Moms Affiliate Banner

Friday, June 12, 2015

My Experience with a Baby That Got Out

Yesterday, my friend and I were driving through a neighborhood and saw a little girl, who was probably between 2-3 yrs old, walking in her front yard all alone. There were no adults or other children outside or near her. My friend and I thought it was odd. I remembered when my son, who was around the same age, opened the front door of a previous home we lived in and decided to walk down the road to play with another toddler who had escaped her home, too. We were asleep at the time, because it was around 5 a.m., and the other child's parents were still asleep too. I woke up to see my front door wide open and my baby gone! It was the scariest thing to experience. I immediately ran outside and screamed for my son. Luckily, we lived in the country, and he was easy to find. Unfortunately, this little girl lived in a busy neighborhood where there is a good bit of traffic. This baby was all alone and could have ran into the street or been picked up by a stranger. I stopped my car and told my friend that I didn't think anyone knew the baby was out there. She was in front of a specific house and the screen door to the porch was open, so I walked up to the baby and asked her if anyone knew she was outside. She just looked at me like she didn't understand what I said. I noticed that through the porch door was a door to the house, and it was cracked open, so I yelled asking if anyone was home. I yelled several time and then finally a lady comes running out yelling for her baby. The mom came out, and I told her that her baby was outside playing by herself, and that I had a toddler do the same thing and figured that no one knew she was outside. The mom was panicked and said she turned her back for one minute to go to the restroom and didn't realize her little girl went outside. I reminded the mother just how close I was to her daughter and how I could have easily kidnapped her and then I suggested that she put a top lock on her door. She pointed out that she already had one but had decided to leave it unlocked since she had a family member on her way over. The mom kept thanking me over and over and apologizing to me, although I told her she didn't need to apologize to me for anything. I was just being a concerned mother. Even if it's not YOUR child, it doesn't mean that you can't still protect the child. The old saying is that it takes a village to raise a child. Not only could that baby have gotten hit by a car or kidnapped, but she could have ended up at someone else's house and possibly molested or harmed. All of these horrible things COULD HAVE happened simply because this mom took one single short cut and ignored the one safety feature she already had in place for her baby! I could have also just kept driving and not stop to inquire about the child's safety. Some people would have felt like they were being nosy. You have to think though---what if it was YOUR child? Would you not want someone to help you protect your baby? I know I would! smile emoticon

No comments:

Post a Comment

If you are leaving a comment for a giveaway, please include an email to contact you if you are chosen as a winner. I will not contact anyone outside of an email address (i.e. on Twitter or Facebook). Thank you very much!