Baby

If you hate those "it takes a village to raise a child" kind of stories, you might not want to read this one. Wait! Come back! You're probably the person who really needs to read about the 9-month-old baby whose stroller was swept off a New York City subway platform. A stranger saved the little boy just before a train would have run him over.

You may not believe that moms can do it all by themselves. I'm glad there are guys like good Samaritan Delroy Simmonds who will jump into action when life gives us more than we can handle.

People commenting on the New York Post article about Simmonds' heroic actions seem to want this poor mother's head on a platter. How dare she not be holding tight to that stroller! How dare she not anticipate the wind gust that would come along and set the stroller rolling right onto the subway tracks.

But I feel for her. She had four kids to tend to, and she forgot to set the brake on her baby boy's stroller.

If you are going to tell me that you have always, without fail, set that stroller brake, I'm going to ask that you share whatever it is you are smoking ... because that must be some goooooood stuff.

OK. OK. Maybe it wasn't the stroller brake. Maybe it was your baby's favorite stuffed animal that fell in the store, and it took a kindly customer to notice and rescue that blessed bunny. Or you were out at the county fair, only to realize you had no sunblock to speak of, and some other mom out there had to lend you some of hers?

Parents may be kids' chief providers and the most important people in their lives, but it's all those good Samaritans out there, whether they're going as far as jumping in front of a train or just lending you a tube of sunblock, who help get our kids to adulthood. Thank goodness they're there.

When has a stranger helped you out with your kids?

Image via TheDanLevy/Flickr