Woman Barred From Nordstroms After Leaving Kids in Car

LISmama810 · Jun 22, 2012

A judge has barred a woman from shopping at Nordstroms (amongst other penalties) after she left her 11-week-old twins in the car for 40 minutes while she shopped there. I suppose that's about as close as we'll get to a "natural consequence"?

http://m.ocregister.com/news/babies-360214-left-pleasanton.html

ketchupqueen · Jun 22, 2012

Hmm. I think I would have preferred to see her lose her license for a while (either instead of or in addition to the other penalties.)

LISmama810 · Jun 22, 2012

I'm just impressed they did anything, to be honest.

ketchupqueen · Jun 22, 2012

Well, I would have expected the fine. It is nice to see them getting a little more creative. In a good way, "This was more important to you than your child so I'm taking it away," not a pink underwear way.

Kat_Momof3 · Jun 22, 2012

I'd rather see this punishment than see her get her kids taken away (unless we see other dangerous choices... since I don't know if she CHOSE to leave them or forgot them)

either way, she plead no-contest, I'm guessing the judgement would have been worse if they hadn't, because they made a plea agreement... and she's also paying a $1,000 fine and having to take parenting classes and counseling sessions... and that last bit is what is REALLY needed here... to help her be a good mom.

morninglori · Jun 22, 2012

This happened at the mall we shop at...I'm glad to see she was punished. Another article I read said 26 parenting classes and 52 counseling sessions.

She was in the mall for 40 minutes - returning things and shopping. The sad thing is that she wasn't really phased when she came out of the mall to her car, and the mall security and mom that heard the kids told her that the police were on her way.

Baylor · Jun 22, 2012

Ridiculous punishment if you ask me. I'd like to see loss of license, parenting classes and community service.

auto correct hates me

Kat_Momof3 · Jun 22, 2012

at age 46 and twins... I'm wondering if maybe (given their ages) she is having post partum depression or even psychosis, given that she wasn't phased.

I just think the help is really what she needs most and she did better than a lot by taking the plea and realizing she needs help and did something wrong.

I'm guessing she either had invetro or this was a very big surprise late in life... both of which increase odds of ppd. Being twins, they were probably underweight at birth and so it wouldn't really surprise me if this was their first outing and she literally forgot them... or, because of her older age, didn't know what a danger and risk this really was, or the consequences.

I don't know why it was barring her from the store vs. suspending (I wouldn't revoke) her license, but then I also don't know if there would be other people to transport the babies to their doctor visits and such, so I hate to do a big PUNISHMENT thing when the best thing is those classes and counseling.

mommy2env · Jun 23, 2012

Kat, are you serious? She left her babies, in a car for 40 minutes while she shopped. She deserves a big punishment and a swift kick in the ass. She's 46, that's not that old. She had to have known that leaving the babies in the car was dangerous. At the very least, the babies were going to be crying.

Maybe she does have ppd, but that's not an excuse to be so careless.

TechnoGranola · Jun 23, 2012

Kat_Momof3 said:
I'm guessing she either had invetro or this was a very big surprise late in life... both of which increase odds of ppd.

Or she planned to get pregnant…don't quite get why invitro or an oops are the only options you listed.

Kat_Momof3 said:
because of her older age, didn't know what a danger and risk this really was, or the consequences.

If she didn't know leaving infants in a vehicle was dangerous, it's because she's stupid and/or ignorant, not because she's 46. Although it's kind of sounding like you think 46 is elderly.

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Kat_Momof3 · Jun 23, 2012

+I mean that there wasn't all the info on the risks when 10 or 12 years ago... and yeah, she could have planned to get pregnant... but in the 40s, it's unlikely... not impossible, just unlikely.

I don't know... I guess I think that helping her be a parent to the twins is more important than giving a punishment in terms of her license or even barring her from the store.

T4K · Jun 23, 2012

Kat_Momof3 said:
+I mean that there wasn't all the info on the risks when 10 or 12 years ago... and yeah, she could have planned to get pregnant... but in the 40s, it's unlikely... not impossible, just unlikely.

I don't know... I guess I think that helping her be a parent to the twins is more important than giving a punishment in terms of her license or even barring her from the store.

Do you have statistics on how unlikely it is for a 40 something woman to plan a pregnancy?

Your statement rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

ketchupqueen · Jun 23, 2012

Taking her license temporarily would give her time to get treatment and work on bonding, while also keeping a possibly inattentive driver off the road for a while.

She lives in SoCal. Ten years ago there WAS publicity here about not leaving kids in cars. We've had a law and a higher-than-average level of publicity and awareness here much longer than many parts of the country.

TechnoGranola · Jun 23, 2012

Kat_Momof3 said:
+I mean that there wasn't all the info on the risks when 10 or 12 years ago... and yeah, she could have planned to get pregnant... but in the 40s, it's unlikely... not impossible, just unlikely.

I don't know... I guess I think that helping her be a parent to the twins is more important than giving a punishment in terms of her license or even barring her from the store.

What does 10 or 12 years have to do with anything? Did people who are 46 stop watching/reading the news at 32/34? Or they start ignoring child related news because they're getting too old and unlikely to have kids? (said tongue in cheek)

Even if she was clueless about the dangers of death due to temperature increase (and being clueless about that can happen at any age), she should have known better than to leave 11 week babies alone anywhere that she cannot hear and/or see them. My 5 year old know this.

I have no comment on the punishment, I just really don't understand why her age has anything to do with this.

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LISmama810 · Jun 23, 2012

Typically for this kind of offense, people get away with nothing, or a fine and/or a visit from CPS. I think it's cool that she got anything above and beyond that.

A woman in my city recently left her 4-year-old in the car, in the sun, on a very warm day. Kid was fine, but she was charged with felony child endangerment (or abuse?) because the child was left in the sun. The spokesperson said the charge would have been less had the car been parked in the shade, etc. Cops and judges do have some discretion in how to enforce/punish in these cases.

I also wouldn't be surprised if PPD played a role (not because of her age or anything, but because of the reports that she seemed emotionless). Our fire department called me out once to check the seat of a woman who left her newborn (2 weeks old, I think) in the car while she went grocery shopping. The mom was COMPLETELY expressionless despite the firefighters and police all over the place, despite the fact that she got a ticket and a report with CPS, despite all that. Completely stoic. Not making excuses or acting like it was no big deal, just acting like nothing was even happening.

I felt so bad for her. Angry, yes, but my heart was breaking for her because I just felt like there was something more going on. I wouldn't have wanted that woman to lose her license or go to jail. I wanted her to get some help, which hopefully she did through CPS.

Baylor · Jun 23, 2012

I'm going to be 46 in the fall. I had ds2 at 41. I had horrible ppd and PPA. I did not leave my kids in the car for any reason. Especially to go shopping.

And for what it's worth, I got pg the old fashioned way.

auto correct hates me

jeminijad · Jun 23, 2012

Spontaneous successful pregnancy in a 46 year old is rare. You knew someone who had a baby at 48? Congratulations. Proves nothing on a population level. Fertility drops off dramatically around age 45.

Fertile cervical mucous lessens with age, as does egg quality... Add in how much more common twins are via IVF than unassisted and it is hardly unreasonable to note that an oops or IVF was likely.

Maybe the additional attention drawn by the creative sentencing will save a life down the road.

ketchupqueen · Jun 23, 2012

I think severe PPD or PPS is likely too. I think that's more reason to take or restrict her license for a few months than bar her from shopping at a store.

TechnoGranola · Jun 23, 2012

But whether or not spontaneous pregnancy is rare or difficult, that doesn't make her age the key factor in this. PPD sure, ignorance sure, stupidity sure, mental illness sure, medical condition interfering with brain function sure. All of which can happen at any age. Whether any were more likely at her age/sex/race isn't the point IMO.

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jacqui276 · Jun 23, 2012

It is sad how often kids are left in cars. We have had a number of incidents here in the past few years. There was one where a father left his child in the car in the middle of winter for 6 hours. He was charged with child endangerment.

I think that regardless of how old she is, she should be punished for her actions. If she does have postpartum psychosis to the extent that she is endangering her children, she should not have the kids in her custody while she is receiving help.

The chances of having twins naturally also increases with age. Who knows and who cares HOW she got pregnant. Whether it was naturally or with medical assistance, it is NO excuse for putting her babies' lives in danger.

Woman Barred From Nordstroms After Leaving Kids in Car

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