Shopping with children is certainly high up on the list of stressful activities for parents. The alternative of leaving the baby alone is not a real option, but a woman in New Zealand decided this weekend that it was.
The New Zealand Herald is reporting that a mother left her baby alone in a car in the parking lot of the Porirua, New Zealand Pak’nSave grocery store. A note was left on the infant, reading,”My mum’s in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything.” The man who found the baby promptly called the number left on the note and summoned the child’s mother to the parking lot.
Though leaving a child alone in such a way is illegal in New Zealand, no charges were mentioned by the Herald report.
Leaving a child unattended in a vehicle, especially in hot weather, is dangerous. Children die as a result of the practice on a yearly basis, and some states have laws that allow parents to be prosecuted on manslaughter charges for such deaths.
(Image courtesy Polly Gillespie on Facebook)