought, it's very easy to point a finger at this woman and cite irresponsibility, bad parenting, or something of that sort. But, for those of us who have had deeply troubling experiences with our kids, and us who have felt the pain of coming "this close" to losing them, we tend to look at the world in a completely different light. It would, in my opinion, be almost as irresponsible to judge her as it was for her to leave her baby in a hot car. I cannot begin to imagine the depth of her sorrow, anguish and guilt. All I can do is pray for her, not with judgement, but with sorrow in my heart for her loss.
My heart also goes out to the mother, living in CA we have several of these cases every year also. Your first reaction is how could they have left that child in the car. But then the reality is what was on the mind of the person? In life we only see the shell of the being and what is really going on inside the shell we may or may not ever know. My prayers goes out to this family. And I think unless you are walking in the shoes of this person - judgement should not be made.
We are so very quick to judge others, often without all the facts. I think the horror of knowing what that child went through probably causes folks to do the knee jerk reaction. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child but i also wonder why no one noticed a baby in a car unattended for so many hours. Did someone see this child and do nothing? It is hard to wrap my mind around tragedy like this. Praying for this family.