I was shopping at our local Wal-Mart this afternoon and over the intercom I heard a page saying "there's a little boy here in our Customer Service looking for his mommy. Would the parent please come pick up your child." Then a Customer Service reminder went out that parents should be with their children at all times. Then about 20 minutes later, another Customer Service page went out, 'Would the parents of the little boy here at the Customer Service Desk PLEASE come and pick up your little boy?' Then I was thinking 20 minutes or so has gone by -- where IS that mother?

So as I'm checking out I'm hearing clerks talking about what a scumbag this mom is and how frightened the little boy is so I ask the clerk whatever happened with the little boy. Okay, here's the shocker -- she said that the MOTHER had already left the store without the little boy, had gone to her car and 'realized' he wasn't with her!! WTF!! The way the clerk talked, the mother had already left the parking lot and came back when she 'remembered'. The last I heard as I was leaving, Social Services had been called.

What is wrong with people these days????

ok....
* How old was the child?
* Did the mom have several children with her?
* Was Mom shopping with someone (Dad, sister, friend or her own parent)?
* Could she have thought that the boy was with the other person?

I'm thinking that the cashier had absolutely no business discussing the situation with you (or any other customer)! And if I were her manager I would reprimand her. Secondly, I don't know that the information you have regarding the situation is correct or entire....There's a lot of information that I would need before I made a judgment as to whether the mom was neglient or "bad".

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Strange as it may be today,when I was a kid it was an everyday common thing in stores for kids to get lost from their mommy.Moms were just too busy to run after lil joey every 10 seconds so they would "let" them get lost.Usually all it took for a kid to stop running around the store was to get lost once thinking mom had left them there to rot,lol and they would be glued to moms heels from then on.
Thats all we use to hear over the loud speakers in stores when we were kids,was so and so please pick up Lil Johnny at the customer service desk.
I think some parents today who tend to raise their kids like their parents raised them are gonna get in a lot of trouble cause things have changed drastically from when they were kids .Todays world is a LOT stricter!

I'm with marilynk on this.

I would have to know more about what took place then 2 employees talking about it.


Did she have the Child today but usually shops while they are in school or day care and just forgot she had him, not thinking anything other than its her reg shopping day while kids are else where.

How old was the child ( Not that it much matters ) But I'm assuming he was an older child Vs. a Toddler

did she start a new Med that might be clouding her thinking path.

Is she on any kind of Medication that might cause her to blank out.

Does she Normally have her Children or Is this something that came up and she had him today.

As silly or Crazy as this may seem it does happen and there's just way too many questions to jump to a judgment as to why she didn't notice she didn't have her child when she left.

Things happen, Al tho, I don't understand why anyone would call CPA on her

I know for a fact the Chief of Police here *forgot* his 2 children while at the movies and then 1 of them got out side the home and was walking down the middle of the highway when someone spotted the child and his child was able to tell the Lady where she lived. And yes he was a policeman at the time these things happen, So it can happen to anyone even the ones that has a duty to place others under arrest for the same thing.

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

DH was on a family vacation with his parents and younger brother when they were quite young and his parents left his brother at a gas station. DH asked, "Where's Gary?" and they realized what had happenned and went right back for him. It does happen.

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Square dancing is friendship set to music!

not as bad as my mother's 1st husbands aunt and uncle did to their child.

They had 8 children ( We are talking nearly 50 years ago ).. and they were leaving their home to travel to a different state for a vacation. They got half way there and stopped to eat, when they all got out and met up they both asked where the missing boy was, thats when they knew they had forgotten him back home. Since they took 2 cars each thought the other had this child. They had to call a neighbor to keep him till they could get back there to get him. BTW he was 10 years old.

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

I left one in a mall restaurant, sleeping in a stroller once. I certainly didn't do it on purpose. Sh!t happens ..... It took me a while to remember where I last had him

Becareful, You might lose your Golden Mother of the Year award for posting that
Heck I have already lost mine

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

There are no excuses but it does happen. Remember the "Home Alone" movie series.

I am the odd one here, but I don't understand how people can "forget" they brought a child into a store with them. I worked at the Disney Store and saw it happen alot, people would tell their kids to go in and play as they snuck out to go shopping elsewhere. There were so many times we had to go out to the mall to get the parents and remind them we were a store not a child care facility. And if the mother did have another adult shopping with her, when they got to the car didn't they look at each other and say "where is little Joey?" The way the OP said she heard it, the mother left the parking lot. Also, as for them calling CPS, did the store employees call or were the police notified and were they the ones that called. I work for CPS and we get calls like that alot esp. during this time of the year we do have to go investigate all calls; however a lot of the times nothing is done and it is closed at the referral. Other times after getting calls like this we find more problems with the family that we need to deal with. I understand things can happen and people have a lapse in judgement but I guess until it happends to me, I will find it hard to undrstand. I just hope the little boy wasn't too tramatized by this. Poor little guy must have been scared hearing them page his mommy and then her not showing up to get him. Although to some 20 min may not seem like a long time, to him it must have felt like an eternity.

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~~~~**Maryann**~~~~

I just got a firm grip on reality....
Now I can strangle it

I guess that's my point....the OP (and some others) rushed to judgment based on second information or hearsay. The OP, nor any of us, know the details of what happened.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

I am the person that every time I hear the word Mom in the store I turn my head even if my kids aren't with me.

Why I'm sitting here thinking how could someone do this.....I can "understand" how it happens. I have never left one of my kids, but when I am out with all them I do a headcount, in the car, once in the store, and before we leave the store, and when we are back in the car. My mom got left at home once...I think sometimes our minds are just elsewhere.....I do think it was wrong for the employees to be discussing this with customers.

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"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

My thoughts exactly. As far as the clerk talking to me about it, it wasn't just the clerks, it WAS the managers talking right there in front of the checkout. They were learning more as I was leaving. The little boy was younger than school age. They were talking too about how cute he was and how they couldn't believe this mom actually left this little boy. From what I heard, she was alone and just didn't remember she had him with her.

As far as all the questions some of you have asked of me, the OP, all I know is what I was told. I didn't 'question' them -- it wasn't my place.

I just don't see how you can bring a child with you shopping and forget you have him with you. And like I said, 20 minutes or so went by before the second call for the parents went out on the intercom, which was plenty time to 'realize' your child was missing.

I guess it can happen, but I always have a hard time with stories about "forgotten" children. My kids are like my arms--I notice if one is missing. I think I'd also notice because nobody would be saying "he's breathing my air and I want him to stop blahblah".

Also wonder if the store might be mandated to call Child Protective Services after a certain interim, particularly if the child is young.

My mom had gone to walmart last week and they were announcing over the speaker for someone to come get their child my mom said then the brother went (still no mom) boys were at most 11, younger one 8. Then another 20 min went by and they called over the loud speaker again and finally 15 minutes later they called over in spanish. My mother went to the customer service and told them they need to contact the police bc if the mother was IN the store she probably have already come to get her child, well they didnt call the cops anyway but my mom said she just felt so bad, I am starting to wonder if people just drop there kids off at these stores while they go elsewhere and its like free babysitting. I just think its crazy for people to leave their kids alone in these big (even small) stores with what goes on the world today, if i turn around and dont see my kid(S) i panic!!!

I guess I'm in the minority too, but I just can't see forgetting you have your child with you! Maybe when they are older and they are looking elsewhere, but I would think you would at least notice as you were leaving the store, much less the parking lot! Of course, I have become more absentminded than ever since having my baby, but never about the baby! If that makes sense. I too remember getting lost in TG &Y, or Roses, but things were WAY different back then!! We were safe even when we were lost.

Ok I can see leaving him in the store but to get in your car and leave the parking lot??? That is just plain stupid. And I am the family airhead.

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Laura
Please visit my blog
http://mylifeinlaurasworld.blogspot.com/

The agency I work for provides free blood presuer cks at a local very busy store around the holidays. Last yr, I dressed up in my santa suit and the customers loved it. Some lady came up to me carrying a cute little girl and asked if she could get her pic made with santa. ( alot of customers did this so I didnt think anything about it) anyways, I took the little girl and the mom made the pic and as I was getting the little girl a prize from santa, the mom walked off! I looked around and couldnt figure out who mom was. after so many people getting their kids pic's made with santa, they sorta all looked alike. I walked around the store for 45 min. with this cute little girl looking and hoping the kid would point out momma but she didnt. the store had already paged her 3 -4 times to come to the front and get her child. FINALLY the mom came back for her. She had actually left the store we were in and went into some of the other stores that was in the little mall!. I told her that I didnt think that was a very good idea cause she didnt have a clue who I was and that dingbat replied " Dear God! You are SANTA for crying out loud!" The store had called the police and they had arrived about the time she came back. After she took her little girl, the cop asked to speak with her. I sure wish I knew what he said to her. I never saw them the rest of the time we were there but you can bet I made sure I KNEW what momma looked like before I agreed to the pic with santa again that day!

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«·´¨*·.¸¸. Jo ¸¸.·*¨`·»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»


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GOOD! Hopefully she'll be charged.

I am absolutely INSANE about my child in a store. Yesterday, DH, DS & I went to Best Buy. I was standing at customer service and called DH to tell him DS was too far away from him!

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

I get that 'things happen' and we don't know 'her story', but to not call social services would be crazy. What if this wasn't the first time she had done this? I am sure the mother feels bad, BUT she is to be responsible for her child.