Woman arrested after leaving son alone in Lego store for 90 minutes

[Madd]

http://freebeerandhotwings.com/b/Woman-Arrested-After-Leaving-Son-Alone-In-Lego-Store-For-90-Minutes-Video/398332873137024889.html

[TheOrcKing]

That's an awful long time to leave your child unattended. My question is did she intentionally leave her son there in the Lego store as though it were a daycare or were the two of them shopping as normal then he ran off at some point without her knowing leaving her to look for him when she realized he was gone? If the latter she could have gotten hold of some mall security to help but it is difficult to think straight at that point.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

This is why I circumvent the stupidity of myself by not having children.

 

You might say "What if you do by accident"?

 

I just practice Abstinence. Its easy when you are married.

[No More Monkeys]

As commenter properly pointed out:  "Just about every parent in the 50s and 60s would be arrested today for neglect for allowing their kids to roam free"

He was 7 year old. At the Lego store. In the mall. 

[biniou]

She certainly thought a lego store is a secured enough place and used it as a day nursery, and didn't thought sellers would notice that a child was hanging around for an hour and a half and would become alarmed about that.

 

"Arrested", seriously ? A good way to traumatize the kid even more.

 

Cops could note woman's adress and send them a social worker (why not), but "arrested"... or maybe she made a scene, irritated by sellers ?

[No More Monkeys]

She certainly thought a lego store is a secured enough place and used it as a day nursery, and didn't thought sellers would notice that a child was hanging around for an hour and a half and would become alarmed about that.

 

"Arrested", seriously ? A good way to traumatize the kid even more.

 

Cops could note woman's adress and send them a social worker (why not), but "arrested"... or maybe she made a scene, irritated by sellers ?

Well, if it happened on the day when exo-suit and research institute were released, then 7 year old may have looked out of place there. All the weird looking dudes with shifty eyes mumbling some codes would have been more common

[jerryherb]

this "think of the children" BS is way out of proportion. you mean you cant have a kid ride a bike in the neighborhood anymore because you will get arrested?

[sadowsk1]

That's not cool.  It doesn't sound like there is any good reason why the 7 year old just didn't leave the store with her and if she didn't have the patience to stay in the store with him on a visit for as long as he wanted they shouldn't have gone in the first place.

[No More Monkeys]

That's not cool. It doesn't sound like there is any good reason why the 7 year old just didn't leave the store with her and if she didn't have the patience to stay in the store with him on a visit for as long as he wanted they shouldn't have gone in the first place.

When you were 7, would you, voluntarily, leave Lego store???

And did you ever try to shop in the mall with 7 year old?

If she left him at the mall playground for 90 minutes, I doubt anyone would even notice...

[holleman67]

When I was a kid I always ran to the toy store or section while my mom shopped. This is dumb

[Jojoyojimbi]

i'm glad they arrested her, i'm sick of parents thinking retail establishments are free daycares, if they don't want to watch their kids while they shop, leave them at home with all their germs and whining

[jerryherb]

i'm glad they arrested her, i'm sick of parents thinking retail establishments are free daycares, if they don't want to watch their kids while they shop, leave them at home with all their germs and whining

 

cant do that, you will get arrested unless the kid is supervised. NEXT

[jeff_14]

I would have loved that as a kid. Even today my wife often abandons me in the Lego store while she goes shopping. Her shopping is the truly dangerous act.

[MartinP]

When I was a kid I always ran to the toy store or section while my mom shopped. This is dumb

Same here. I would go to the one toy store in the mall and look at all the Lego sets that they have for over an hour, while my mom was buying clothes or something in another store. I really don't see why she should be arrested. I can imagine the child being scared right now, but other than that he is fine.

[johnwray]

If she left him at the mall playground for 90 minutes, I doubt anyone would even notice...

Depends on how crowded the playground is, but I'm pretty sure someone would have noticed before 90 minutes was up. Either way, the kid was way safer in a Lego store.

I agree that this was a stupid thing to do, but arresting the mother is just as stupid. What if the kid had been 12 and just wanted to look around the Lego store and build at those free stations while mom went shopping? Most people would say that's okay, so where do we draw the line? Somewhere between 7 and 12, but where? It's always a judgment call, and that includes leaving kids in cars. People flip out if any kid is left in any car for any length of time now. What if you pull into a parking lot with an 8yo and a 6yo on an overcast day and run to the ATM across the street? I think that's fine. What if you pull into a spot right outside a Subway restaurant and go in to bring sandwiches out for you and your two kids? Again, depending on the age of the kids, that's fine. Leaving a baby in a hot car for three hours should be criminal negligence, but imo leaving a 7yo in a Lego store is just poor judgment.

cant do that, you will get arrested unless the kid is supervised. NEXT

You are so totally right.

Well, except for the part where you're wrong, which is everything between the words "cant [sic]" and "NEXT".

Most states have NO minimum age for kids to be left unsupervised at home, and that includes New York, where this incident occurred. There are recommended ages, but no minimums. It's left to the parents' discretion, because there are too many other factors for there to be a hard-and-fast age rule: intellectual and emotional maturity, temperament, physical ability, length of time they'll be alone, and how well they've been prepared in case of an emergency.

Next.

[Redlego7]

When I was a kid I always ran to the toy store or section while my mom shopped. This is dumb

I would also blitz for the Legos every time my Mom went to Walmart or Kmart. I always knew that eventually she would be done and have me paged over the intercom at checkout. Maybe that could become an inconvience if everyone thought that way and maybe creepers would start hanging out in in the toy section if everyone thought that way. But there are a lot of more likely "maybe's" to prevent. In a smaller outlet of a mall setting versus a massive store setting it is easier for an employee to be alarmed by a wandering child but its the same thing. The employee could have asked little Dexter what his mommy's name was and then paged her over the mall intercom for all to hear. The shear embarrassment of mall patrons looking at her like "oh, you're the mom" may have changed her behavior better than throwing her into the slammer. If that wouldn't have caused her to change her behavior, i doubt jail will either. Anyhoo, now that Im older and I go into the store, I blitz straight for the legos. Eventually, my wife finishes shopping and has me paged over the intercom.

[loki221978]

me and my boys always leave mom to go to the lego aisle, that being said, are they still supervised? 

[Madd]

me and my boys always leave mom to go to the lego aisle, that being said, are they still supervised? 

Same here, My 6 year old and I trys to see who can get to the lego isle first

[holleman67]

Same here, My 6 year old and I trys to see who can get to the lego isle first

Your wives should be arrested for leaving her "children" unattended lol

me and my boys always leave mom to go to the lego aisle, that being said, are they still supervised?

[loki221978]

usually it ends up like this: MOM: "YOUR BUGGING ME GO LOOK AT THE TOYS!"

[Madd]

Your wives should be arrested for leaving her "children" unattended lol

I am told often that she isnt sure if im here husband or her kid.... Lol

[binici]

Poor kid will be scared for life and never want to collect or invest in LEGO's... ever!

[justafrog]

I have two children. Never in the history of humankind has any mother been blessed with smarter, more attractive, better-behaved daughters than I have.

 

It would have been stupid, tacky, and dangerous to leave them alone in a store for 90 minutes when they were aged 7. I don't have any problem with this woman being arrested, hopefully it will frighten her enough to act like she has a brain in the future, even if it's only an act.

 

Even presuming that one can pedophile-proof a 7 year old (you can't - hey little boy, like LEGO? Come out to my car and I'll give you some free ones! Heck, half the 27 year olds on this site would probably fall for that one at the LEGO store but at least they're big enough to fight back), in what universe is it okay to use store clerks as free babysitters?

 

The answer to someone's earlier question: how old is old enough? Not 7. Maybe a few 10 year olds, probably most 12 year olds.

 

I, too, was raised in the days when children were turned loose out the back door basically as soon as they could walk. The good old days weren't always good and my siblings and my friends and I experienced some unhappy outcomes from what some would call freedom, some would call neglect.

 

And "what we used to do" doesn't make it okay in today's society - like it or not, rules and norms change.

[labfreak7]

Definitely a stupid move on her part. That Lego store is one that i frequent and is known for the occasional shooting/ robbery. Plus it is a very crowded mall. She is lucky the kid stayed in the store, and didn't go looking for her.

As a mom, I think it unconscionable to leave a young child in a crowded mall alone, even for a second.

[knarrff]

When I was a kid I always ran to the toy store or section while my mom shopped. This is dumb

Exactly. Kids that age ride the bus where I come from. And I mean city bus - not school bus. Kids lever learn to act responsibly if not given a chance.