I am Caught Being a Neglectful Mother
I guess I should elaborate on what happened yesterday, and be competely honest with myself.
Yesterday was early dismissal day, so the kids got out of school at 1:15 and had the entire afternoon to run around and play. I was trying to work on Hannah's Halloween costume which I had started while they were still at school, and wasn't paying much attention to what the kids were doing once they had their homework done. I think that is where the trouble began. It was raining off and on all afternoon, and at one point Josh asked me if he could play outside in the rain. I told him "sure" because all summer, that is something they have been doing when it rains. They have a blast. I didn't consider that it was a lot colder today than it had been way back when it used to be summer. (Okay. It was the second day of Autumn. I just wasn't used to it yet.) I think I was vaguely aware that Peter went out as well, not remembering that I had removed his shoes when we got home from picking up the kids because he had fallen asleep in the car and I hoped he would continue his nap. I thought that Hannah went outside as well, because I heard her saying something about her umbrella. A while later, most of the kids were inside and started a movie. I assumed they had all come in. I was wrong.
A little after 4:30pm (they movie had only been running about 10 minutes) there was a knock on the door. I glanced over and saw two police officers standing at the door. I couldn't see him from my angle, but I knew in an instant that Peter was out there with them. And I was right. He was standing there grinning at me, wearing his thick coat, but barefoot. They told me that they found him on the corner (Remember that we live on a street corner, but that our condo faces the rear of the building, so the corner is on the opposite side of the house from our front door.) Apparently he was in the street... I don't know if he was in the middle of the street or just playing in the gutter, which is more likely. At any rate, the officers thought his hands and feet were swollen from the cold and called the paramedics to come down from the fire station down the street. So we had police, paramedics, and a fire truck at our house for a little while. The paramedics only stayed about 30seconds. By the time they got here I had changed Peter out of his wet pants and was rubbing his feet and hands with a towel to warm them up. There was no need for them to do anything. The police stayed long enough to get names and birth dates for everyone in the family, check to see that there was food in the pantry and fridge (there was plenty) and assure me I wasn't being arrested or anything, but that they were reporting the incident to Social Services. That should be the end of it unless there is another occurrence within the next couple of years.
What have I learned from this? I am neglectful of my children sometimes. I wasn't paying very close attention to what they were doing because I was working on my own project. I shouldn't let my younger children play outside unsupervised. I guess I figured that since there are a lot of kids that play outside in our neighborhood and they have the green belt to play in where they are safe from cars, that it was OK for them to play outside. I shouldn't trust that they will stay where I think they will. I apparently haven't taught Peter well enough to stay out of the street. Since the weather is getting colder, I need to make sure my children are wearing shoes when they go outside. I shouldn't trust that my children will come in on their own when they get cold. The entire situation was embarrassing. Obviously I should have been keeping better tabs on my kids. But at the same time, I kind of think the police were over-reacting. I don't think there was any reason to call the paramedics for cold feet. I'm glad Peter was brought home before he was hit by a car or anything really bad happened, but did they really have to report me to social services? Am I really such a danger to my kids? I guess so. At least this experience has opened my eyes to the danger I pose so I can be more watchful against it.
Yesterday was early dismissal day, so the kids got out of school at 1:15 and had the entire afternoon to run around and play. I was trying to work on Hannah's Halloween costume which I had started while they were still at school, and wasn't paying much attention to what the kids were doing once they had their homework done. I think that is where the trouble began. It was raining off and on all afternoon, and at one point Josh asked me if he could play outside in the rain. I told him "sure" because all summer, that is something they have been doing when it rains. They have a blast. I didn't consider that it was a lot colder today than it had been way back when it used to be summer. (Okay. It was the second day of Autumn. I just wasn't used to it yet.) I think I was vaguely aware that Peter went out as well, not remembering that I had removed his shoes when we got home from picking up the kids because he had fallen asleep in the car and I hoped he would continue his nap. I thought that Hannah went outside as well, because I heard her saying something about her umbrella. A while later, most of the kids were inside and started a movie. I assumed they had all come in. I was wrong.
A little after 4:30pm (they movie had only been running about 10 minutes) there was a knock on the door. I glanced over and saw two police officers standing at the door. I couldn't see him from my angle, but I knew in an instant that Peter was out there with them. And I was right. He was standing there grinning at me, wearing his thick coat, but barefoot. They told me that they found him on the corner (Remember that we live on a street corner, but that our condo faces the rear of the building, so the corner is on the opposite side of the house from our front door.) Apparently he was in the street... I don't know if he was in the middle of the street or just playing in the gutter, which is more likely. At any rate, the officers thought his hands and feet were swollen from the cold and called the paramedics to come down from the fire station down the street. So we had police, paramedics, and a fire truck at our house for a little while. The paramedics only stayed about 30seconds. By the time they got here I had changed Peter out of his wet pants and was rubbing his feet and hands with a towel to warm them up. There was no need for them to do anything. The police stayed long enough to get names and birth dates for everyone in the family, check to see that there was food in the pantry and fridge (there was plenty) and assure me I wasn't being arrested or anything, but that they were reporting the incident to Social Services. That should be the end of it unless there is another occurrence within the next couple of years.
What have I learned from this? I am neglectful of my children sometimes. I wasn't paying very close attention to what they were doing because I was working on my own project. I shouldn't let my younger children play outside unsupervised. I guess I figured that since there are a lot of kids that play outside in our neighborhood and they have the green belt to play in where they are safe from cars, that it was OK for them to play outside. I shouldn't trust that they will stay where I think they will. I apparently haven't taught Peter well enough to stay out of the street. Since the weather is getting colder, I need to make sure my children are wearing shoes when they go outside. I shouldn't trust that my children will come in on their own when they get cold. The entire situation was embarrassing. Obviously I should have been keeping better tabs on my kids. But at the same time, I kind of think the police were over-reacting. I don't think there was any reason to call the paramedics for cold feet. I'm glad Peter was brought home before he was hit by a car or anything really bad happened, but did they really have to report me to social services? Am I really such a danger to my kids? I guess so. At least this experience has opened my eyes to the danger I pose so I can be more watchful against it.
You are not a danger to your kids! Sometimes things happen that sure, we might have been able to prevent but we can't predict everything! Kids make the oddest choices some days. HUGS! I am glad he is safe and I hope nothing else happens.
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