Our family BFF's live in an apt and we frequently go to her pool. In fact I'm pretty sure that people think we actually live there, we are there so much. So the other day I get there with my boys and Elisa is coming in behind me by just about a minute. Before I got to the gate I saw this little girl (maybe 3 at tops) coming out of the gate my herself. Hmmm, my Mommy radar was instantly activated. I stood there for a minute as her younger, yes younger, sister now joined her. They got into their little cars, that were waiting for them and they just played by the gate. So this lady is sitting there and I asked her if she knew who their mom was (as I'm staying half in and half out of the gate) nope, she's not sure. We exchanged a couple looks and were both trying to piece the situation together.
Fast forward about 90 seconds while I get distracted by my very own little people...now I'm back to focus on the ones who aren't mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I see traffic completely stopped and a lady getting out of her car (on 97th in Happy Valley...you know that isn't a slow street!!) My heart jumps cause I know exactly why they are stopped. Thank you Jesus that they were getting the kids out of the street instead of calling 911 reporting them getting run over. I instantly start heading to the street as they are yelling to me if they are mine. "Nope but I'm coming to get them!"
While I'm heading towards the street a man, who is laying by the pool, hollers out that there is a kid in the street and who does she belong to? Keep in mind she is no older than 3! Elisa comes to the gate to head down the street to get the girl...I'm already getting her and pulling her sister, who is in her car, back up the side walk.
The guy who saw this comes out of the gate and as I see him I hear yelling, no it was more like screaming someone's name. I turn around and a lady is in her car, stopped, yelling to the children. Guess we found the mother. I ask her who she is yelling at and she tells me the little girl. "Um, your children were just in the middle of the street!!!" She says yes I know, don't move from there! Hmm ok.
(In comes the 6 year old boy) While mommy parks her car a little boy comes out of the pool area and starts yelling at the little girls that they weren't supposed to leave the pool. "Who is in charge? Who are you here with?" I ask him. 'I am watching them and they left the pool. It's my fault they got out'. "Um no, you are much too young to be responsible for these girls" "No, I'm 61/2" he says....
Mom walks up right then and the guy who saw them is waiting for her...he lays into her as soon as she grabs the little boys arm. He let her have it! I was having a really hard time going between wanting to call the cops on her and feeling her pain if her kids got out of her sight. Which is what she said...she went inside to get the phone and then they were gone.
Well compassion won and after the guy left I told her that I was sorry that he yelled at her (he did say some pretty mean things) but she had to understand the severity of what just happened.
After she left I remembered that I asked the little girl where her mom was as she was leaving the gate alone, 'at the store'...then I'm thinking you drove up but you said you live right there...where were you coming from?? And that little boy was soaking wet...how long was he there??
Well it's over now and I went with option B, trust that she was a good mom who went into answer the phone. I can only pray that I made the right choice and that those babies are protected and loved.
(I need to start a label called 'Raising other people's children'...haha I crack myself up! It would be a pretty full label though, no lie :))
Oh. My. Word!!!! I've actually had to call the management office a few times to report unsupervised kids... but never that young!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad you went with compassion. She (hopefully) feels horrible enough without adding on anything else to it and kindness will often make more of an impact than being judgemental. And she is VERY lucky you were there!
ReplyDeleteI agree Katie. Compassion over judgement is better. I'm just not sure why she came up in her car when she lived "right there" and why her kid told me her mom was at the store. But we all know kids done always tell the correct details :)
ReplyDeleteI think the part where I started giving her the benefit of the doubt was when her little boy yelled at the man who was yelling at her and she quickly told him to stop and he was never allowed to speak disrespectfully to an adult.
William unlocked our front door one night when I was in bed (Joel was gone) when he was 4 and got all the way out of our cul-de-sac and on to a busy street (with no street lights.) He was brought INTO my home by a guardian angel who had seen him walking (with flipflops and no pants, of course) and knocked on doors until she found us. If they really did just get away from her, it's TERRIFYING, even after the fact.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Betsy! How scary! I want to cry for you just thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteThe hard thing for me in these situations is that I grew up in a house that did foster care for 10 years. So at a very young age I became very aware that there really are people who are neglecting their kids. My mommy heart would automatically feel for the mom in this situation, but the vision of a naked baby being brought to my house with only a blanket, or the sibling of my brothers that died because the parents left it alone in a hotel room ring in the back of my mind. I will most likely always be at war with myself in these situations. I want to give mothers the benefit of the doubt, and I want to make sure that children are safe. :(