Re: Parked kids
Pam Hartley
----------
the wee hours of the morning, if I could park close enough and they were
sleeping or wanted to stay in there playing.
I wouldn't be comfortable if the car was out of my sight.
It probably does have to do with living in LA. I live in a small town. I
take my car keys with me so car-jackers would get no joy there, plus
carjackers are about as common as lightning deaths here. I wouldn't leave
them while I went into a store (out of sight) but parked at the curb with me
15 feet away in the open air with other harmless whackos as a garage sale?
No problem.
Pam
>From: [email protected]I wouldn't hesitate to leave my girls in the car while at a garage sale in
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Digest Number 2529
>Date: Tue, Oct 22, 2002, 8:59 PM
>
> <<There was a woman dragging a screaming child (six or so) across the
> road to a garage sale one day with the kid saying "I'm sleepy, I dont
> want to go." and the mom insulting and threatening her. The mom COULD
> have parked at the curb in front of the house and left the girl in the
> car. The mom could have left the girl home, or stayed home with her,
> but the mom obviously thought her right to go to garage sales was
> greater than her child's right to sleep or sit safely in a car. >>
>
> YIKES!
>
> Maybe I'm paranoid because I live in a nasty big city (Los Angeles) but
> I would never leave my child alone in the car for an instant - even in
> the suburbs. Even right near me - it is too easy to get distracted by
> all the wonderful yard sale goodies. Too many carjackers and scary
> maniacs.
the wee hours of the morning, if I could park close enough and they were
sleeping or wanted to stay in there playing.
I wouldn't be comfortable if the car was out of my sight.
It probably does have to do with living in LA. I live in a small town. I
take my car keys with me so car-jackers would get no joy there, plus
carjackers are about as common as lightning deaths here. I wouldn't leave
them while I went into a store (out of sight) but parked at the curb with me
15 feet away in the open air with other harmless whackos as a garage sale?
No problem.
Pam
Mary Bianco
>From: Pam Hartley <pamhartley@...><<I wouldn't hesitate to leave my girls in the car while at a garage sale in
the wee hours of the morning, if I could park close enough and they were
sleeping or wanted to stay in there playing.
I wouldn't be comfortable if the car was out of my sight.
It probably does have to do with living in LA. I live in a small town. I
take my car keys with me so car-jackers would get no joy there, plus
carjackers are about as common as lightning deaths here. I wouldn't leave
them while I went into a store (out of sight) but parked at the curb with me
15 feet away in the open air with other harmless whackos as a garage sale?
No problem.>>
Well I don't live in a really small town but it's no where near LA. And I
don't do garage and yard sales but I would never feel comfortable leaving my
kids in a car, even 15 feet away with the car open and the windows up, no
matter how many people were around. If I'm stopping at a garage sale, I
would assume it's because I wanted to look at something and looking around
at stuff can't be watching my kids. And if the kids didn't want to come out,
then they wouldn't want to be there so I would take them home and not stop.
Mary B
_________________________________________________________________
Get faster connections�-- switch to�MSN Internet Access!
http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp
[email protected]
In a message dated 10/22/02 10:21:02 PM, pamhartley@... writes:
<< I wouldn't hesitate to leave my girls in the car while at a garage sale in
the wee hours of the morning, if I could park close enough and they were
sleeping or wanted to stay in there playing. >>
The garage sale stuff was laid out on the lawn, and the car would never have
been more than twenty feet from the mom. I was the only other buyer there.
It was early. It was on a residential street, not a busy road. She had
obviously woken the little girl up on a Saturday morning and said "GET IN THE
CAR," because the girl was still half asleep. I wish I had talked to her
instead of just THINKING to her.
<< I wouldn't hesitate to leave my girls in the car while at a garage sale in
the wee hours of the morning, if I could park close enough and they were
sleeping or wanted to stay in there playing. >>
The garage sale stuff was laid out on the lawn, and the car would never have
been more than twenty feet from the mom. I was the only other buyer there.
It was early. It was on a residential street, not a busy road. She had
obviously woken the little girl up on a Saturday morning and said "GET IN THE
CAR," because the girl was still half asleep. I wish I had talked to her
instead of just THINKING to her.
Pam Hartley
----------
was over-rating myself based on the replies!
When I go to park day with my girls, they are often 15, 25, 100 feet away
from me, running in the sprinkler, playing in the sandbox, etc. If they want
to go out of my line of sight I move so I can look across and see them, but
I don't stay "closer than 15 feet" even if I am partially distracted by
talking to the other moms.
Pam
>From: [email protected]I always thought I was the most watchful mother on the planet. <g> Clearly I
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Digest Number 2530
>Date: Wed, Oct 23, 2002, 2:05 AM
>
> <<I wouldn't hesitate to leave my girls in the car while at a garage sale in
> the wee hours of the morning, if I could park close enough and they were
> sleeping or wanted to stay in there playing.
> I wouldn't be comfortable if the car was out of my sight.
> It probably does have to do with living in LA. I live in a small town. I
> take my car keys with me so car-jackers would get no joy there, plus
> carjackers are about as common as lightning deaths here. I wouldn't leave
> them while I went into a store (out of sight) but parked at the curb with me
> 15 feet away in the open air with other harmless whackos as a garage sale?
> No problem.>>
>
>
>
> Well I don't live in a really small town but it's no where near LA. And I
> don't do garage and yard sales but I would never feel comfortable leaving my
> kids in a car, even 15 feet away with the car open and the windows up, no
> matter how many people were around. If I'm stopping at a garage sale, I
> would assume it's because I wanted to look at something and looking around
> at stuff can't be watching my kids. And if the kids didn't want to come out,
> then they wouldn't want to be there so I would take them home and not stop.
was over-rating myself based on the replies!
When I go to park day with my girls, they are often 15, 25, 100 feet away
from me, running in the sprinkler, playing in the sandbox, etc. If they want
to go out of my line of sight I move so I can look across and see them, but
I don't stay "closer than 15 feet" even if I am partially distracted by
talking to the other moms.
Pam
Mary Bianco
>From: Pam Hartley <pamhartley@...><<I always thought I was the most watchful mother on the planet. <g> Clearly
I was over-rating myself based on the replies!
When I go to park day with my girls, they are often 15, 25, 100 feet away
from me, running in the sprinkler, playing in the sandbox, etc. If they want
to go out of my line of sight I move so I can look across and see them, but
I don't stay "closer than 15 feet" even if I am partially distracted by
talking to the other moms.>>
I always have my kids in sight. And usually going out, like at a store or
something, where I want to look, I'll take a pair of eyes with me. My
husband, oldest daughter or mom will come along. Way too many kids get
scooped up in just a matter of a minute. And to be honest, I don't trust my
kids at this age to be level headed enough to know exactly what to do if
something happened. As much as we have talked to them, my 7 year old would
still probably want to "help" someone find their dog if they lost it. I'm
just not comfortable enough to not have them in sight at all times. Even at
the playground, I look for their heads and dress them in colors that are
easy enough for me to pick out. Even have bright orange bathing suits for
them both when we went to the water park!!! I see kids running around all
the time with no parent in sight and it makes me sad. Not saying anyone was
talking about something that extrmeme here. I guess if I'm a little more
wary, I'm okay with that. As long as I let the kids have fun and not keep
them in the house all day!!!!
Mary B
_________________________________________________________________
Unlimited Internet access for only $21.95/month.� Try MSN!
http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp
kayb85
At what age would you feel comfortable letting a child in the car
alone?
Why wouldn't you feel comfortable leaving your kids 15 feet away?
What if the car was locked, the air conditioning or heat was on
(depending on the weather), and the children were instructed to not
unlock for anyone but you?
Didn't John Holt advocate allowing children home alone, or out
walking to the library alone, at very young ages?
I know a lady who was reported for leaving her child in the car alone
while she made a quick run into the store. I think the oldest was
10. I think she was able to get rid of CYS after the first visit,
but it was still very stressful for her.
Sometimes you have to make decisions not based on what you think is
ok for your kids but based on what nosy people might or might not
report.
Sheila
alone?
Why wouldn't you feel comfortable leaving your kids 15 feet away?
What if the car was locked, the air conditioning or heat was on
(depending on the weather), and the children were instructed to not
unlock for anyone but you?
Didn't John Holt advocate allowing children home alone, or out
walking to the library alone, at very young ages?
I know a lady who was reported for leaving her child in the car alone
while she made a quick run into the store. I think the oldest was
10. I think she was able to get rid of CYS after the first visit,
but it was still very stressful for her.
Sometimes you have to make decisions not based on what you think is
ok for your kids but based on what nosy people might or might not
report.
Sheila
> Well I don't live in a really small town but it's no where near LA.And I
> don't do garage and yard sales but I would never feel comfortableleaving my
> kids in a car, even 15 feet away with the car open and the windowsup, no
> matter how many people were around. If I'm stopping at a garagesale, I
> would assume it's because I wanted to look at something and lookingaround
> at stuff can't be watching my kids. And if the kids didn't want tocome out,
> then they wouldn't want to be there so I would take them home andnot stop.
>
> Mary B
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get faster connections -- switch to MSN Internet Access!
> http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp
Robyn Coburn
<<At what age would you feel comfortable letting a child in the car
alone?....
Didn't John Holt advocate allowing children home alone, or out
walking to the library alone, at very young ages?....
I know a lady who was reported for leaving her child in the car alone
while she made a quick run into the store......
Sometimes you have to make decisions not based on what you think is
ok for your kids but based on what nosy people might or might not
report.>>
Although I think the age would vary depending on the maturity of the
individual, as a general rule I think it is a bad idea.
There have been so many reports of babies and youngsters dying after
being left in cars for hours, that I think well meaning passers-by may
call the law just to be on the safe side.
I'll never forget the Oprah show where the mother ran into the store
literally parked at the door, and an opportunistic parolee drove off
with her boy in the back. She tried to pull her son out and he was
killed in the process when the driver just would not stop.
It is not "us" or our kids that we should be distrusting, but criminals
out there. As another poster mentioned, they can break into a car in 5
seconds. Then there are the people who want the kid not the car.
As for John Holt, he was writing some of that a long time ago. I don't
know whether the world was a safer place for kids, especially small
towns, or whether it was just the perception that the world was safer,
but I think time alone does not have to be in a public environment.
Recently here in Torrance (15 mins from me) a molester has been
targeting 12 year olds walking home alone from school.
This website made me think
http://www.escapeschool.com/
Robyn Coburn
alone?....
Didn't John Holt advocate allowing children home alone, or out
walking to the library alone, at very young ages?....
I know a lady who was reported for leaving her child in the car alone
while she made a quick run into the store......
Sometimes you have to make decisions not based on what you think is
ok for your kids but based on what nosy people might or might not
report.>>
Although I think the age would vary depending on the maturity of the
individual, as a general rule I think it is a bad idea.
There have been so many reports of babies and youngsters dying after
being left in cars for hours, that I think well meaning passers-by may
call the law just to be on the safe side.
I'll never forget the Oprah show where the mother ran into the store
literally parked at the door, and an opportunistic parolee drove off
with her boy in the back. She tried to pull her son out and he was
killed in the process when the driver just would not stop.
It is not "us" or our kids that we should be distrusting, but criminals
out there. As another poster mentioned, they can break into a car in 5
seconds. Then there are the people who want the kid not the car.
As for John Holt, he was writing some of that a long time ago. I don't
know whether the world was a safer place for kids, especially small
towns, or whether it was just the perception that the world was safer,
but I think time alone does not have to be in a public environment.
Recently here in Torrance (15 mins from me) a molester has been
targeting 12 year olds walking home alone from school.
This website made me think
http://www.escapeschool.com/
Robyn Coburn