I’m not so much pissed at the fact that he didn’t check up on the kid for however long she was supposed to be with the aunt. I’m more pissed at whoever left the kid unattended at Chuck E Cheese with no clear confirmation from a family member that responsibility had changed hands.
Do you have kids? If you’ve had kids can you honestly say there has never been a moment you’ve sucked as a parent. Because if so, you are a far better person than I am - and every parent I’ve ever met. We all suck for moments as a parent.
But since you are such a superior parent, there are tons of children waiting for parents in this country through foster care and adoption.
I don’t have kids. I will eventually have a kid, thanks to adoption. My sexual preference is not conducive to procreation 
That said, there’s a huge difference between sucking as a parent because you forgot about your kid’s band concert and forgetting that you have your kid in your vehicle.
So have you ever forgotten anything in your life? Been driving to one place, but got distracted and took your usual route to work instead of taking that left there? As a non-parent, I suspect you’re thinking ‘Your kids are so important it’s not possible for you to forget them for even a moment and you’d have to be a heinous monster to do it.’ but the reality is more likely that everyone forgets things and gets distracted and sometimes, that’s going to include things related to your kids. It’s not often that it’s your kid’s in the car, and it’s totally terrible if it is, but it’s not about being a bad parent or a bad person, it’s just the inevitable statistical outlier on the forgetfulness scale.
Of course, I’ve forgotten many things. I maintain that forgetting leftovers from last night’s restaurant in the backseat is much different than forgetting about your kid.
heh
There was much grumbling about having to turn around and go back, but there he was, Our Lord and Savior, all safe and happy at Chuckie Cheese.
I wish you luck on the adoption and on the parenting. And I promise that in the years when you are a parent, I’ll only snicker privately to myself and not sing “I told you so” too loudly when you have a “D’oh!” moment as a parent. 'Cause I’ve been there. Boy, have I been there!
I’m not saying I’ll never have any D’oh moments. That’s most definitely a given.
Forgetting that your kid is WITH YOU is not a “D’oh!” moment.
Uh-huh. Files that one away for future giggles.
I’m more than a little disturbed at your ability to pass off a potentially life threatening situation as a future giggle.
Should I ever forget my kid in the backseat, I’ll be sure to let you know, so we can have a good chuckle together.
He sounds a little “mild” about the incident now, by the time the press got to talk to him. He might have been in a frothing rage ready to kill the mom during the time that he didn’t know where the kid was.
Text link for those (like me) with no sound.
Really? Qualitatively different? Or just way further down the continuum of things you’re likely to forget?
Yup.
Good luck with that atomic.
Qualitatively different.
And what makes forgetting one thing, be it your kids in the back seat or whatever else is on that side of your qualitative divide, different from forgetting another thing, like that you have ice cream melting in the trunk? I’d prefer an answer that includes cites to the appropriate neurological research, of course, but even a handwaving argument that goes beyond ‘Because they’re your kids, man!’ would help.
Thudlow Boink, it is interesting that I almost posted that, myself, but I was afraid that there could not be enough recreational outrage in the world to handle that.
Personal opinion that a child is more worthy of remembrance than ice cream. No cite, sorry.
Look at that word you used, ‘more’. That’s a quantitative modifier, not a qualitative one. Even your handwaving arguments don’t actually support your position.