Posted on 07/24/2006 6:12:21 AM PDT by Samwise
INDIANAPOLIS -- A 3-year-old boy was fatally injured when a floor-mounted mirror fell on him at an Indianapolis Wal-Mart.
Police said Christopher Antonio was apparently playing near the 5-foot-tall mirror in the children's section of the store Saturday evening when it fell at the store in the 3200 block of 86th Street.
The boy was with his 5-year-old sister and his mother. The mother told police she was about 5 feet away from her son when she heard a loud crash.
Police said it took two people to pull the mirror off the boy.
Since when is the object of shopping to take your eyes of your kids? If you're going shopping to get the kids out of your sight, it seems counterproductive to bring them with you. It isn't that hard to look at a price tag with the kid in a cart, my mother managed, while keeping an arm around me no less.
By 3 years old my children were well enough behaved that they could stand nearby looking at something while I shopped. If they moved out of my sight or were messing with something they had no business messing with, into the cart they went.
Did you let your 3 year old wander five feet away while you were busy? Were you ever too busy to realize they weren't beside you? My point was the mother herself didn't say she saw the mirror land on her son, she only said she heard the crash (if she had actually seen it you would think she'd say that instead). You say yourself if your child moved out of sight, they went in the cart.
Really, I think it is impossible to shop for something (you must look at whatever you are shopping for, unless you have memorized the placement of all the items) and NEVER take your eyes off your child. Even if the child were in a cart, you shouldn't "take your eyes off them" because they try to stand or climb.
I kept hold of my mother's pocket at all times. If she felt me let go, she'd grab a hold of me before I knew I was caught. Most of the time she actually carried me (and still managed to shop) or she kept me in the cart. Even in the cart she would walk with her arms around me (it felt like the safest place in the store). The ONLY reason I remember even wanting to stand in a cart is when it looked to me like she would walk away (she never did though, young minds). She also made sure I wasn't close enough to a shelf to climb or grab anything. In all instances I never left my mother's side, so she never had to worry about me being five feet away & getting trapped under something.
Waffle, syrup, bacon, 2 fried eggs sunny side up.
The problem started when you said that the mother should NEVER have taken her eyes off the child.
When you start blaming a parent for not doing something IMPOSSIBLE to do, I think folks get a little annoyed.
LOL! Actually I do know a woman attached to her son like that. Trouble is he just turned 40.
Only a malnourished 3 year old could fit into a cart. Then you'd have something else to complain about.
Does that mean that you might have looked at a store item or two INSTEAD of your child?
HORRORS!!!!!!!!!!
We must absolutely be horrible, as that is where we normally eat dinner, except for the "eat where you want" dinners........of course those also tend to be "eat what you want" dinners consisting primarily of leftovers!!!! We're such miserable parents.
Enjoy dinner!!
Again, the childs safety is the responsibility of the parent.
Nope. They weren't. My childrens safety was MY responsibility. Wgat is so hard to understand about being responsible for your child?
I have to admit you're getting your moneys worth out of this thread. :)
Actually I could fit in a cart at 3, 4, even 5. Was I malnourished? Hardly. My niece will be 3 this year & looks the same as I did at her age. She can fit in a cart as well. I guess being petite is rare.
At younger than 5 my child knew that, as apparently did you and yours. Neither of us know if this particular child didn't and it may just be that he did.
This debate is about whether a parent is responsible for their childs safety in a public place. That's the bottom line.
Of course that is the bottom line........but you are not giving the woman the benefit of the doubt here, even based upon your own anecdotal stories.
The bottom line really comes down to : WE DON'T KNOW.
Can you imagine the grief that parent would get if the kid WAS strapped somehow to the parent. Lose-Lose. I have two kids and they were well behaved. 5 feet away was nothin'.
What a tragedy.
How about have the child in the buggy?
*sigh* Go back and read the article. She only HEARD a crash.
When in a store, the childs safety is the responsibility of that parent.
The child should have been in the cart or she should have had him by the hand. A 3 yr old has no judgement as to what is safe and what isn't.
When you start blaming a parent for not doing something IMPOSSIBLE to do, I think folks get a little annoyed.
It is not impossible to take care of children in a store and make certain they are safe.
Why do you think a parent is not responsible for their childs safety?
You will get no where with that line of reasoning. Her mother, and she and her siblings were perfect.......this woman was negligent.
Yeah. And I can't imagine Freepers that think personal responsibility is important are saying the parent has none for their childs safety in a public venue. This must be the Twilight Zone.
Ah, the perfect child...........
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