A mom in Massachusetts who left her baby outside of a restaurant in a stroller while she dined inside was being investigated by the authorities on Monday. Her defense? She's Swedish. And guess what else? She is right.
In Scandinavia it's perfectly normal to leave your baby outside. While she wasn't in Sweden, she was in Amherst, Massachusetts, where, perhaps, we're the ones who need to adjust. The fact is, we parents in the US do tend to be the hover-y, overly concerned types. We would sooner wake a sleeping baby and drag him screaming into a restaurant than let him sleep outside. That is just our culture.
It's sad, really. I would never even think to leave my child outside anywhere, even in my own neighborhood. And the reason is fear.
Our culture is so full of fear that if I lose sight of my little blond son for three seconds out in public, panic sets in. Even if I see him on the fifth second, those two seconds in between feel like an eternity.
I am always waiting for the bogeyman to jump out of the bushes. If I could put my kids in a helmet and knee pads and not feel like a complete moron, you better believe I would.
A similar case won a Danish mom more than $60,000 in compensatory damages from New York City after she was arrested for leaving her baby daughter in a stroller on a New York City sidewalk to go inside a restaurant for a drink.
We US parents wouldn't dream of such a thing. In New York City no less! But realistically, our notions of the dangers are hyped up thanks to overactive imaginations and a 24-hour news cycle that seems to feature only the many horrors that befall children all over the country.
Our sense of danger is all out of whack in this culture, and we will see as the comments roll in just how. My bet is that 99 percent of you will see this mom as wrong. You will say you would never do it yourself. And you know what? I wouldn't either. But that doesn't mean she is wrong. We are. And it's sad.
Do you think this mom was wrong?
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Comments 330
Crazy thing is, in Germany (not Scandanavia, I know and years ago, in 1996) almost everyone brought their dogs into restaurants. Irony?
I don't know that I would say she is completely wrong. For doing it in the US I think she's a little crazy, but ultimately I need to know more about Scandavia and how things are done there to really say one way or the other. Would I do that anywhere? No way!
My fear of what could happen comes from reality, not the media. I was 12 years old when Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered, we went to the same school and I was her tutor. And the neighborhood I live in is not the friendliest. Kids play in the streets at all hours of the night, people drive fast down the street, and drunks and druggies wander aimlessly down the block on a regular basis. You're right, I am scared for my kids. This is America, the land that has lost its way and became so selfish and self-absorbed, real values no longer exist and its not safe to do anything here anymore.
Anything could happen, anything, what kind of a culture would leave a child unattended outside, I mean if you can see the child through the window it would still be wrong but not so wrong, anybody could just walk up and take the baby for only God knows what reason. And it happens. Children are abducted every day in this country and other countries too. It's WRONG!
I would not, especially not in a foreign country. I've lived in a very small town, and I'll admit, I've run into a gas station that I can park with the E-brake on; right next to huge glass front doors and run inside to grab milk. I've done that. But never left them in public out of eye sight. I can't imagine how much anxiety that would cause me. That's like playing kinap roulette with your child. We don't do it because the risk far outweighs the benefit.
It's irresponsible and shows that the Mother is an un-caring one about the safety of her child. If I am starving and my child is asleep, I carried him in a sling inside the restaurant with me or held him. If I were concerned with waking him, I went through a drive-through if I was that intent on not cooking my own lunch. Seriously...even if it was a safe place to leave her child...there are such things like stray dogs, animals,and let's face it...most of convicted sex-offenders are walking the STREETS to do it again and again...not in our jails, unfortunately.I would NEVER take a chance with my beloved child. It's simply not a culture issue...it's clearly a common-sense issue.
I feel if she was in her home country, which probably has a MUCH lower crime rate than ours it would be fine. But our country is full of pedophiles and psychos that would steal a baby to be a pervert.
What was the reason for leaving the child outside? Just becuase you can, I'm not sure if that's a good enough reason to do it. Plus different places are safer than others. Just becuase in my neigherhood it's safe doesn't mean in Mass. it's safe. So yes I think she shoudln't be in trouble for child neglict.