# Mom dies, 3-year-old daughter eats leftovers. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 4, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907 "2011-11-04T23:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/1 "2011-11-04T23:49:56Z")
[Link](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57318337/girl-3-eats-leftovers-for-2-days-after-mom-dies/) A 28-year-old mother in NZ died suddenly, leaving her 3YO daughter to fend for herself for two days. The child got into the refrigerator and ate leftover lasagna, cheese, and milk, comforting herself with her teddy bear named ‘Possum’. Sad story. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/2 "2011-11-05T00:33:12Z")
That’s a pretty smart and self-reliant 3-year old. I have a 2.5 year old myself, and I don’t think he would have fared as well in the same situation. (Though he might have stolen my cell phone, which he loves to do, and started calling people and saved himself that way.) I’m thinking that the little girl didn’t drink nearly enough of the milk though, since she’s being treated for dehydration. Probably spilled it on the floor. ☹ Thank god they found her in time. It is a terribly sad story, of course, but at least the headline didn’t include “3-year old starved and dehydrated to death”. Maybe if the story has sufficient legs and generates enough interest, perhaps there might be a trust fund or something set up for her, so at least she might get something good out of all the bad. Such a sad story. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/3 "2011-11-05T00:50:11Z")
Poor little baby girl ☹ So glad they found her! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/4 "2011-11-05T01:27:58Z")
This is bad, but not nearly as bad as what I was thinking when I read the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/5 "2011-11-05T01:28:03Z")
Oh whew - the leftovers were actual food. When I read the subject of the OP, I thought this was going to be a story about cannibalism. ETA: alphaboi just beat me to it… ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/6 "2011-11-05T01:34:11Z")
I’ll 3rd thinking the daughter starting munching on the mom from the title description…still very sad, though. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/7 "2011-11-05T01:41:37Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I’ll 3rd thinking the daughter starting munching on the mom from the title description…still very sad, though. +4 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/8 "2011-11-05T01:43:01Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > +4 +5 ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/9 "2011-11-05T01:46:21Z")
Is that what it takes to get kids to eat leftovers? I did read this story earlier. Very sad, especially since the girl is probably old enough to remember parts of this experience. I hope single parents of todders and infants take this as a reminder to have someone who will check on them after one day of no contact. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/10 "2011-11-05T02:25:03Z")
Something like this happened to a friend of a friend. He was home alone with his daughter and overdosed and dies, and she was with the body all day. Thankfully, she only thought he was sleeping, and her mother got home later that night. Still, pretty fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/11 "2011-11-05T08:57:02Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > This is bad, but not nearly as bad as what I was thinking when I read the thread title. Had it been cats, though… ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/12 "2011-11-05T13:57:33Z")
I feel bad for the little girl, but I don’t think her eating out of the fridge is so amazing. I was making my own scrambled eggs at the age of four. Kids have more on the ball than most people think. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-dies-3-year-old-daughter-eats-leftovers/601907/13 "2011-11-05T14:16:11Z")
It’s not that she ate out of the fridge. It’s that the poor thing was stuck in the house with the corpse of her ‘mummy’ for two days. I can imagine her trying to wake her up for much of that time. And then when she pointed at the coffin and said, ‘Mummy’s in there.’… Very sad. Anyway, it made for an amusing thread title. 😉