https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 05:37:02 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/3#post-1806028 Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:54:46 +0000 pinkcupcake 1806028@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>UPDATE: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/living/shanesha-taylor-plea-deal/index.html?hpt=hp_t4" rel="nofollow">http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/living/shanesha-taylor-plea-deal/index.html?hpt=hp_t4</a></p> <p>I'm happy. I think this was the proper resolution for this case. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/3#post-1562401 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 09:39:55 +0000 Mae 1562401@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NovBaby1112: Agree. </p> <p>I don't think anyone (or not many anyways) thinks that she was trying to be a bad mom or that she should have her kids taken away permanently or taken away to punish her. I just worry about her having the kids before she understands very basic childhood safety. She almost killed her kids. I know she didn't mean to, and she was trying to do a good thing. But that doesn't make them less dead if that passerby hadn't heard the kid crying. That sort of serious lack of judgment is really scary and makes me wonder what else she simply doesn't know. Does she leave her LO alone in the bathtub while she makes dinner because she had a busy day, for example? She seems to have the will to be a good mom, but not the knowledge. As soon as she can not put her kids' life at risk by her ignorance of basic safety, then I agree she should get her kids back. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/3#post-1562341 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 09:20:32 +0000 NovBaby1112 1562341@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow, I am really surprised that much money has been raised. I hope that it helps her get back on her feet. I think more importantly than money though, it would be very beneficial for her to get counseling and support on parenting and safe practices, as well as using the support around her that is available to her and her children. </p> <p>@Ree723: for a living my DH removes abused/neglected children from their homes. I agree that it should be a last resort and used only in situations of immediate danger. She did make a very very poor mistake and I agree that support and education are needed her. However, her children could have very easily died because of her mistake and negligence and/or ignorance. If she doesn't understand the consequences of what could have happened, who is to say she wouldnt do it again? I would much rather see a child taken into foster care temporarily so that the mother can get the help/support she needs, than to see a child die. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/3#post-1562228 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:46:00 +0000 Anagram 1562228@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ree723: agree with you. In my old school district, we had a lot of foster families and the kids they took in temporarily. And even with the "best" foster parents, these kids are seriously messed up when they are removed from their parents (for obvious reasons!). I would get so sad when I would read their essays talking about missing their mom or dad. =( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/3#post-1562210 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:42:49 +0000 lawbee11 1562210@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ree723: Totally agree with everything you said. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/3#post-1562203 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:40:40 +0000 Ree723 1562203@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I missed this thread (and the news story altogether) when it first came out, but from the perspective of a child protection social worker, I will just say that based on the facts we have, I most certainly hope her children are NOT taken away from her for any length of time. She definitely could use some support in learning appropriate parenting skills and how to access relevant services available to her, but it sounds as though she's trying to do the best she can for her children in the only way she knows how. Yes, it was dangerous and the children could have died, but who do you think you'll be punishing by taking the kids away? Not just the mother, that's for sure. Support and education are what's needed here, not removal of children.</p> <p>I will be honest, it makes my stomach turn how easily people can say 'take the child away', even if it's only for a short while. I don't think those outside the field realise just how detrimental it is to a child to be taken from their parent - it is a course of absolute last resort, not a punishment to be doled out when a parent makes a mistake, albeit a big one that could have had dire consequences. I can tell you that there is nothing more gut wrenching than taking a child, who is too young to understand why, away from his parents. Can you imagine someone ripping your child from your arms because of a poor choice you made, either out of desperation or from lack of knowledge? Ugh, it makes my skin crawl.</p> <p>I don't mean to direct those comments at anyone specifically, but having been on the professional end of situations like that, it makes my blood boil when I see people so easily suggest removing a child from their parent's care. It is a huge, huge step that has massive negative consequences for everyone involved, most significantly, the child. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1562199 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:38:12 +0000 Smurfette 1562199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can't believe that much money was raised. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1562191 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:34:40 +0000 lawbee11 1562191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: I think a lot of people can relate to her. That's what I gathered from the comments left on the donation website. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1562111 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:11:08 +0000 Mae 1562111@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lawbee11: Wow, that's sort of surprising! Hopefully she can use part of that money to take some parenting safety classes or counseling or something, and obviously buy her some help and time to get a job and child care and get on her feet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1562077 Fri, 11 Apr 2014 07:49:49 +0000 lawbee11 1562077@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Heard an interesting update on the radio this morning. A NJ woman set up a fundraising website and has raised over $100K for Shanesha Taylor. </p> <p><a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20805017,00.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20805017,00.html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1523426 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 14:56:30 +0000 Kemma 1523426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Whilst I definitely don't condone this mother's actions perhaps rather than crucifying this poor woman we should be using this incident as an opportunity to improve her circumstances and the support networks in place for others in a similar situation! </p> <p>I'm also willing to bet the very few of us here on HB have ever been in a situation that would warrant us making such a decision...</p> <p>We've all made poor decisions in our lives and like my Grandmother always said - there but for the grace of God, go I! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522558 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:54:24 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1522558@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know if this would have helped or hurt her in the interview, but in a child care lurch I say bring the kids to the interview. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522553 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:52:40 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 1522553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel awful for her. It seems like she was in a desperate situation. She looks devastated. I can't say what I would do in the same situation, because I doubt I'd ever be in the same situation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522538 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:48:34 +0000 Mae 1522538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: agree, obviously.</p> <p>@pui: Yep.</p> <p>@Anagram: Totally agree. More options should be available. (but if they're not, endangering your kid does not become a valid option-- as I think you agree from your post)</p> <p>@looch: If your point above, like you said, was that her best option was to take her kids with her to the interview, then I think that is totally valid. Leaving them at the daycare vs. taking them with you to an interview is a total judgment call based on you knowing your kid/your comfort level/what the center is like and I don't think anyone would fault her for taking her kid to the interview. I just don't think that came across in your initial post, it sounded like you were saying what she did was okay because the daycare might have been a bad option, and that is what @wonderstruck: and myself and everyone else was reacting to. Given the choice between making your kid really really angry by putting them in an unfamiliar daycare for an hour (and risking getting a call to come pick them up, which is an inconvenience) vs. leaving your kid in a hot car parked in direct sunlight for an hour when it is 88 degrees out… it is a no brainer. Unhappy kids calm down. Kids that die can't be fixed. But I agree, taking them to the interview with her would've been a totally valid option. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522504 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:41:14 +0000 looch 1522504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have tried a drop off center. My son cried the entire time and they called me to come and get him because they couldn't care for the other children with his screaming. I think they were worried he was going to stop breathing.</p> <p>I wouldn't leave him in the car, I would take him with me if I had no other options. I have already written that above, @littlebug. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522499 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:40:23 +0000 NovBaby1112 1522499@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pui: @wonderstruck: yep, was in the article @mslipgloss posted! <a href="http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/crime/2014/03/22/kids-hot-car-job-interview/6730039/" rel="nofollow">http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/crime/2014/03/22/kids-hot-car-job-interview/6730039/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522493 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:39:08 +0000 wonderstruck 1522493@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NovBaby1112: Oh, wow. So it sounds like there are bigger problems at play here. Honestly, I think she should probably be screened to see if there's any sort of mental illness going on, in which case obviously she's going to need some assistance to get that under control to properly care for her children. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522486 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:37:20 +0000 pui 1522486@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>"However, according to the other article the 6 month-old was wearing two T-shirts, one w/long sleeves, and was covered with a blanket. The temperature was 88 and she parked in direct sunlight. The driver's door was UNLOCKED and they found the keys in the ignition."</p> <p>Uhm, wow if that's all true. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522474 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:34:23 +0000 Charm54 1522474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lawbee11: agreed - her mug shot is devestating.</p> <p>I would never do that - but that's easy for me to say as someone with the financial means to provide for my child, valid childcare options and emotional support from my husband, parents , sisters, friends, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522470 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:33:21 +0000 littlebug 1522470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I have a hard time believing that you'd feel more comfortable leaving your babies alone in a car in 80+ degree weather than taking them to a drop-in center for an hour. Faced with NO OTHER options, like this woman may have been, are you seriously telling us you'd rather risk them sweltering to death in a car than crying for an hour in a safe place? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522468 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:33:16 +0000 NovBaby1112 1522468@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do feel badly for this woman if this was truly her absolutely only option and she was that desperate. However, according to the other article the 6 month-old was wearing two T-shirts, one w/long sleeves, and was covered with a blanket. The temperature was 88 and she parked in direct sunlight. The driver's door was UNLOCKED and they found the keys in the ignition. A normal person does not do this!!! Absolutely no common sense was used whatsoever. If she felt like leaving her kids in the car was the ONLY option, for F's sake don't cover your baby with a blanket and put him in long sleeves and park in the sun!!!! And with her keys in the ignition, someone could have easily drove off with her kids and she could have never seen them again. I DO think her kids should be taken from her until she is able to take care of them. Something way worse could have happened.</p> <p>@looch: I would have no option using a drop in center if I had no family or anything else near by, and I had a 1 hour job interview. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522467 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:33:05 +0000 Anagram 1522467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel sorry for her. What a heartbreaking situation to be in. </p> <p>I don't know anything about where she lives or what kinds of drop-off daycares are available and how far in advance you have to sign up for them (I'm sure you have to fill out paperwork and give notice you are bringing an extra child, so they can be in compliance with state child/teacher ratios). </p> <p>But I understand the desperation. I read news reports all the time about moms leaving their babies with random neighbors or boyfriends, and usually it's in the news because the baby has died from shaken baby syndrome or something. We have a serious child care problem in this country. Child care is not affordable in many areas unless people are middle class and up. It's horrible and something our country needs to work on.</p> <p>In the meantime, this mom needs a parenting class and some social service support. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522456 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:30:00 +0000 pui 1522456@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: "Just because this woman is in the situation that she's in doesn't mean she's got to use options she might not feel comfortable with."</p> <p>I'm sorry, it does. If she literally tried everything else and had no other place to leave her kids for 2 hours, then her only options were leaving them at this daycare or taking them in to the interview with her. Leaving her young babies alone, unattended, in a hot car for over an hour is <b>not</b> a valid option.</p> <p>Also, what else can be done? If even free childcare isn't help enough I'm not sure what else we can do. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522443 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:26:35 +0000 MsLipGloss 1522443@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: Yep, completely lost. I totally agree with you there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522436 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:24:05 +0000 looch 1522436@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: because you put the internet equivalent of words in my mouth.</p> <p>It's just not that simple to say, oh here's free daycare, I am going to use that! It might not work out and just because this woman is in the situation that she's in doesn't mean she's got to use options she might not feel comfortable with. Have you tried a drop off center? Do you have first hand experience with that? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522432 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:21:11 +0000 wonderstruck 1522432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I'm completely lost on why you and Lipgloss have both decided to zone in on me despite the fact that there are several other posts that read your question the exact same way I did. It's not a very drastic conclusion when you're reading a thread about leaving kids in a hot car and talking about alternatives. Many of us (pretty much everyone besides you two) read the question that way. Seems like the logical way to read it in the context of the thread. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522421 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:18:12 +0000 avivoca 1522421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@deerylou: This. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522419 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:17:40 +0000 looch 1522419@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: Nice conclusion drawing! You win the prize today.</p> <p>Seriously, when you do a drop off at a center you've never used, please report back on how it went. Maybe your kid won't react, I don't know...but mine did and it wasn't a viable option. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522382 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:04:16 +0000 deerylou 1522382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>While she made a very unfortunate, dangerous decision that I personally do not agree with, I feel horrible for this woman. It is clear she feels the same.</p> <p>I think most of us exist somewhere on the very large spectrum of "comfortable" - we can either stay home with our children, utilize familiar and preferred daycare/backup sitters, or coordinate with a partner/coparent, so we may keep crucial appointments. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my daughter at a drop-in service. Then again, it's not likely a choice I'd have to make. </p> <p>I'm hesitant to pass judgement. Yes, she put her children in grave danger, but I'm willing to bet it was a poor, snap decision made in hopes of creating a better life for her family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/mother-leaves-kids-in-the-car-to-go-on-a-job-interview/page/2#post-1522284 Wed, 26 Mar 2014 10:39:29 +0000 MsLipGloss 1522284@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wonderstruck: You need to take a step back. SMH </p>