Call me a skeptic. Accuse me of being a pessimist when it comes to human nature. Once again a baby has been found wandering the streets of the city. This time it was in South KC, and the kid just showed up in front of a daycare center in his Sponge Bob jammies, barefoot. Apparently the kid was knocking on the window of the daycare. One of the daycare workers said the kid was dry, his feet were clean. Beings how it has been raining, and the kid was soaking wet and had clean feet, one of the daycare workers said shit didn't add up. Cops were called, because, well, toddlers can't just check themselves in to daycare centers. I'm watching Fox 4. There's Kathy Quinn, all decked out in her best leopard print outfit, relating the story on camera. Then the camera man swings around to catch Mom and a few other people. Just right off the cuff, and because there is no firewall between my brain and your computer screen, here's a couple of observations.
(1) Mom looks like she needs to eat a fuckin sandwich and get some sleep.
Am I saying she looked high? Possibly on some type of stimulant? Never that.
Actually, that's exactly what I'm saying. At the very least she looked like she had a long night.
Harsh? Judgmental? Making accusations based on a couple of seconds of film footage?
Absolutely. And I'm making a judgment based on the fact that this "Mother" discovered her kid was missing when a neighbor "told her" this morning.
(2) If your kid wonders off, and it happens, that's one thing. If your kid has been gone long enough that you don't notice he is missing until you peep him on the morning news, or someone tells you he is missing, that's a whole new ball O wax.
Now that I've hopefully pissed off and offended at least a few people, allow me to splain how this thing is going to play out. I've got 3 scenarios, should I be wrong, I'll publicly apologize and buy Mom a five dollar foot long from Subway with all the trimmings.
(1) Mom left her 2 year old home alone, he went for a stroll, lost his shoes, showed up at the daycare place.
(2) Mom left kid with someone who is as irresponsible as she is. Said person got pissed mom didn't show back up to get her kid, so they dropped him off in front of the daycare.
(3) Baby is a two year old reincarnation of Harry Houdini. He slipped from the confines of his crib, managed to open a door that should have been locked, then showed up 5 blocks away in the rain ,with clean, bare feet. Now that's some David Copperfield shit right there. It's like when David Blaine does that levitation trick.
Look, we've had this talk before. Readers have pointed out how I'm being unreasonable to question a Mothers veracity because her story doesn't sound right to me. I've also been called to task because I've said someone was a piss poor parent for not being sure their kid can't escape the supposedly safe confines of their home in the wee hours of the morning.
If you are of that opinion then I respect that, but I'm still not buying what you are selling. This isn't the first time we have heard of babies strolling around the streets of this city.
I know there are more instances of this, I recall at least 2 others in the last year or two, but I'm too lazy to look. And it's a moot point , because that was then, this is now. If your 2 year old is able to show up at a business, 5 blocks from your home, and you find out about it on the news, you are a shitty parent. Period, end of story. Call me harsh, claim I'm a cynical prick. It's all true. But this is the big city folks, it ain't exactly Mayberry round these parts. Bad shit happens, it often happens to the most vulnerable of us, children. So pardon me if I just can't find a positive spin. I always like to close a post with an appropriate message, a lesson if you will. Call me the Aesop of the greater Kansas City area. The moral of this post.............
If you don't want to be judged by some random doofus on some semi obscure blog, then don't let your 2 year old wander the streets of this city. And eat a sammich and get a nap. Seriously.
I'm so glad you're back at it. Nobody says it like you.
ReplyDeleteFor every one that shows up somewhere, I wonder how many don't? That's the scary part.
ReplyDeleteI saw the initial reports on this earlier, but missed the follow-up after the mom showed up. So thanks for the link to that video!
ReplyDeleteJust the small amount of the mom I saw on that, though, didn't give me enough to go on when it comes to being able to judge her state of mind/body very well. I'd just as soon be able to say she looks a bit strung out and freaky because she (a) just found out her kid had wandered out of the house and (b) knows she is likely going to get in trouble for what happened.
That's not to say that your assessment isn't accurate, though! I'm just offering up my more sympathetic viewpoint. I don't like that these kids are all getting out and wandering, either, so don't get me wrong. I also think that your scenario #2 is a highly likely one, just because of the bare feet being clean thing, although I didn't see that noted anywhere in the story you linked to, and they didn't say it in the report I watched earlier on KMBC, so I can't be sure that the kid didn't just walk there from his house 5 blocks away.
It's all just messy, is the thing. What ever happened to that chick who's kids were found playing out behind a random building in ther 'hood at 11 p.m. by the police that one time? The one who was apparently at school getting her books for homework she needed to do? And who's mom told us all that her daughter was a good mom and the media was making her look bad? I hate the lack of follow-up on stories like this, is my point.
And now I'm rambling. I need a snack...
Anyone can have a child. That's the problem. IQ tests and a limit on number of children should be in place.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on this one...that woman looked cracked out her mind on the news this morning. It's lucky that the little boy was found and found safe.
ReplyDeleteAnd Kathy Quinn's leopard ensemble?? Seriously, where does she find all of these faux-animal print jackets??
"This time it was in South KC, and the kid just showed up in front of a daycare center in his Sponge Bob jammies, barefoot. Apparently the kid was knocking on the window of the daycare. "
ReplyDeleteMaybe the kid has a job in collections.
DAY CARE WORKER: "Hey little one, what are you doing out here?"
BABY: *Takes thumb out of mouth* "Your boss is into my boss for 5 Large. I'm here for the fuckin money!"
DAY CARE WORKER: "My goodness sweetie, who taught you to talk like that?"
BABY: "My last name is Civella, we got "Casino" on endless loop in my bedroom. Unless your a Christian with 4 aces, you better get your boss."
DAY CARE WORKER: *Looks down* "Is that rebar?"
BABY: "Your boss put my boss' money to sleep, are you sleepy too?" *Whacks day care worker on the toe with rebar*
DAY CARE WORKER: "AHHHGODDAMNNN!!" *hopping on one foot* "I'll get her, I'll get her, I told her not to bet Pre Season, what the fuck, the starters don't even play the whole game! Jesus!!"
BABY: : "Hustle up, and bring me a fuckin juice box. None of that apple shit either, it gives me a fuckin rash!"
------
Or maybe the kid is a Jehovas Witness.
I'm surprised that PFLOW hasn't commented yet saying that this is somehow "Whitey's" fault.
ReplyDeleteChuck , now that was some funny shit . Reminds me of the Chappelle skit with the weed sellin baby. If you havent seen it just go to you thube abd search chappelle and baby.
ReplyDeletebetter yet.try You Tube And...etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteFaith,
ReplyDeleteBelieve me when I say I was ready to give her a slim benny of doubt, that is until I saw her on the tube. Not for nothin, but Ive seen a bazillion crack heads darting through the streets of Midtown late at night, like those Velociraptors on Jurassic park. And I've know my fair share of cracksters from back in the day. My momma always told me, "If it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, and oinks like a pig, it's prolly a pig."
Also, consider this. 2 year old baby manages to walk 5 blocks to a 24 hour daycare. Out of all the places and directions it could have gone, it went there. I'm no doctor Spock, but I'm guessing a toddler doesn't have a real swell sense of direction. However if I'm wrong, I'm gonna buy the woman the sammich she so desperatly needs.
??? The link you have says that the daycare was less than 2 blocks and the mama walks him there daily, that he knew where he was.
ReplyDeletehave you HAD children? I have. And one of them was just like this boy. At 27 months he opened the deadbolt and ran down the street naked. He got a block away before I could get off the toilet, pull up my pants and chase after him. He did it to me in a grocery store once, scooted under the door of my stall and was trying to slip out the front doors of the store where the "greeter" was holding him back, tempting him with a 25cent mechanical pony ride. At 29 months he popped the screen off his bedroom window, climbed out, found an old attic stair leaning against the shed and climbed up it onto the shed roof. I thought he was napping and was taking care of his baby sister. The neighbor knocked on the door and asked if I might need help.
I did what this woman is shown doing in the video- I put hook & eye closures at the top of the door frame where I could barely reach them. My 2yo did exactly what her 2yo did- pointed at the lock and babbled the discovery. And went right to a chair, pulled it to the door, climbed on it and unlatched the lock. Within 5 minutes of my installing it.
Some kids are just really really smart and capable. Really.
And frankly, I've seen a lot of parents too. I worked as a counselor at a WIC clinic. This woman's apartment seems clean, and she doesn't look that bad.
I swear, if we're fat you men call us cows. If we are thin you call us crackheads.
In all fairness that isnt the same video they had up this morning. Kathy Quinn was in the previous one, as was the woman. The original video said 5 blocks, also said the kid did not attend the preschool. Give things a few days to shake out, my offer stands. Her story doesn't hold water.
ReplyDeleteI am kinda interested (With the greatest respect madam.) in what how your kid turned out.
ReplyDeleteIf this was Whats My Line, I'd guess (Kitty Carlisle just died, pretty interesting life she had.) you are, Carl Lewis' mom?
The writer for Macgyver?
How is the kid doing?
Dave Chap is very funny.
Kate said "And Kathy Quinn's leopard ensemble?? Seriously, where does she find all of these faux-animal print jackets??"
ReplyDeleteThat would be 1985, but since I'm not a fashionista, don't qoute me on that one.
I freak out somewhat when my kids are out of my view.
Some kids you gotta put that lock way up on the doors so they don't get out on their own.
Papias
Hmmm..well, I've also known a couple of 2 year olds who were very capable of taking off and going for a stroll like this kid did. Let's say he left sometime between 4-5 a.m. - mom was probably asleep. We don't know what time the neighbor alerted her that the door was open. I'd be inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt based on the limited info I saw in the video...but MM could be completely right.
ReplyDeleteHey, MM. There's a show on TV called Prison Police. I'd love to see you do a review of it, so I know whether that's really how it is.
ReplyDeleteI've only recently discovered this blog. You're awesome. You say things that other people only think in their heads. Well, except me, but I'm out here on the West Coast and the only thing I have to rant about are the suburban moms in their suburbans whom I see daily, chatting on cells, applying makeup in the surburban, entering the expressway at 30 mph, blocking intersections, oh and chatting on cells. These women would never lose their children because with it they would lose their identity, and a reason to drive their suburbans. Did I say, while while chatting on cells?
ReplyDeleteI've been lucky to have had exceptional teachers and mentors in my lifetime none of which ever recommended letting ones two year old out of ones sight.
ReplyDeleteLet me raise a few more hackles.
ReplyDeleteToo many stupid people think that it is "It takes a village...instead of the parents...to raise a child".
I guess they think since the "village" pays for their kids and in many cases them too, it is not a stretch FOR THEM.
How do we stop the stupid and ones who avoid responsibility like working a job to STOP BREEDING. I am open for ideas.
In this day and age how could you not know where your child is, it's called lazy and/or irresponsible parenting, saw a young child in a CVS store the other day one aisle over from his mother, I said" excuse me is this your child over here", mother "yeah", no concern whatsoever, what if a pedophile had been lurking, that child would've gone and the mother no wiser as to what happen
ReplyDeleteMaybe aliens are just setting 'em free all willy nilly instead of taking them back home. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeletei love spongebob!
ReplyDeleteKate said "And Kathy Quinn's leopard ensemble?? Seriously, where does she find all of these faux-animal print jackets??" That would be 1985, but since I'm not a fashionista, don't qoute me on that one. I freak out somewhat when my kids are out of my view. Some kids you gotta put that lock way up on the doors so they don't get out on their own. Papias
ReplyDelete