The Part Where Child Protective Services Determines Me to be an Unfit Parent
Ok, it has been well established (at least on my blog-and many others for that matter) that parenting is hard work. What with the feeding and the clothing and the disciplining and the supervising that goes into parenting, it's a wonder we ever get anything done. And furthermore it's a wonder we can keep our sanity in check while we're doing it. I'm also a firm believer that parents are allowed to...strike that....parents are destined to make mistakes. The problem lies when those mistakes result in bodily or pyschological injury.
Case in point: Do not leave your child unattended in the house while baking a rack a baby back ribs when you have a dramatic child and a really concerned neighbor whose husband is a firefighter.
Now I know the suspense must be killing you after that set up. But as my daughter is prone to exaggerated dramatics, I too may be guilty of making this story to be much more intriguing than it really is. So to allay your fears my child was not left unattended (technically) and there was not a fire, in fact the ribs were quite tender and delicious. But it appears that there may be a case of BAD PARENTING to deal with. And the guilt is eating me up.
Now to explain myself. My daughter was playing down the street with her friend and while her usual time to come home was 5:00, she asked if she could stay an extra hour. Since we have longer daylight, I gave her permssion but told her that we were going to run to the store. Her instructions were to come home in about an hour and use her key to get in if we're not home yet. I assured her that we would be right back and not to worry if she beat us home. So I head out to the store and get what I need and head home.
As I pull into my driveway, about 15 minutes later than my daugher, I see my concerned neighbor entering my house. Of course all bad scenarios cross my mind-what will she think about the 12 beer bottles lined up on my counter because the recycling bin is full? Did my husband leave dirty underwear and socks on the living room floor? Or maybe, what happened to my child that the neighbor had to be called over into my house? I think she was just as panicked as I was when she realized that we were home and she had entered our house. She said that my daughter had been in the front yard "screaming" so she came to see what was wrong. And my daughter told her that her parents weren't home and something about the oven being on which led the neighbor to reach the conclusion that there was huge fireball in our kitchen, especially with the way my daughter was carrying on.
So now not only does it appear that we left a 7 year old unattended-which I'm pretty sure is an arrestable offense or at least begs reason to be interviewed and evaluated by child protective services. But we also leave her unattended with a rack of baby back ribs cooking in a 300 degree oven. Which is not a crime, but certainly a safety risk. I'm proud to say that my daughter's diligence about cooking safety is testament to my wonderful parenting. You see, recently, she has been worried about the house catching on fire. She had a bad dream about a fire, and probably can't avoid hearing about house fires every once in awhile when they are reported on the news. Although I'm not sure exactly where the fear came from, I have tried to calm her fear. I told her that fires only occur when someone is careless. Like when they leave food cooking unattended-maybe? So that was why she was so frantic in the front yard. She was only reacting to a lesson that was taught by her mother who certainly didn't want to get into faulty wiring or lightning strikes which have also been known to spark house fires.
So at the end of the day either I'm a really bad parent because I left my child in an potentially unsafe situation
or
I'm a fairly good parent because my fire saftey lesson has been taken quite seriously by my child.
Now if I can get her to listen to me when it comes to sex, drugs, and rock and roll then maybe I'm not doing so bad afterall.
Case in point: Do not leave your child unattended in the house while baking a rack a baby back ribs when you have a dramatic child and a really concerned neighbor whose husband is a firefighter.
Now I know the suspense must be killing you after that set up. But as my daughter is prone to exaggerated dramatics, I too may be guilty of making this story to be much more intriguing than it really is. So to allay your fears my child was not left unattended (technically) and there was not a fire, in fact the ribs were quite tender and delicious. But it appears that there may be a case of BAD PARENTING to deal with. And the guilt is eating me up.
Now to explain myself. My daughter was playing down the street with her friend and while her usual time to come home was 5:00, she asked if she could stay an extra hour. Since we have longer daylight, I gave her permssion but told her that we were going to run to the store. Her instructions were to come home in about an hour and use her key to get in if we're not home yet. I assured her that we would be right back and not to worry if she beat us home. So I head out to the store and get what I need and head home.
As I pull into my driveway, about 15 minutes later than my daugher, I see my concerned neighbor entering my house. Of course all bad scenarios cross my mind-what will she think about the 12 beer bottles lined up on my counter because the recycling bin is full? Did my husband leave dirty underwear and socks on the living room floor? Or maybe, what happened to my child that the neighbor had to be called over into my house? I think she was just as panicked as I was when she realized that we were home and she had entered our house. She said that my daughter had been in the front yard "screaming" so she came to see what was wrong. And my daughter told her that her parents weren't home and something about the oven being on which led the neighbor to reach the conclusion that there was huge fireball in our kitchen, especially with the way my daughter was carrying on.
So now not only does it appear that we left a 7 year old unattended-which I'm pretty sure is an arrestable offense or at least begs reason to be interviewed and evaluated by child protective services. But we also leave her unattended with a rack of baby back ribs cooking in a 300 degree oven. Which is not a crime, but certainly a safety risk. I'm proud to say that my daughter's diligence about cooking safety is testament to my wonderful parenting. You see, recently, she has been worried about the house catching on fire. She had a bad dream about a fire, and probably can't avoid hearing about house fires every once in awhile when they are reported on the news. Although I'm not sure exactly where the fear came from, I have tried to calm her fear. I told her that fires only occur when someone is careless. Like when they leave food cooking unattended-maybe? So that was why she was so frantic in the front yard. She was only reacting to a lesson that was taught by her mother who certainly didn't want to get into faulty wiring or lightning strikes which have also been known to spark house fires.
So at the end of the day either I'm a really bad parent because I left my child in an potentially unsafe situation
or
I'm a fairly good parent because my fire saftey lesson has been taken quite seriously by my child.
Now if I can get her to listen to me when it comes to sex, drugs, and rock and roll then maybe I'm not doing so bad afterall.
posted by amyd | 12:52 PM
2 Comments:
might she take after me with the (some may say) irrational fear of fire???
exactly what I was thinking
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