I'm not a parent, but I really want to be someday. I have on many occasions made a statement and heard "when you have children of your own you will change your mind." There are some things where I'm sure that will be the case. This, I believe is not one of them.
I was up early yesterday morning and caught a story on Local ABC News about people leaving their children in the car while they ran into the store. They did an experiment with a test dummy baby and had these results. It was 98 degrees outside of the car. After ten minutes of being in the hot sun, the temperature in the car was 110 with a heat index of 144.
It breaks my heart that every summer no matter where I have lived I hear these same stories on the news. A young child's life is taken because of negligence of the parents. What made this story even worse was that the news reporter said that most parents "forget their child is in the car." She went on to say something similar about pets being left in the car.
Here is my thought. Can you really forget you have a child? I know sometimes they are asleep and quiet but can you really forget about them? If The Lord ever does bless me and Kaycee with a child, I would never forget about my child. How could I? We turn around if we leave our cell phone in the car and I'm supposed to believe that someone suddenly forgets that they have a child when they run in the store! No way.
If you have a child then you have been blessed with something very special. Act like it. Don't "forget" your child is in the car. Don't say "I'm only going to be just a minute." You won't be. You will see someone you know in the store and you will stand there and talk for a while.
Here is the bottom line. If you have a child, take care of him or her. If it is too much of a "hassle" for you to get your child out of the car and take them inside with you, make other arrangements. Have someone go to the store for you. Have someone take care of your child while you go to the store.
If I am walking through a parking lot and see a car with a child sitting alone in it, I will probably be making a phone call to get that child some help. Please, don't leave your child alone in a car. That's not how parenting works.
I was up early yesterday morning and caught a story on Local ABC News about people leaving their children in the car while they ran into the store. They did an experiment with a test dummy baby and had these results. It was 98 degrees outside of the car. After ten minutes of being in the hot sun, the temperature in the car was 110 with a heat index of 144.
It breaks my heart that every summer no matter where I have lived I hear these same stories on the news. A young child's life is taken because of negligence of the parents. What made this story even worse was that the news reporter said that most parents "forget their child is in the car." She went on to say something similar about pets being left in the car.
Here is my thought. Can you really forget you have a child? I know sometimes they are asleep and quiet but can you really forget about them? If The Lord ever does bless me and Kaycee with a child, I would never forget about my child. How could I? We turn around if we leave our cell phone in the car and I'm supposed to believe that someone suddenly forgets that they have a child when they run in the store! No way.
If you have a child then you have been blessed with something very special. Act like it. Don't "forget" your child is in the car. Don't say "I'm only going to be just a minute." You won't be. You will see someone you know in the store and you will stand there and talk for a while.
Here is the bottom line. If you have a child, take care of him or her. If it is too much of a "hassle" for you to get your child out of the car and take them inside with you, make other arrangements. Have someone go to the store for you. Have someone take care of your child while you go to the store.
If I am walking through a parking lot and see a car with a child sitting alone in it, I will probably be making a phone call to get that child some help. Please, don't leave your child alone in a car. That's not how parenting works.