What would you do in this situation? After running some
errands, including picking up fast food for dinner (ugh, I know!), the kids and
I arrived at the laundromat to dry our clothes, as is our Sunday custom. I
cannot tell you how excited I am for my income tax refund so I can buy a dryer
and bid the laundromat adieu! Primero had taken our various laundry baskets
into the laundromat to stuff the clothes in the dryers while I stayed in the
car and gave the little ones their dinner. Not long after Primero went inside a
white car pulled up beside us and the woman driver got out and went inside. I
wasn’t paying attention, really, because I had no reason to watch what she was
doing. I did notice a child sitting in the front seat and so I assumed she was
going inside for a minute and would soon return. It wasn’t until Chica Marie
pointed out the baby in the backseat was crying, that I took notice of the
time. Again, I assumed the mom would be right out and noticed her walking
around on her phone. Maybe she misplaced something and was looking for it?
Primero came back out to the car to eat his dinner and wait for our clothes to
dry. The mom had been inside for over 5 minutes and we could see the baby was rather
distressed. We could not hear him because it was a damp, chilly day and the
windows were closed, but we could see his little face scrunched up and his
little fists pumping the air in frustration. The older boy, who I guessed to be
about 8-9 years old, seemed oblivious to the baby’s distress. Ten minutes
ticked by. The older boy got out, leaving the baby alone, and went inside
presumably to tell his mom the baby was crying. He came back out alone. Twenty
minutes had passed, the boy went in a second time and his mom came to the door
of the laundromat, still on her phone, but she did not come out to the baby. The
older boy climbed back into the front seat. He turned to face the seat and
punched it hard three times, before hoping over the middle console into the
back seat to sit next to the baby. By now I was concerned. The mother was obviously
not going to come back out in a few minutes and I had to decide my course of
action. I posted our situation on Facebook and someone suggested she was
struggling and rather than punitively call CPS, I should offer her my help. We
went inside and I found her pulling laundry from a washer. I offered her help,
citing her crying baby left in the car. She was on her phone. To my offer for
help she said, “ok, yeah I know,” making no move to help her distraught child.
I reiterated the baby had been crying for over 20 minutes. She tried to brush
me off again. Finally, sensing she was not going to tend to her child, I told
her I was a mandated reporter and she needed to get her baby or I was going to
have to make a phone call. She stormed out to her car, still on her phone. She
brought the baby and the older boy inside. The baby was still crying, as she
was outside on her phone. Later, as we were folding our laundry, she approached
me to tell me she thought how I spoke to her was “mad ignorant” and just
because I didn’t like how someone did something I was threatening her. She said
the older boy, who supposedly was 11, was supposed to be watching the baby (who
was maybe 3-4 months old) and instead was “being a jerk.” The older boy did
hold the baby inside the laundromat and both seemed a little calmer than they
were in the car. I regret not calling CPS because I don’t think she planned on
bringing them inside. I think her plan was to let them in the car for the 90+
minutes she was washing their laundry. If it was just the older boy, I don’t
think it would have been a big deal, but the baby was howling, clearly in
distress, and she was ignoring him. She claimed he was a fussy, colicky baby.
So was Love Bug, but I would never let him in the car screaming for 20 minutes
let alone more than 90 minutes. I hope it was just an off day for her, things
weren’t going her way the baby didn’t let her sleep and she needed a minute to
breathe. I’ve been there, Love Bug was a tough baby. Still, I’m berating myself
for not calling because what if things are worse at home? What would you have
done?
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