Alleykins
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- Feb 28, 2016
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This case has boggled my mind from day one, but it hits something home for me. Being the last person to have kids out of all my siblings, I learned to never, ever to expect a room full of adults to keep an eye open for your kid unless you appoint someone to the task. I saw all too often one of my nieces or nephews either get hurt or go get into some mischief because either my sisters or brother assumed that just because there were other adults around, they could go off and do something else and by osmosis, the remaining adults would just keep an eye on their kids. Wrong! Here's a list of things that happened in my family due to that assumption:
1. My oldest niece (2 at the time) was found playing in a ditch in front of my mom's apartment in one of the worst neighborhoods in town. She had been left alone for goodness knows how long because my sister took off to the store and didn't tell anyone, and the rest of us were moving my mom to her new house and we took off, thinking my niece was with her mum.
2. One niece (6 months)fell off the sideboard from her carseat because my brother went to go do something and just left her there. He assumed that because my sister was cooking two feet away that she would just automatically watch her. Nope, she was paying attention to the food and had no idea my brother had left the room.
3. One nephew (2 years) wandered out into the road because my sister was on the computer in another room and the other adults were watching a movie.
5. One nephew (3 years) decided to go visit his girlfriend who worked at the IGA two blocks away while we were helping his mother pack to move. He ran into his 8 year old sister who left him there, she stating it wasn't her turn to watch him.
4. We almost lost all the nieces and nephews because the adults were inside our camp playing cards and all the kids decided to go for a canoe ride-without a paddle and life jackets. Yep, there were six of them, under ten, crammed into a canoe, way out over their heads, screaming for help.
So, by the time my son came along, I learned my lesson that in a crowd situation, not to depend on the adults around you to automatically watch out for your kid unless you specifically ask one of them to. Most of the near accidents my family encountered were due to a lack of communication and assumption that just because there were other adults around, someone was watching the child. By the grace of God, each and every nephew and niece mentioned above made it to adulthood.
1. My oldest niece (2 at the time) was found playing in a ditch in front of my mom's apartment in one of the worst neighborhoods in town. She had been left alone for goodness knows how long because my sister took off to the store and didn't tell anyone, and the rest of us were moving my mom to her new house and we took off, thinking my niece was with her mum.
2. One niece (6 months)fell off the sideboard from her carseat because my brother went to go do something and just left her there. He assumed that because my sister was cooking two feet away that she would just automatically watch her. Nope, she was paying attention to the food and had no idea my brother had left the room.
3. One nephew (2 years) wandered out into the road because my sister was on the computer in another room and the other adults were watching a movie.
5. One nephew (3 years) decided to go visit his girlfriend who worked at the IGA two blocks away while we were helping his mother pack to move. He ran into his 8 year old sister who left him there, she stating it wasn't her turn to watch him.
4. We almost lost all the nieces and nephews because the adults were inside our camp playing cards and all the kids decided to go for a canoe ride-without a paddle and life jackets. Yep, there were six of them, under ten, crammed into a canoe, way out over their heads, screaming for help.
So, by the time my son came along, I learned my lesson that in a crowd situation, not to depend on the adults around you to automatically watch out for your kid unless you specifically ask one of them to. Most of the near accidents my family encountered were due to a lack of communication and assumption that just because there were other adults around, someone was watching the child. By the grace of God, each and every nephew and niece mentioned above made it to adulthood.