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.
My child is in another room - I can't see her or what she is doing.
By your logic I have no control over my child.
You would have freaked out Saturday if you knew my daughter was 40 yards away from where we were sitting, and would occassionally drop below dock deck level by the water and totally out of sight. Of course all I oe daddy had to do was call her name and she was by my side before I even had a chance to tell her I was just checking where she was.
The kid's gonna be a track star, I swear.
Mother should not have been 5 feet away...sorry. Irresponsible parents again who are going to get rich off of Walmart because she was irresponsible. I get so mad at these parents. I would not ever allow my kid 5 feet away at that age. Maybe 13, but 5????? Where are these parents heads?
Yep. "There, but for the grace of God, go I".
For pitty's shake don't be such a jerk.
He isn't the jerk...the mother is. Somebody asked why 5 feet is too far away? Well damn isn't it obvious the kid could get hurt. Of course blame the responsible posters on FREEPERS. We are mean because we expect parents to be accountable. Yes yelling at us for being mean is going to change their behavior with the other children. Great!!!! How about Child services doing an inspection to see if they should be parents. Before you ask, yes I have three and the youngest is 4 and no I would not allow him to be five feet away from me in a store where he could be kidnapped. That was always my first worry and that made me very attuned into the whereabouts of all three children. Some parents just don't care about what the kids do.
I've made the same sort of comments in supermarkets, so I suspect she did know...I assume I always do, so I like to see someone feel their work has been worthwhile!
Same with me. Granted I only have 1, but she's 8, but I am forever being complimented on how well-behaved she is. And she is, I don't deny that, as long as she is in public, home is an entirely different story. LOL!!!
I think time will tell you have done the right thing.
Of course the responsibility lies with the adult ultimately - AND can you imagine the horror and guilt this poor mother must feel?
From reading your comments I felt that you had a basic feeling that this was an out of control child.... the boy may NOT have been that way at all - we have no idea of the situation as it happened - I think it's ridiculous the way that folks here have jumped to total conclusions regarding the way this mother was parenting.
I have 2 "boys" ... which are really young men now - the older was EASY ... by nature a rule follower - the younger NOT so - (by the way he wore the same harness and leash that I wore as a toddler...). Even with the harness - even keeping him "IN" the cart... even watching him closer than you could ever imagine ... there were "incidents" that I'd beat myself up over.. Kids are different - even with the same parents... even with discipline.
That said - we still don't know if this little guy was a rule follower or a rule breaker. We don't know if he somehow "caused" the mirror to fall - or if it was not secured properly ... or if it had defective bolts. The bottom line is there's a little boy dead - I would imagine a grieving mother ... and we have folks here shaking their finger ... saying "My kid would NEVER do that" ... sheesh...
I imagine to this point it will continue to at least 1,000.
So, I'm stopping here.
Smart, very smart.
Yes! I can. Horrible at the least.
I would not want the mother of this child to see some of the comments on this forum (even some of mine).
From reading your comments I felt that you had a basic feeling that this was an out of control child....
Guilty. Yes, Recent observations in the mall, grocery stores, etc. have led to my way of thinking. I've see every day actions by small children that could get them hurt (and that I'd have gotten my tail busted for), while no parent could be found even near the child, or worse, while the parent is talking on the dang cell phone!.
Add to that, out of control law suits that we all wind up paying for.
There are many factors that can make me, or anyone, sound cold hearted when posting. Or, I could just be getting intolerant with age (50 or so *cough* *cough*).
You can be as immature and insulting as you like. Tell all the anecdotal stories that you wish. The bottom line is the Mom is responsible for a childs safety, not WalMart. The child was not in a cart nor was Mom watching. A 3 yr old is not old enough to judge a situations safety. Mom simply wasn't paying attention with very tragic consequences.
Not only was your mother more than 5 feet away from you, she was in another room...........and you have the nerve to condemn this woman and blame her for her child's death?
My brother and I spent many an hour on the same type benches you talk about - but at least our father or grandfathter was sitting with us keeping watch. Apparently your mother was not as vigilant as mine.
Are we all on the same page on how far 5 FEET actually is?
Most golfers feel a 5 foot put is a "tap-in" or a "gimme"
5 feet is ACTUALLY 2 to 3 steps away
you guys and girls are ridiculous saying you NEVER had your kids FIVE FEET away from you. LIES all of you. The freepers are always out to lynch somebody
My heart goes out to the mother child and family
I'm so sorry that you can't tell the difference between sitting quietly where we were told to stay and a child wandering off, playing.
It was a good thread. When Freepers said there was some responsibilty on the part of the parents/family to protect/control the kid, no one got flamed for it. Imagine that. The idea of a parent being responsible for a childs saftety. ;)
The freepers? Does that mean you aren't one?
you guys and girls are ridiculous saying you NEVER had your kids FIVE FEET away from you. LIES all of you. The freepers are always out to lynch somebody
The biggest thing that freepers believe is personal responsibility. That is pretty important to most of us. I add that I do feel and pray for the father and the other kids. I do believe we need more information on the Mother. I believe in the next day or so we will get additional info.
Not necessarily if she had been in the same place as he was.
You choose to lay ALL blame on the mother, others choose to lay ALL blame on Walmart...........I don't choose to lay blame on anyone at this point in time.
I don't understand your total lack of compassion for this woman when you, yourself, have bragged on this thread how your mother would not only be more than 5 feet away, but in another room, from you and your siblings in a store.
For all anyone knows the "playing" this child was doing was making faces in front of a mirror.........not much different than you and your siblings "whispering" to each other.
I would no more leave my child/ren outside a dressing room alone while I tried on something than I would bungee jump. My mother didn't do it in the 60's, nor did my grandmother in the 40s...........I suggest you not brag about your mother's behavior. My mother and her sister, my brother and I, and my own daughter all were (and is being) raised with the concepts of manners and obedience...but we were never left alone without adult supervision in such a situation as you describe.
I am disgusted by some of the posters on this thread.
Walmart is like the "Low Price Messiah" to them. Walmart can do no wrong.
Walmart needs to be taken to the cleaners on this one. Until it hurts.
>>Actually, in the 50's, we were taught discipline. Now it'll get you arrested.
Truer words were never spoken! I was in a Convenience store when my son (3, and autistic) took some gum off the shelf, and put it in his pocket. I gave him 1 swat (he was of course in diapers), made him say sorry and give it back. The clerk threatened to have me arrested (what an idiot who now probably wonders why there is so much shop lifting.)
ROFLMSS!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, I have failed as a parent...but she does know how to warn daddy about the the pothole at the entrance to our favorite restaurant!!!!
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