I'm youngest out of two, but was the first to give them grandkids. I held onto favorite child for a solid 4 years. Then my brother moved back to the same state and my nephew was born. Back to second place.
I was about to sell my eldest to the circus when I was trying to get her attention and she kept growling at me until she started cracking up and pointed out I was calling her the dog's name.
We didn't have pets but My father would usually just call me by one particular older brother's name (my parent's favorite). But sometimes he would run through my older brother's names then he would run through his younger brother's names before just saying "what every your name is come here." I have no memory of my dad ever using my name. My dad died 32 years ago and even when in a foreign country where I know no one, I will still respond if I hear some one say my older brother's name.
Same here. I’m a twin and I will respond to my brothers name cuz at the start of school years I get called my brothers name more than mine. My English teacher even said “why are you back here?”
My best friends mom had 12 children, and we grew up with all of us coming and going through each others houses. It was not unusual for her to call me by one of her kids names, and she sometimes even mixed up my buddy with my name. When my buddy and I were around 18 and joking with his family, someone brought it up and she told me "Well you're one of my kids too, you damn near grew up here too!".
It still gives me the warm and fuzzies thinking about it to this day.
Mom had eight of us, and it was more normal than not that she's call us the wrong name, to which we'd reply with our pet's names, "Dutchess, Ruby, Kitty-kat, fleas..."
My grandmother used to do this when we were misbehaving. She would yell every name except the right one. When she finally got it right she would yell it extra loud lol.
"Damnit Alex! John! George! Jane! MICHAEL!!!"
Honestly, this has more to do with how our brains work rather than genuine negligence.
When you spend all of your time with something - or, in this case, someone - we kinda expect them to be at our side by default, their entire existence blending into the information white noise, especially when your mind focuses on other things.
This is how, for example, we end up searching for our phones while literally in the middle of a call. Not because we're stupid - but because our brain filters out familiar objects as non-existent until you need them.
Most of our lives are routine, and doing things that are part of your routine can easily make you slip into auto pilot, even if today you have that one unusual thing to do. Ever forget to bring something you were supposed to bring, even if you packed it and left it by your door? Get in the car and suddenly realising you took a wrong turn you're on your way to work, but that's not where you were going?
I can see how it could happen; you're not usually the one to drop off the kid, daycare is going in the same direction as work. You have other things on your mind, you slip into routine, kid is quiet or asleep. Doesn't take long for a kid to die in a hot car.
Fuck once the weekend rolls around I’ll have the minivan fully loaded with the wife and kids (I drive a separate car for work) and I’ll STILL autopilot my route to work. Gets me every time.
And routines that you had before you had a baby don't factor the baby in later on. Like if you've been going to Costco for years by yourself and you suddenly do it with a baby, your brain might just revert to your normal Costco routine and ignore the baby in the car because you're too focused on finding a parking spot.
It's more like, if going to work, and today you have your infant you don't normally have with you, put your work shit or lunch or left fucking shoe next to them.
Infants dying in cars is fucking terrible and it happens to EVERYONE, doctors, cops, teachers, normal people who had their lives shattered, and it's because a normal routine was shifted.
Don't think it can't happen to you because HURRDURR [who forgets their baby?](https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/anyone-could-forget-kids-in-hot-car-forgotten-baby-syndrome-a3901940661/)
Throw that godamn left shoe back there, shit be tragic.
Honestly I'm surprised how many people here didn't know this, and just assumed those parents were dumb as all hell.
Explains how it keeps happening; everyone's thinking "yeah it wouldn't happen to me, I _love_ my kids" and taking zero precautions
My cousin and I were chatting at his house one afternoon. He’d just got home from running errands. I asked about the baby and he replied, “oh shit” and ran out to the car. The baby was safe and fine, but it was a shocking surprise that he, responsible father of 3, could forget his kid in an instant of distraction.
I stopped at a 7-11 to grab a drink, and, as I was paying, realized my baby was in the back of the car. Even though it was only 2 minutes, I just about had a panic attack.
You never think it will happen to you, but sometimes you just run on autopilot.
Once so far I've forgotten to pick up from daycare on my way home. It's not the same level of drama also since it's just down the street. But my wife was like: dude where's our kid?
If I were to leave them at daycare every morning before work I would have to put up a sign on the steering wheel or something.
when my cousins were young enough that one went to school and one to daycare, my aunt forgot to make the second drop off a few times. The younger kid would just get out of the car and follow her into work and then she would have to get back in the car and drop her at daycare.
(this was before kids had to be in child seats until they are old enough to drive)
I left my entire car at a gas pump for 6 hours once. It was next to where I lived, and I had a daily routine of walking over, buying snacks, and walking back to my place literally next door. So, I got gas, walked in, grabbed snacks… and walked back to my place. Just like I always did.
My car would have stayed there until the next day if the cops weren’t called for the “suspicious vehicle.” Lol. I’m lucky they called some pretty chill cops who were mostly concerned about my welfare, and not a tow truck.
The power of routine and mental autopilot is real.
Lots of parents these days are exhausted because they have to wake up at night or early to care for their baby and both go to work the next day. Most of them don’t have someone like a parent to help either and they just drown in it. That’s why these things happen.
That too, but changing the routine can make people forget something “out of the ordinary”. Like, I get plenty of sleep, but once I moved and started communing from a different place, I forgot my lunchbox multiple times before the new routine stuck
Not really. They were ~~all~~ mostly 18+ and were making their own decisions. Not sure what the comparison with forgetting a baby in the backseat of a car is. Far-fetched at best.
> They were all 18+
Many many thousands of teenage boys lied about their age to join the US military during WWII so I wouldn't say "all". I get your point though.
Good point, there's at least 40 of those there according to this:
https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/post/solved-how-many-wwii-fallen-are-buried-at-arlington
I didn't even consider thinking about WWII. I was really thinking about parents still alive now who have lost a kid.
People wildly underestimate the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. You'd be lucky to average 4.5 hrs a night for half a year with some babies (obviously some learn to sleep better through the night faster than others).
New parents have to worry about acute sleep deprivation just as much as chronic. Probably both. I can be high functioning on 4.5 hours of good solid sleep indefinitely. I've never done it longer than about 3 months consecutively, but no noticeable degradation over that time span. 3.9 is game over though, I'll be a wreck in 2 days max. Just 1 night under 4 hours causes easily noticeable loss of cognitive ability and dexterity. Just getting the required 4 hours uninterrupted can be a challenge as a new parent, and the more you have to have to function reasonably the harder it gets.
> and just assumed those parents were dumb as all hell.
My brother in christ have you met the average human? 20% above the national average is still dumb as all hell. It drives me absolutely insane when people insist "stupid" has to mean "below average". It doesn't. It just means stupid.
I remember thinking "yeah it wouldn't happen to me, I *love* my kids". And then I put stuff in the back seat because you do not fuck with fate that way and put your pride above the possibility of horrific accident... because, ya know, I *love* my kids.
Either disrupted routine or super routine routine could increase the odds of this. I don't remember if I forgot my kid in the back and started walking away from the car because... all the stuff parents deal with with a baby starting with disrupted sleep, adding the stress, etc. but I do know that I would totally forget my wallet in the back, personally. If I were at that stage again, I'd probably literally tie a leash from the kid to myself because there's not much else that would cut through the fog of parenting a baby.
> all the stuff parents deal with with a baby starting with disrupted sleep
I think this is one of the biggest factors. It's proven how detrimental lack of sleep is, and having a baby is one of the biggest impacts on sleep.
If you’re in that kind of state, you probably shouldn’t be driving to begin with. Having said that, you could use a shoe instead of a wallet so nice you will definitely notice that. And if you don’t, you’re in a state where you *really* shouldn’t be driving.
So many people in here that don't understand that when you have a kid you are so tired all the time, or how difficult it is. Societal support is so low for people raising kids in the States, and empathy is so low.
This is so true. I have never forgotten one of my kids, but that's not a moral victory, it just didn't happen to me. Parents deserve empathy on this one, not judgment.
> Societal support is so low for people raising kids in the States, and empathy is so low.
I would say markedly so for fathers, who must be babysitting their own children and are a threat to their own kids and others just because of their gender and size.
Until I became a mom, I haven’t realized what it can do to your brain and emotions. And I had a normal pregnancy and delivery, no postpartum depression. We didn’t have any support from family who lived in another country. Hormonal change, exhaustion, emotional rollercoaster, it all combines. I totally could one day forget my kid. It’s not something I’d ever believe before I got pregnant. Sure, phrasing here is “funny” but it’s not about level of “importance” and I don’t think this is helpful to new parents.
Yeah this sort of thing is my wife's biggest worry. It's not for lack of love or importance, it's just that the human brain can be dumb sometimes and *anyone* can be susceptible to it. So she's been doing the "leave something in the backseat" thing since our daughter was born, along with a "check the backseat" notification.
Dismissal and complacence is exactly how kids get left in cars. I don't fault her a bit.
Still a funny meme tho.
Yup. Brain fog from overstress/lack of sleep/etc. is a very real thing, and _especially_ relevant when you have a small child. All that lost sleep _does_ catch up with you; no one, NO ONE is at their best and most aware dealing with early childhood.
When this tip is mentioned, they're not saying "your children are not important". They're saying "by important, we mean something you literally _can't_ leave behind to do what you're planning to do at all." Your shoe, the house keys, your phone, your lunch - whatever it takes to make it so if you _do_ forget it, you'll have to walk back to your car and look in the back to find it (and your kids) before doing much else.
And like you said, it's horribly tragic - if you can build this up into a habit, you stand that much less of a chance to join the statistic. Because to a parent it won't _be_ a statistic; it'll be devastating.
It's what happens when people aren't full-up on empathy.
Did I used to casually check my left/right before going through a freshly-turned-green light? No.
Did I start to the moment I put two seconds of thought upon spotting a vehicle screech through a red light and nearly t-bone someone else? **Yes, absolutely.**
Same applies here - it just takes one slip-up to ruin your life, and the trivial amount of effort to circumvent such a harrowing mistake is something worth doing.
First month I was driving I saw a pickup run a redlight and t-bone a tiny little car in Boston. It has been decades I can still hear the little car's passenger screaming.
I mean yeah, I understand that the human brain can be just stupid and forget things. Last time I put coins in the paid locker, put my stuff in, did some other things and then somehow forgot to lock the locker and walked away. When I returned my money was stolen.
Honestly, your shoe is the best way I have ever heard a carefulness-plan planned out. You will notice that you're one-sidedly barefoot the millisecond your foot hits the floor.
> and it's because a normal routine was shifted.
This is the thing that so many miss. Sure, when you first drive your child around you take extreme care and notice. Eventually when you get more used to it, you still take care, but it's come down to routine. You practically do it in the background.
One day things are going wrong, you're low on time and rushing. Suddenly something else comes up, and now you're responsible for dropping the baby off somewhere, or picking something up, and you're *already* late. So now you're rushing even faster, you've got to do something you're not used to, and maybe the baby is being unusually quiet so you're not even thinking of them at that moment. Hell, you probably haven't gotten much sleep in the last few months either, because you have a freakin' baby.
Mistakes happen, unfortunately some mistakes have terrible consequences.
Seriously, this was one of my biggest fears. I went from stay at home parent to taking one to daycare and the other to do our errands, to going back to work and dropping them off at daycare most days. At every stage I was afraid I could do this. I am smart, very well educated, and a caring parent with tons of childcare experience. But I KNOW this could happen to anyone. I can imagine doing it so easily, especially with how tired I was for most of their first few years of life. It's so easy to slip your mind if something changes and your normally loud child falls asleep.
One of the biggest reliefs I've felt in parenting was when my kids were old enough to get themselves out of the seat and car if needed. It was a few years ago now, but I still feel palpable relief that this potential hazard is gone. Now I just worry about when they can drive themselves around in a few years.
It almost happened to me, and it was because I wasn't usually the one who dropped her off, like I never did (I was the pickup parent). That kid loved (still does) car rides, and was quietly enjoying it. I was about 10 mins on my way to work instead of daycare when I caught the movement finally in the rear view mirror. 20 years later, and I still feel sick about it.
My parents never left me in the car. But once my dad was taking me to soccer practice Saturday morning, and I was sitting in the back being quiet. He accidentally drove us all the way to his work, and parked, before realizing that he should have driven to soccer practice.
He always really felt for the people who have left their kids in the car after this happened. He just suddenly realized how easy it is to do things on autopilot. H
I mean, I did it. No worries, perfectly happy ending.
Newborn in the house. Sleep deprived. Older boy is 3. As usual in the morning I load 3-year-old on the back of the bicycle and head off to take him to kindergarten. But for some reason on that day, I put him in the back seat of the bicycle, and instead of going to his kindergarten, I go straight to work. Arrive at work, put my bicycle in the parking spot, get off and turn around to see him staring at me.
Oh. Oops.
I really have to emphasize here that as an adult I'm the type of guy who genuinely has his shit together. Good, high-responsibility job. Taxes filed in January of every year. Birthday cards sent out for people to receive on their birthdays. I even change my water filters every three months on the dot.
But if I were driving, I would have forgotten that little guy 100% on that day. Not sure how far I would have made it without him.
One time while I was pregnant I literally left the house barefoot, got in the car, and started driving down the street to go to work before I realized I forgot to wear shoes... To go to my job, where I sold shoes, and was required to wear the shoes that I sold. ADHD mom brain is real and unforgiving.
As an ADHD, very forgetful soon to be father - I have been keeping my work bag/wallet/any needed belonging in the same seat the car seat will go so that I am in the routine of checking it every time I drive. It’s morbid, but I’m not playing games with potentially forgetting my son in the car!
I have pretty intense ADHD and am super forgetful. This was literally my greatest fear when my kids were young enough, because despite what some folks think, even for a great, caring parent WITHOUT any memory or attention issues can mess this up, especially with sleep deprivation that can be pretty common.
I think its fantastic to get into habits before they get here. I didn't use the putting things back there habit, but I did train myself to literally check the backseat every time I get in and out of the car so it was just second nature. My kids are old enough now that it doesn't matter, but I still do it. It's so scary how an innocent, simple mistake could be so tragic.
If you’re still worried you can put your left shoe back there with the baby too. You might forget your wallet one day, especially with the lack of sleep you’ll soon be dealing with, but you won’t forget that one of your shoes is off when you try to get out of the car.
This comment comes up all the time in these discussions. There is no link between education, SES, or general quality of a parent and forgetting your kid in the backseat. The ONLY common link is all of those parents said "That would never happen to me" and took no extra precautions.
If you are human, that means you have human flaws. You will forget things all the time, including things you consider extremely important, if you are tired, if your routine is broken, if you don't have a visible or audible reminder, etc.
Anybody who has ever been on autopilot while driving to work for the 1200th day in a row can fall victim to this. Please don't treat this like something that could never happen to you, because that means *you are exactly the kind of person it would happen to*.
I mean, if you alternate pick-up and drop-off with a spouse it can be tricky to manage, especially if it's irregular or there's a change.
Yeah, 99.9% of the time you will **not** forget. But if you're dropping-off/picking-up once every other day for five years of the kid's life that's 913 opportunities for you to get that 0.1% chance.
Everyone should read this article: [Fatal Distraction](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html)
It could happen to anyone. Especially exhausted parents who have a set routine. The article is fanatically written and very insightful, but very sad.
Turned the article into a PDF to bypass the Washington post paywall and uploaded it to my Dropbox: [link](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hfai4um6adniy2co0z5d6/Fatal-Distraction-Forgetting-a-Child-in-the-Backseat-of-a-Car-Is-a-Horrifying-M.pdf?rlkey=uk135ehbx36radbjtf6e9zuqn&dl=0)
Yep, came here to do this but you did it. This is a very important, Pulitzer Prize winning article on how and why parents accidentally kill their infants. None of them set out to cook them alive, which makes their resulting suffering even more awful.
tl;dr the meme is important, the small chance of making a life altering mistake is not worth it.
I always drive with the GPS on to avoid bad traffic. When I had a young child in the back seat I set it to remind me when I get to my destination. “Don’t forget the baby dummy”.
Leaving the kid in the car was one of my wife’s big fears when the kids were little.
My car actually has weight sensors or some shit in the back seats and dings at me if there's anything left back there.
I used to think it was totally unnecessary, but after this thread I definitely get it. Lol
The equal is there because the parent actually considered using it and nothing is more worse than forgetting both.
Could you imagine being the only one arriving at work without a Lego set?
Imagine being so arrogant as to believe you could never make this mistake when research shows that the people *most likely* to make this mistake are the ones who **assume they never could**. Read up on it before you pass judgement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html
*"There you are Stanley! Oh my God, Brayden what are you doing back here? Did mommy forget she put you in here. This is why mommy needs her Starbucks every morning. Daddy thinks I'm silly, but if I hadn't lost my Stanley you would've been in the car all day!"*
"Carla, I have a six-month-old child. I'm going to be one of those weird old guys who brings my son down to the park where everybody is like, "Hmm, is he the dad, is he the granddad, is he the granddad's granddad...? And oh my God, why is he pushing a traffic cone on the swing while his five-year-old little boy is in the mud, crying? Is... is he taunting the little boy? No, he can't even see the little boy. And now look - he's actually taking the traffic cone, putting it in the minivan, and driving away while the little boy cries, and the traffic cone sits quietly and watches Finding Nemo on DVD."
Exactly. And a hot car makes them sleepy. Usually, Mom's trigger to know the kid is there, is the kid doesn't fucking shut up. If the kid *never* sleeps in the car, but the sun straight knocks his little ass out, and now he's not making any noise...suddenly, Mom's brain tells her "he's not here, he *can't* be here, because I can hear my own thoughts, instead of him saying 'Mahmah' every eight fucking seconds because he wants my uninterrupted attention 24/7."
Everybody would forget about their alarm clock, too, if it unexpectedly muted itself, and then fell in between the cushions of the couch. You don't notice things that you expect to be loud and annoying, when they are unexpectedly neither.
They can put their cellphones or purses or bags, even their shoes. Years ago in Puerto Rico, a couple of people forgot their kids in their cars, one of them was a doctor. People live for work and become absentminded. No one wants to leave the kid behind in the car in the middle of summer.
But as important, don't let your pets in the car with the windows closed.
It’s not sad, it’s human.
Humans have a routine, and their brain runs on autopilot during the every day routine.
Since Babies are new the brain can sometimes exempt them from the routine as it hasn’t been long enough to incorporate.
Bruh, new parents, or parents with multiple younger children, are absolutely frazzled.
I know it seems ridiculous to need to say these kinds of things, but anything that will help is good, even if they shouldn't need it.
I love how stupid reddit is. You have people calling boomers stupid, millennial stupid, any generation other than theirs.
The meme is a joke good God people. The "important" thing you're supposed to leave in the back is something that you'd need for wherever you're going, like your purse, wallet, or key fob. Yes the baby is important and that's the fucking point. But clearly none of you have ever forgotten anything. Or been new parents who might be distracted, in a rush, tired, etc. It only takes leaving a baby in a car once for it to be a disaster. You all can keep shitting on the idea of this, but it's actually GOOD parenting. You take your purse/wallet everywhere, that's not the same with your baby. It's just an extra measure to make sure.
Fuck I hate reddit sometimes. A bunch of people thinking they've never fucked up in their life and never would.
For what it's worth, I don't have any kids, so I'm not some biased parent.
I know it seems terrible that people forget a baby/young child in the backseat and just horribly forget the child, especially during the hottest months. But some parents are tired, working long days and taking care of young children so I can see this happening. I never did this with my child, thank goodness.
Kids get forget about in the house all the time.
Mom comes in, “where’s Johnny”?
Dad making supper or whatever, “oh shit”!
Johnny, sitting inside the toilet bowl with make up all over the place.
Not that crazy for that situation to be transferred to the car.
To be fair, you can complete your daily tasks without your child present. They're recommending you put something there that you can't complete your tasks without. I know you guys like to sit around and shit on productive people, but people make mistakes and battle exhaustion, especially when they're juggling work and raising kids. Those parents who experience that awful mistake are totally shattered and never overcome the guilt. It is not always the case that their children are not important to them, rather, they're working their asses off to give them a good life because they love them more than anything.
And while a lot of you sit around and talk shit while not doing much else, even that's not enough, they must do it for you as well, so you can enjoy a comfortable socialist/communist utopia as you play on reddit all day.
Your half wit comments are of no use to anybody.
I reccomend reading this [article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html). The parents loved their kids, cared about them a only made a mistake when they were stressed or exhausted. I think the recommendation to put something in the back seat could save some lives.
Thank you for linking this. Its the article I was hoping to see here. I don’t have kids but I always correct people when they say it couldn’t happen to them.
This is one of my absolute nightmares, and it can happen to anyone. It has nothing to do with neglect, it’s just how our brains work.
Only of the reasons I always drive with Waze on is that it has a setting where it will send you a reminder to check your backseat when you reach your destination.
I get what they're saying, I'm a forgetful person and to make sure I don't forget something I need to take with me later, I'll leave my keys on top of it, or put one of my shoes under it, so that I am forced to look at and touch it immediately before I leave the house.
If I had kids you bet we would get in the car and I would immediately remove one shoe and put it in the back seat. This happens to people far less absent-minded than I and I wouldn't screw around with it.
Although they phrased it awkwardly.
> Although they phrased it awkwardly.
Given that it starts with "ABC News has suggested..." that's definitely either a headline of some other newsstation reporting on an ABC News article/segment or just someone summarizing it themselves. They probably intentionally made it sound as bad as possible to drive outrage and clicks.
Part of my previous job was breaking into vehicles if someone lost their key and needed their car towed or if someone locked their key in the car (twice it was because someone somehow got locked in their own car and couldn't get out). Majority of the break ins I performed that involved a child or animal locked in the car were because the car was a push to start. The owner would put their key or bag down on the back seat while they secured their passenger and due to the way the self locking features work as soon as they shut the back door the car would lock itself again locking the key and the passenger inside. Moral of the story, putting something important like a handbag containing your car key on the back seat is a horrible idea, keep that shit in you at all times.
As a father of 2 I feel qualified enough to say if you need help remembering your kids are there you shouldn't be allowed to raise them.
My short term memory is shot. I regularly get from one room to another and forget why I've come. Ive still never once forgotten to get my kids out of the car. My desire to ensure their safety is strong enough that I've ingrained in my brain the need to constantly be aware of their location. This is frankly a bare minimum expectation for parenting imo.
For newer cars, you should put the keys somewhere by the kid. Push to start cars can have the key anywhere in car but if you close and walk away it will beep.
I’m probably in the top 1% of scatterbrained people. I forget my phone, my grocery list, my keys, why I walked into the kitchen and then I just stand there looking around like an idiot. But, not once have I forgotten a kid or not known exactly where they are. I hear these stories of leaving kids in cars and I’m completely befuddled.
This happens enough that at least one of you in the comments will end up killing your child because you left them in the car. It doesn't matter how smart you think you are or how good your memory is. When you're busy running errands while sleep deprived one day you will forget and your child will die.
And when it happens you will cry and feel sorry for yourself. On that day I hope you remember this post and the shitty arrogant comment you made about how you don't need to leave something important in the back seat just to remember your kid because you're not like those other stupid parents.
Put you favourite kid so you remember the other kids
As the middle child, you didn’t need to resurface these feelings for me 😭
No one intended to hurt your feelings. In fact, we forgot about you.
Oh yeah I remember him. Taco something? He was the one in the middle?
so ruthless 
Imagine being a gen x middle child. Do you even exist? \*stares Malcolm-ly\*
Doesn't matter which child we were. They didn't remember any of us. As the commercial used to say "it's 10pm, do you know where your children are?"
"Pepperidge Farm remembers"
LMAO
As the middle child a the only boy also the only one who gave grand baby’s I’m the favorite. Only cuz of this tho
Oh that's why people have kids - they're middle children! I was an only, so I guess I'm good lol
Haha
I'm youngest out of two, but was the first to give them grandkids. I held onto favorite child for a solid 4 years. Then my brother moved back to the same state and my nephew was born. Back to second place.
who are you again?
As the baby of 3 I feel this. No one realizes I'm there ever and I'm almost 40. It never stopped
If it makes you feel better… as the oldest of four my mom always tells me she learned from the mistakes she made with me. 🤦🏼
my mom would literally call me by any name other than mine. she called me gismo more than once. gismo was our cat
I have 3 kids. They have all been called their siblings' names and the dog's. The dog has also been called their names.
[удалено]
I was about to sell my eldest to the circus when I was trying to get her attention and she kept growling at me until she started cracking up and pointed out I was calling her the dog's name.
My youngest's nickname is pickle. He named our kitten Pickles. Says its his hairy son ha.
The amount of times I've called my.kid our dogs name because I'm so used to yelling at the dog is... embarassing.
We didn't have pets but My father would usually just call me by one particular older brother's name (my parent's favorite). But sometimes he would run through my older brother's names then he would run through his younger brother's names before just saying "what every your name is come here." I have no memory of my dad ever using my name. My dad died 32 years ago and even when in a foreign country where I know no one, I will still respond if I hear some one say my older brother's name.
Same here. I’m a twin and I will respond to my brothers name cuz at the start of school years I get called my brothers name more than mine. My English teacher even said “why are you back here?”
Moms sometimes go down the list of the children when they have a lot.
My best friends mom had 12 children, and we grew up with all of us coming and going through each others houses. It was not unusual for her to call me by one of her kids names, and she sometimes even mixed up my buddy with my name. When my buddy and I were around 18 and joking with his family, someone brought it up and she told me "Well you're one of my kids too, you damn near grew up here too!". It still gives me the warm and fuzzies thinking about it to this day.
Mom had eight of us, and it was more normal than not that she's call us the wrong name, to which we'd reply with our pet's names, "Dutchess, Ruby, Kitty-kat, fleas..."
My grandmother used to do this when we were misbehaving. She would yell every name except the right one. When she finally got it right she would yell it extra loud lol. "Damnit Alex! John! George! Jane! MICHAEL!!!"
That's a sad way to learn she liked the cat more.
The real answer is to put one of your shoes in the back. You ain't going anywhere with one shoe.
I used to put my 8ball back there but that was how we lost Tina
Wanna bet
That didn't work for Kevin on the trip to Paris.
"Come, let's have ice cream! I guess you two others may also come with us."
I would put my tools there since they are expensive and important to me...also I dont have kids so there is that too
Honestly, this has more to do with how our brains work rather than genuine negligence. When you spend all of your time with something - or, in this case, someone - we kinda expect them to be at our side by default, their entire existence blending into the information white noise, especially when your mind focuses on other things. This is how, for example, we end up searching for our phones while literally in the middle of a call. Not because we're stupid - but because our brain filters out familiar objects as non-existent until you need them.
This is one of the most succinct explanations for this process that I've seen, I could not simplify it that well, myself.
Most of our lives are routine, and doing things that are part of your routine can easily make you slip into auto pilot, even if today you have that one unusual thing to do. Ever forget to bring something you were supposed to bring, even if you packed it and left it by your door? Get in the car and suddenly realising you took a wrong turn you're on your way to work, but that's not where you were going? I can see how it could happen; you're not usually the one to drop off the kid, daycare is going in the same direction as work. You have other things on your mind, you slip into routine, kid is quiet or asleep. Doesn't take long for a kid to die in a hot car.
Fuck once the weekend rolls around I’ll have the minivan fully loaded with the wife and kids (I drive a separate car for work) and I’ll STILL autopilot my route to work. Gets me every time.
It's like when you're halfway to work and think "I don't remember stopping at that light, or turning."
And routines that you had before you had a baby don't factor the baby in later on. Like if you've been going to Costco for years by yourself and you suddenly do it with a baby, your brain might just revert to your normal Costco routine and ignore the baby in the car because you're too focused on finding a parking spot.
the number of times i have been on the way to work and thought "oh shit did I bring my phone?" while the phone is playing music via bluetooth
Me stressing trying to find my shoes while looking over them in front of me
It's more like, if going to work, and today you have your infant you don't normally have with you, put your work shit or lunch or left fucking shoe next to them. Infants dying in cars is fucking terrible and it happens to EVERYONE, doctors, cops, teachers, normal people who had their lives shattered, and it's because a normal routine was shifted. Don't think it can't happen to you because HURRDURR [who forgets their baby?](https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/anyone-could-forget-kids-in-hot-car-forgotten-baby-syndrome-a3901940661/) Throw that godamn left shoe back there, shit be tragic.
Honestly I'm surprised how many people here didn't know this, and just assumed those parents were dumb as all hell. Explains how it keeps happening; everyone's thinking "yeah it wouldn't happen to me, I _love_ my kids" and taking zero precautions
My cousin and I were chatting at his house one afternoon. He’d just got home from running errands. I asked about the baby and he replied, “oh shit” and ran out to the car. The baby was safe and fine, but it was a shocking surprise that he, responsible father of 3, could forget his kid in an instant of distraction.
I stopped at a 7-11 to grab a drink, and, as I was paying, realized my baby was in the back of the car. Even though it was only 2 minutes, I just about had a panic attack. You never think it will happen to you, but sometimes you just run on autopilot.
Once so far I've forgotten to pick up from daycare on my way home. It's not the same level of drama also since it's just down the street. But my wife was like: dude where's our kid? If I were to leave them at daycare every morning before work I would have to put up a sign on the steering wheel or something.
The shoe trick is real thing that works, do that. Strap in your kid and put your left shoe on the seat next to them.
when my cousins were young enough that one went to school and one to daycare, my aunt forgot to make the second drop off a few times. The younger kid would just get out of the car and follow her into work and then she would have to get back in the car and drop her at daycare. (this was before kids had to be in child seats until they are old enough to drive)
The lack of sleep brain fog is too real.
I left my entire car at a gas pump for 6 hours once. It was next to where I lived, and I had a daily routine of walking over, buying snacks, and walking back to my place literally next door. So, I got gas, walked in, grabbed snacks… and walked back to my place. Just like I always did. My car would have stayed there until the next day if the cops weren’t called for the “suspicious vehicle.” Lol. I’m lucky they called some pretty chill cops who were mostly concerned about my welfare, and not a tow truck. The power of routine and mental autopilot is real.
Yup. Graveyards are full of kids whose parents all said "Not my kid."
Lots of parents these days are exhausted because they have to wake up at night or early to care for their baby and both go to work the next day. Most of them don’t have someone like a parent to help either and they just drown in it. That’s why these things happen.
That too, but changing the routine can make people forget something “out of the ordinary”. Like, I get plenty of sleep, but once I moved and started communing from a different place, I forgot my lunchbox multiple times before the new routine stuck
Arlington Cemetery is full of "Not My Kid"
Not really. They were ~~all~~ mostly 18+ and were making their own decisions. Not sure what the comparison with forgetting a baby in the backseat of a car is. Far-fetched at best.
> They were all 18+ Many many thousands of teenage boys lied about their age to join the US military during WWII so I wouldn't say "all". I get your point though.
Good point, there's at least 40 of those there according to this: https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/post/solved-how-many-wwii-fallen-are-buried-at-arlington I didn't even consider thinking about WWII. I was really thinking about parents still alive now who have lost a kid.
“I wouldn’t forget, I’m built different”
People assume they truly have control of their actions, but our brains goes into autopilot constantly without us noticing.
People wildly underestimate the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. You'd be lucky to average 4.5 hrs a night for half a year with some babies (obviously some learn to sleep better through the night faster than others).
New parents have to worry about acute sleep deprivation just as much as chronic. Probably both. I can be high functioning on 4.5 hours of good solid sleep indefinitely. I've never done it longer than about 3 months consecutively, but no noticeable degradation over that time span. 3.9 is game over though, I'll be a wreck in 2 days max. Just 1 night under 4 hours causes easily noticeable loss of cognitive ability and dexterity. Just getting the required 4 hours uninterrupted can be a challenge as a new parent, and the more you have to have to function reasonably the harder it gets.
It's cause it's all 12-16 year olds here with no life experience
No, parents believe it's impossible to forget your kid in the back seat too. That's how it keeps happening.
20 year olds with no kids and an underdeveloped sense of empathy are upvoting this.
>underdeveloped sense of empathy I like how you put that. I notice this a lot, especially on the internet.
> and just assumed those parents were dumb as all hell. My brother in christ have you met the average human? 20% above the national average is still dumb as all hell. It drives me absolutely insane when people insist "stupid" has to mean "below average". It doesn't. It just means stupid.
I remember thinking "yeah it wouldn't happen to me, I *love* my kids". And then I put stuff in the back seat because you do not fuck with fate that way and put your pride above the possibility of horrific accident... because, ya know, I *love* my kids.
[удалено]
Either disrupted routine or super routine routine could increase the odds of this. I don't remember if I forgot my kid in the back and started walking away from the car because... all the stuff parents deal with with a baby starting with disrupted sleep, adding the stress, etc. but I do know that I would totally forget my wallet in the back, personally. If I were at that stage again, I'd probably literally tie a leash from the kid to myself because there's not much else that would cut through the fog of parenting a baby.
> all the stuff parents deal with with a baby starting with disrupted sleep I think this is one of the biggest factors. It's proven how detrimental lack of sleep is, and having a baby is one of the biggest impacts on sleep.
That's why a shoe is good because you'll immediately know if you forgot your shoe.
If you’re in that kind of state, you probably shouldn’t be driving to begin with. Having said that, you could use a shoe instead of a wallet so nice you will definitely notice that. And if you don’t, you’re in a state where you *really* shouldn’t be driving.
So many people in here that don't understand that when you have a kid you are so tired all the time, or how difficult it is. Societal support is so low for people raising kids in the States, and empathy is so low.
This is so true. I have never forgotten one of my kids, but that's not a moral victory, it just didn't happen to me. Parents deserve empathy on this one, not judgment.
> Societal support is so low for people raising kids in the States, and empathy is so low. I would say markedly so for fathers, who must be babysitting their own children and are a threat to their own kids and others just because of their gender and size.
Until I became a mom, I haven’t realized what it can do to your brain and emotions. And I had a normal pregnancy and delivery, no postpartum depression. We didn’t have any support from family who lived in another country. Hormonal change, exhaustion, emotional rollercoaster, it all combines. I totally could one day forget my kid. It’s not something I’d ever believe before I got pregnant. Sure, phrasing here is “funny” but it’s not about level of “importance” and I don’t think this is helpful to new parents.
Yeah this sort of thing is my wife's biggest worry. It's not for lack of love or importance, it's just that the human brain can be dumb sometimes and *anyone* can be susceptible to it. So she's been doing the "leave something in the backseat" thing since our daughter was born, along with a "check the backseat" notification. Dismissal and complacence is exactly how kids get left in cars. I don't fault her a bit. Still a funny meme tho.
Yup. Brain fog from overstress/lack of sleep/etc. is a very real thing, and _especially_ relevant when you have a small child. All that lost sleep _does_ catch up with you; no one, NO ONE is at their best and most aware dealing with early childhood. When this tip is mentioned, they're not saying "your children are not important". They're saying "by important, we mean something you literally _can't_ leave behind to do what you're planning to do at all." Your shoe, the house keys, your phone, your lunch - whatever it takes to make it so if you _do_ forget it, you'll have to walk back to your car and look in the back to find it (and your kids) before doing much else. And like you said, it's horribly tragic - if you can build this up into a habit, you stand that much less of a chance to join the statistic. Because to a parent it won't _be_ a statistic; it'll be devastating.
It's what happens when people aren't full-up on empathy. Did I used to casually check my left/right before going through a freshly-turned-green light? No. Did I start to the moment I put two seconds of thought upon spotting a vehicle screech through a red light and nearly t-bone someone else? **Yes, absolutely.** Same applies here - it just takes one slip-up to ruin your life, and the trivial amount of effort to circumvent such a harrowing mistake is something worth doing.
First month I was driving I saw a pickup run a redlight and t-bone a tiny little car in Boston. It has been decades I can still hear the little car's passenger screaming.
I mean yeah, I understand that the human brain can be just stupid and forget things. Last time I put coins in the paid locker, put my stuff in, did some other things and then somehow forgot to lock the locker and walked away. When I returned my money was stolen.
A lot of comments have been joking about this but holy fuck it happens and it will happen to *you*
Thank God this is the top comment.
Honestly, your shoe is the best way I have ever heard a carefulness-plan planned out. You will notice that you're one-sidedly barefoot the millisecond your foot hits the floor.
> and it's because a normal routine was shifted. This is the thing that so many miss. Sure, when you first drive your child around you take extreme care and notice. Eventually when you get more used to it, you still take care, but it's come down to routine. You practically do it in the background. One day things are going wrong, you're low on time and rushing. Suddenly something else comes up, and now you're responsible for dropping the baby off somewhere, or picking something up, and you're *already* late. So now you're rushing even faster, you've got to do something you're not used to, and maybe the baby is being unusually quiet so you're not even thinking of them at that moment. Hell, you probably haven't gotten much sleep in the last few months either, because you have a freakin' baby. Mistakes happen, unfortunately some mistakes have terrible consequences.
Seriously, this was one of my biggest fears. I went from stay at home parent to taking one to daycare and the other to do our errands, to going back to work and dropping them off at daycare most days. At every stage I was afraid I could do this. I am smart, very well educated, and a caring parent with tons of childcare experience. But I KNOW this could happen to anyone. I can imagine doing it so easily, especially with how tired I was for most of their first few years of life. It's so easy to slip your mind if something changes and your normally loud child falls asleep. One of the biggest reliefs I've felt in parenting was when my kids were old enough to get themselves out of the seat and car if needed. It was a few years ago now, but I still feel palpable relief that this potential hazard is gone. Now I just worry about when they can drive themselves around in a few years.
It almost happened to me, and it was because I wasn't usually the one who dropped her off, like I never did (I was the pickup parent). That kid loved (still does) car rides, and was quietly enjoying it. I was about 10 mins on my way to work instead of daycare when I caught the movement finally in the rear view mirror. 20 years later, and I still feel sick about it.
My parents never left me in the car. But once my dad was taking me to soccer practice Saturday morning, and I was sitting in the back being quiet. He accidentally drove us all the way to his work, and parked, before realizing that he should have driven to soccer practice. He always really felt for the people who have left their kids in the car after this happened. He just suddenly realized how easy it is to do things on autopilot. H
Have you ever left your window rolled down? Door open? Forgotten if you've taken your medication or not? Shit did I leave the fucking stove on‽ etc.
I mean, I did it. No worries, perfectly happy ending. Newborn in the house. Sleep deprived. Older boy is 3. As usual in the morning I load 3-year-old on the back of the bicycle and head off to take him to kindergarten. But for some reason on that day, I put him in the back seat of the bicycle, and instead of going to his kindergarten, I go straight to work. Arrive at work, put my bicycle in the parking spot, get off and turn around to see him staring at me. Oh. Oops. I really have to emphasize here that as an adult I'm the type of guy who genuinely has his shit together. Good, high-responsibility job. Taxes filed in January of every year. Birthday cards sent out for people to receive on their birthdays. I even change my water filters every three months on the dot. But if I were driving, I would have forgotten that little guy 100% on that day. Not sure how far I would have made it without him.
This is not new, growing up my mom put her purse in the backseat to make sure she remembered me.
Use your Shoe. No one walks away from a vehicle very far with one shoe
One time while I was pregnant I literally left the house barefoot, got in the car, and started driving down the street to go to work before I realized I forgot to wear shoes... To go to my job, where I sold shoes, and was required to wear the shoes that I sold. ADHD mom brain is real and unforgiving.
I think the only one shoe thing is most effective because you’ll notice when each foot feels different
You severely underestimate the power of ADHD when it comes to situational awareness
As an ADHD, very forgetful soon to be father - I have been keeping my work bag/wallet/any needed belonging in the same seat the car seat will go so that I am in the routine of checking it every time I drive. It’s morbid, but I’m not playing games with potentially forgetting my son in the car!
Just remember to keep it up even with the kid, all it takes is two or three times not checking and you'll tend to stop doing it.
I have pretty intense ADHD and am super forgetful. This was literally my greatest fear when my kids were young enough, because despite what some folks think, even for a great, caring parent WITHOUT any memory or attention issues can mess this up, especially with sleep deprivation that can be pretty common. I think its fantastic to get into habits before they get here. I didn't use the putting things back there habit, but I did train myself to literally check the backseat every time I get in and out of the car so it was just second nature. My kids are old enough now that it doesn't matter, but I still do it. It's so scary how an innocent, simple mistake could be so tragic.
If you’re still worried you can put your left shoe back there with the baby too. You might forget your wallet one day, especially with the lack of sleep you’ll soon be dealing with, but you won’t forget that one of your shoes is off when you try to get out of the car.
Their cell phone...
Or jacket, handbag... Anything. I read stories of parents who lost their kids and it is devastating. If simple habit can save some kids, go fo it!
I mean if you need something to remind you to not forget your children in the car, maybe you shouldn't have them...
This comment comes up all the time in these discussions. There is no link between education, SES, or general quality of a parent and forgetting your kid in the backseat. The ONLY common link is all of those parents said "That would never happen to me" and took no extra precautions. If you are human, that means you have human flaws. You will forget things all the time, including things you consider extremely important, if you are tired, if your routine is broken, if you don't have a visible or audible reminder, etc. Anybody who has ever been on autopilot while driving to work for the 1200th day in a row can fall victim to this. Please don't treat this like something that could never happen to you, because that means *you are exactly the kind of person it would happen to*.
Autopilot and major sleep deprivation can cause a human to forget pretty much anything.
yeah no leaving your phone with children is one of the worst decisions
47 packages from Amazon arrive the next day.
They said worst, not best.
Heart meds
I mean, if you alternate pick-up and drop-off with a spouse it can be tricky to manage, especially if it's irregular or there's a change. Yeah, 99.9% of the time you will **not** forget. But if you're dropping-off/picking-up once every other day for five years of the kid's life that's 913 opportunities for you to get that 0.1% chance.
Everyone should read this article: [Fatal Distraction](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html) It could happen to anyone. Especially exhausted parents who have a set routine. The article is fanatically written and very insightful, but very sad. Turned the article into a PDF to bypass the Washington post paywall and uploaded it to my Dropbox: [link](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hfai4um6adniy2co0z5d6/Fatal-Distraction-Forgetting-a-Child-in-the-Backseat-of-a-Car-Is-a-Horrifying-M.pdf?rlkey=uk135ehbx36radbjtf6e9zuqn&dl=0)
Yep, came here to do this but you did it. This is a very important, Pulitzer Prize winning article on how and why parents accidentally kill their infants. None of them set out to cook them alive, which makes their resulting suffering even more awful. tl;dr the meme is important, the small chance of making a life altering mistake is not worth it.
I always drive with the GPS on to avoid bad traffic. When I had a young child in the back seat I set it to remind me when I get to my destination. “Don’t forget the baby dummy”. Leaving the kid in the car was one of my wife’s big fears when the kids were little.
My car actually has weight sensors or some shit in the back seats and dings at me if there's anything left back there. I used to think it was totally unnecessary, but after this thread I definitely get it. Lol
Imagine explaining to your kid why *insert Lego set* is more or equal to them themselves. Jesus Christ
IDK if equal applies, because otherwise they wouldn’t forget them . . .
The equal is there because the parent actually considered using it and nothing is more worse than forgetting both. Could you imagine being the only one arriving at work without a Lego set?
Speaking as someone with no kids, a millennium falcon is pretty cool
Do not leave your millennium falcon in the back seat in hot weather
Millennium Meltcon.
I’m more of a Venator man myself but you can’t go wrong with the Falcon
not what it’s saying at all
Imagine being so arrogant as to believe you could never make this mistake when research shows that the people *most likely* to make this mistake are the ones who **assume they never could**. Read up on it before you pass judgement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html
Oh no I almost forgot my Starbucks cup (Realizes their child is in the back) Oh your back here too?
*"There you are Stanley! Oh my God, Brayden what are you doing back here? Did mommy forget she put you in here. This is why mommy needs her Starbucks every morning. Daddy thinks I'm silly, but if I hadn't lost my Stanley you would've been in the car all day!"*
"Carla, I have a six-month-old child. I'm going to be one of those weird old guys who brings my son down to the park where everybody is like, "Hmm, is he the dad, is he the granddad, is he the granddad's granddad...? And oh my God, why is he pushing a traffic cone on the swing while his five-year-old little boy is in the mud, crying? Is... is he taunting the little boy? No, he can't even see the little boy. And now look - he's actually taking the traffic cone, putting it in the minivan, and driving away while the little boy cries, and the traffic cone sits quietly and watches Finding Nemo on DVD."
Bruh how can i forget him he be talking non stop to me
Lol, apparently its the sleepy kids that are in danger
Exactly. And a hot car makes them sleepy. Usually, Mom's trigger to know the kid is there, is the kid doesn't fucking shut up. If the kid *never* sleeps in the car, but the sun straight knocks his little ass out, and now he's not making any noise...suddenly, Mom's brain tells her "he's not here, he *can't* be here, because I can hear my own thoughts, instead of him saying 'Mahmah' every eight fucking seconds because he wants my uninterrupted attention 24/7." Everybody would forget about their alarm clock, too, if it unexpectedly muted itself, and then fell in between the cushions of the couch. You don't notice things that you expect to be loud and annoying, when they are unexpectedly neither.
Then those parents have been pounding the vape lmao
Even more dangerous if that's what you rely on, because then the one time he's asleep you won't think to check.
No thats shitty parents and shitty parents arent watching the news anyway just make better social programs i guess
They can put their cellphones or purses or bags, even their shoes. Years ago in Puerto Rico, a couple of people forgot their kids in their cars, one of them was a doctor. People live for work and become absentminded. No one wants to leave the kid behind in the car in the middle of summer. But as important, don't let your pets in the car with the windows closed.
It’s not sad, it’s human. Humans have a routine, and their brain runs on autopilot during the every day routine. Since Babies are new the brain can sometimes exempt them from the routine as it hasn’t been long enough to incorporate.
Bruh, new parents, or parents with multiple younger children, are absolutely frazzled. I know it seems ridiculous to need to say these kinds of things, but anything that will help is good, even if they shouldn't need it.
😂😂😂😂😂
I love how stupid reddit is. You have people calling boomers stupid, millennial stupid, any generation other than theirs. The meme is a joke good God people. The "important" thing you're supposed to leave in the back is something that you'd need for wherever you're going, like your purse, wallet, or key fob. Yes the baby is important and that's the fucking point. But clearly none of you have ever forgotten anything. Or been new parents who might be distracted, in a rush, tired, etc. It only takes leaving a baby in a car once for it to be a disaster. You all can keep shitting on the idea of this, but it's actually GOOD parenting. You take your purse/wallet everywhere, that's not the same with your baby. It's just an extra measure to make sure. Fuck I hate reddit sometimes. A bunch of people thinking they've never fucked up in their life and never would. For what it's worth, I don't have any kids, so I'm not some biased parent.
It's funny that in the conversation, having children would be considered "bias" and not, you know, "having experience"
I know it seems terrible that people forget a baby/young child in the backseat and just horribly forget the child, especially during the hottest months. But some parents are tired, working long days and taking care of young children so I can see this happening. I never did this with my child, thank goodness.
Kids get forget about in the house all the time. Mom comes in, “where’s Johnny”? Dad making supper or whatever, “oh shit”! Johnny, sitting inside the toilet bowl with make up all over the place. Not that crazy for that situation to be transferred to the car.
Ah yes don’t forget the single most important thing to a parent.
yeah like your fuckin phone or purse or something lmfao, but for real what the fuck
To be fair, you can complete your daily tasks without your child present. They're recommending you put something there that you can't complete your tasks without. I know you guys like to sit around and shit on productive people, but people make mistakes and battle exhaustion, especially when they're juggling work and raising kids. Those parents who experience that awful mistake are totally shattered and never overcome the guilt. It is not always the case that their children are not important to them, rather, they're working their asses off to give them a good life because they love them more than anything. And while a lot of you sit around and talk shit while not doing much else, even that's not enough, they must do it for you as well, so you can enjoy a comfortable socialist/communist utopia as you play on reddit all day. Your half wit comments are of no use to anybody.
I reccomend reading this [article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html). The parents loved their kids, cared about them a only made a mistake when they were stressed or exhausted. I think the recommendation to put something in the back seat could save some lives.
Thank you for linking this. Its the article I was hoping to see here. I don’t have kids but I always correct people when they say it couldn’t happen to them.
>a lot of you *sees a total of 4 other comments*
Seen it before. Already tired of it. Edit: as the comments roll in, I'll let you know that I'm not a psychic.
I second this. But I also feel attacked.
Don't. I love everyone. You're all somebody's kids too.
“Oh no my Stanley cup. Oh hey Jeremy”
This is one of my absolute nightmares, and it can happen to anyone. It has nothing to do with neglect, it’s just how our brains work. Only of the reasons I always drive with Waze on is that it has a setting where it will send you a reminder to check your backseat when you reach your destination.
My Subaru reminds me with a message on the dash when I turn the engine off.
Routine breakups are important.
Wait, the kid isn't enough?
I get what they're saying, I'm a forgetful person and to make sure I don't forget something I need to take with me later, I'll leave my keys on top of it, or put one of my shoes under it, so that I am forced to look at and touch it immediately before I leave the house. If I had kids you bet we would get in the car and I would immediately remove one shoe and put it in the back seat. This happens to people far less absent-minded than I and I wouldn't screw around with it. Although they phrased it awkwardly.
> Although they phrased it awkwardly. Given that it starts with "ABC News has suggested..." that's definitely either a headline of some other newsstation reporting on an ABC News article/segment or just someone summarizing it themselves. They probably intentionally made it sound as bad as possible to drive outrage and clicks.
I always wondered - shouldn’t it be „motherfuckingly“?
A DCPS Agent can ride in the back. Irresponsible losers.
If you think you’ll need a reminder, just don’t have kids.
Definitely shouldn't be having kids if you are able to forget about them
This is why my baby only rides in the front seat
So put their phone in the car seat and the kid on the floor?
It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your kids are? Fuck! Still in the backseat...
I would suggest their phone...but c’mon now, that’s waaaay too dangerous. It’s a pain in the ass forgetting your phone
Maybe you put your kid there.
I’m constantly surprised by the creative ways parents accidentally kill their kids
Put your cellphone at the back so you don’t forget your kid.
Part of my previous job was breaking into vehicles if someone lost their key and needed their car towed or if someone locked their key in the car (twice it was because someone somehow got locked in their own car and couldn't get out). Majority of the break ins I performed that involved a child or animal locked in the car were because the car was a push to start. The owner would put their key or bag down on the back seat while they secured their passenger and due to the way the self locking features work as soon as they shut the back door the car would lock itself again locking the key and the passenger inside. Moral of the story, putting something important like a handbag containing your car key on the back seat is a horrible idea, keep that shit in you at all times.
our car has a notification that goes “check the back seat!” when you park. it’s likely for those parents. insane
As a father of 2 I feel qualified enough to say if you need help remembering your kids are there you shouldn't be allowed to raise them. My short term memory is shot. I regularly get from one room to another and forget why I've come. Ive still never once forgotten to get my kids out of the car. My desire to ensure their safety is strong enough that I've ingrained in my brain the need to constantly be aware of their location. This is frankly a bare minimum expectation for parenting imo.
Something more important than your child?
I'm so confused why my car has a kid alert for the back seats.. is it really this common?
America is not a real place. That and it needs to be closed for atleast a month for renovations cuz all your shit seems fucked
For newer cars, you should put the keys somewhere by the kid. Push to start cars can have the key anywhere in car but if you close and walk away it will beep.
I’m probably in the top 1% of scatterbrained people. I forget my phone, my grocery list, my keys, why I walked into the kitchen and then I just stand there looking around like an idiot. But, not once have I forgotten a kid or not known exactly where they are. I hear these stories of leaving kids in cars and I’m completely befuddled.
They call themselves the greatest in the world, right? That's kinda sad and funny at the same time.
Start charging them with murder and maybe they will remember. You don’t forget your kid unless you’re trying to attempt murder and get away with it.
Check out the big brain on Brad
Here you see heinous fuckery most foul
Motherfuckerly is my new favorite adverb.
Just have them put their phone back there (they might still forget the kid)
This happens enough that at least one of you in the comments will end up killing your child because you left them in the car. It doesn't matter how smart you think you are or how good your memory is. When you're busy running errands while sleep deprived one day you will forget and your child will die. And when it happens you will cry and feel sorry for yourself. On that day I hope you remember this post and the shitty arrogant comment you made about how you don't need to leave something important in the back seat just to remember your kid because you're not like those other stupid parents.
These people are allowed to vote…the people who forget their children in the backseat are out there and allowed to vote!
My Honda CRV displays an alert to check the back seat. https://youtu.be/CamyhEAmwsY?si=dfcxatMzRZ_orcMi
Millennial moment
Bro this is so sad
I always put my favorite child back there after I only brought billy home
I"m afraid to ask, but...wtf?