Babies Left In Cars

We tend to assume that mothers and fathers have a bit of common sense and wouldn't deliberately put their children in danger but, even with all the publicity, parents are still leaving their children and dogs unattended in cars.  We hear most of the stories on hot days when the children or animals are spotted by passersby who take matters into their own hands and either call police or break into the car.  Rarely are their caring efforts appreciated by the offending parent who will rant and rave about how they were only gone a couple of minutes and even been thoughtful enough to leave a roof vent open.  Good grief!  They will argue with police and public and say everyone is over-reacting even though the child is sweating profusely and sobbing.  The children are never taken away and the parent is allowed to drive away with the helpless child.

Once when I was babysitting Tyson (Kyle and Aeron weren't born yet) I had to go back into the bank for something so I left Tyson locked in the car for what I knew would only be a couple of minutes.  It was still winter and cold outside but sunny.  I came back out to the car to see Tyson with a big smile on his face but sweating like crazy.  Even though it was cold outside, the sun had heated the car up quite a bit.  Tyson was in a snowsuit, too.  This would have been in 1987 when the world was a bit safer but I learned then to never, ever leave a child alone in the car.  The unexpected wasn't worth the moment saved.

I'm very happy that the public has started taking the situation into their own hands when they see children or animals in danger like this.  It almost makes up for the stupid and neglectful parents.