FWIW, I do agree with you, Amraann... as long as you were not really saying it would be okay for her to be on drugs.
I was a single mom of one healthy toddler and even that was hard. My parents lived close by, but they had their jobs too which would have them travelling a lot, so they could not be there all the time. Friends lived far away, as well. I remember I would get exhausted and sometimes nap when she was awake and playing... I'd always
try to be awake but when you're exhausted, sometimes you can't stay awake no matter how hard you try.
However it always scared the heck out of me.... as soon as I'd wake up I'd be frantic until I knew she was alright. Which usually wasn't long (both the napping and the frantic part
), because I had child-proofed my house beyond belief and she couldn't get into anything.
So the part I understand is that I very well too could have ended up with poopy walls (what if she soiled her diaper and decided to investigate the contents? Yikes....) and a child eating spaghetti off the floor (plates would sometimes still be sitting at the dining table when I fell asleep, she surely could have knocked them on the ground and had another bite). If people would have walked in on me then, they'd have probably thought I was a bad mother. I think (hope?
) most parents probably went through a day or moment like this.
BUT what I do not understand in this case, is where she doesn't even seem concered about the fact that her little boy was found wandering near/on the highway. I'd have been kicking and screaming to be allowed to hug and hold my child, and would have been crying my eyes out. Exhaustion does not excuse her obvious lack of concern about the situation, or relief about having her son back safely -
any emotion, really.
I think people are not judging her home situation alone, but the totality of the picture - and even then I do not think most people on this thread have been harsh, as I have read many wishing the best to come from this, even for the mother. I hope this as well... because it does seem apparent that there is more going on than just exhaustion.
And I also do agree that there should be more help for families who do not have the resources of their own... I know I could have used some help, let alone parents with special needs children!
