A few years ago, I would have read this story and thought, “What a terrible person. How irresponsible and uncaring.”
Today, I thought, “She must have been so overwhelmed.”
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t condone her actions. But I know how exhausted I am, with lots of support. And I would bet that this mother has nothing like that.
I hope she gets what she needs. I hope her son gets what he needs. But right now, at this moment, I can’t condemn her the way I would have.
Maybe if we all cut each other a little more slack, this would happen less often.
I, too, find that I have more empathy in situations like this than I used to. How many times have I thought “I’m not fit to care for this child?” More than I would like to admit.
I know I’ve thought that on more than one occasion–all of them past the “Safe Surrender” 72-hour limit. Obviously I know very little about this case, since I’ve only read this one article, but my impulse on reading this was to wonder what kind of support she has.
I agree. Instead of jail, I hope they find out more about the woman and see if they can set up some sort of support system so that she may keep her child (provided that they’re sure it won’t be endangered). Those first few months are killer if you have no support.
I know that in Virginia they have (or had–I hope they still do) a level of emergency foster care that was designed to be very short-term, sometimes only for a weekend. It was very successful in keeping families together. The idea was that you would remove the kids for just long enough for the parents to deal with their issues to at least some degree, so that they were better able to focus on their kids.
How sad 🙁 She must’ve been very lost and alone to do this to her child.
That was my first thought as well. I really hope she gets help, now and long-term. Mr. Sandwich and I were just talking last night about how much we rely on each other. I can only imagine how hard it would be if I didn’t have him.
That is sad. In a flash moment of distress, she could have lost everything. There are days, I must admit, I sometimes wish someone would run up to me and give me their baby. I’m not so sure I would report it. Which would also probably get me arrested, when neighbors and family saw me pushing a stroller along the lake, and I am way past baby-making status.
I can’t stop thinking about this woman. I really hope she gets the help she needs, and that she and her son are able to stay together. And if they can’t, I hope he’s cared for by people who are loving.