If you’ve ever had a newborn infant, you know it’s not easy to get one to stay asleep. Babies can be fussy, and even when they do fall asleep, they might still be grumpy when they wake up. One mother was stuck in a tight situation: she needed to do her grocery shopping, but her baby was fast asleep in the back seat. What she did next got the world’s attention.
This mother was living in New Zealand with her young baby. While she was driving to the grocery store, her child was asleep in a car seat. She arrived at her destination – the parking lot of a Pak ‘n Save. The problem was, her baby was still sleeping. Should she wake her?
The mother scribbled out a note and left it on top of the pink blanket the baby was wrapped in. Then she went into the store, leaving strangers to find the message. The paper read: “My mum’s in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything.”
The little girl grabbed the attention of one couple, who would not go in the store until they knew that someone was looking out for the baby. It was 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and they were worried about how the child would fare in the increasing heat.
Two more people approached the car and discovered the situation. One called the mother and told her to come back to her child, and both of them waited at the car.
That’s when the image went viral. Radio DJ Polly Gillespie posted the picture on Facebook, and viewers were immediately outraged.
“I’m sorry this is completely irresponsible!” commented Cat Marie Horne. “You do not leave children under the age of 14 unsupervised at all. Why did she have time to write a note??”
Another Facebook user, Linda Gill, was much more sympathetic. “It’s not something I would have done,” she wrote, “but I choose not to come on here and condemn her.”
Parents or guardians who leave children under 14 years old alone can be charged up to $2,000, but police are unable to take action in this case because no one has provided them with a name, telephone number, or description of the car. “We would launch an investigation if we could, but no one has come forward,” a spokeswoman for the department explained.
Sue Campbell, the National Child Safety advisor, described the dangers of leaving a child alone like this. “Babies can dehydrate quickly and become very distressed. So for a newborn that’s one of the key issues. Plus there’s a security issue – a small baby is unable to defend itself if need be or call for help, or anything like that.”
Many commenters certainly have their opinions.
What do you think of the situation? Should the mother be charged?
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