I have too much anxiety to be in public.

[BamaTanya]

Seriously.

 

I just got home after a trip to the mall. Stopped beside me at a stoplight -- heading onto a six-lane highway - - was a Suburban with a 5-6 yo boy. In the front seat. Without a seat belt. :001_huh:

 

It made me so nervous. I really considered whether I should roll down my window and yell, "Excuse me. Your little boy hasn't fastened his seatbelt yet."

 

Should I have???

 

I can't STAND to see a child in an unsafe position.

 

I can't stand to see parents walking across a busy parking lot, chatting on their cell phones and not noticing whether or not the children are close or safe.

 

I can't stand seeing toddlers toddling around the escalators while their parents look at clothes or chat with a sales clerk. Or count on a 5-6 yo to supervise the toddler.

 

I can't stand to see infants in car seats with loose straps.

 

Am I the only one??? Is it just a symptom of anxiety? Or do normal people

have the same reaction?

 

 

(Yes, I've told strange children to stay away from the escalator because it might hurt them. I've told children wandering around stores to "go back to your mommy." And people look at me like I'm crazy or I should mind my own business. I just couldn't stand to witness a tragedy that I might be able to prevent.)

 

Do you say something? Should I? Or should I mmob?

[SonshineLearner]

I totally understand where you're coming from! I've ended up with the wandering toddler in the store, making sure I let an employee know that I'm bringing the child to them. I tell kids to find their mom... And give nasty looks to the parent smoking in the car with their child... And wonder why they have a carseat that looks like it's secured with lose thread... or smack their kids on the face... or yell at them rude things (or walk through the store saying "f*** you") Yup, I'm not perfect, and I wouldn't want someone to judge me for many of the things I do :( BUT, I try to make my child safe :)

And... I was the one who told the little girl that she didn't want to sit at the back of the cart, because it can come undone and her head can end up on the floor :( Yup... Mom was being VERY grumpy to daughter, and I smiled and said this. At least she then had me to be grumpy with :)

[Mergath]

I'm the same way. Last time I was at the laundromat, a young mother left her infant alone on top of a high table. Just laying there. On the table. I just about had a heart attack.

 

Of course, I have OCD, so that doesn't say much about whether it's normal or not. :tongue_smilie:

[Tarreymere]

IDK. I've grabbed kids standing up in the seat of a shopping cart while mom stands by oblivious and sat them down again. Freaks them out long enough to keep the kid buckled up and sitting down while I'm within eyesight. I usually say something along the lines of "OMG! You almost fell!"

 

I've read too many stories of kids getting hurt to not be paranoid. But I do take meds for anxiety........so maybe I'm not the best person to answer.

[iquilt]

I understand. Today while my neighbor and I were outside watching our kids play we spotted a neighborhood child, four years old, walking down the middle of the street. We asked him if he was lost but he just walked on. We got him to walk on the sidewalk and watched him make it home. It was a little scary for me.

[SonshineLearner]

IDK. I've grabbed kids standing up in the seat of a shopping cart while mom stands by oblivious and sat them down again. Freaks them out long enough to keep the kid buckled up and sitting down while I'm within eyesight. I usually say something along the lines of "OMG! You almost fell!"

 

I've read too many stories of kids getting hurt to not be paranoid. But I do take meds for anxiety........so maybe I'm not the best person to answer.

 

I was standing next to a friend talking with her, kinda freaked at her "not buckled" child. Luckily I was watching, because her son hopped out and I literally had his leg in my hand with his head heading to the floor.... That was freaky. I don't even think she realized that he could have ended up in the ER :(

Edited January 25, 2012 by NayfiesMama
(Grocery Carts have a high incidence of landing kids in the ER)

[Shellydon]

I do stuff like that. I hate that parents don't watch their kids.

[Shellydon]

I'm the same way. Last time I was at the laundromat, a young mother left her infant alone on top of a high table. Just laying there. On the table. I just about had a heart attack.

 

Of course, I have OCD, so that doesn't say much about whether it's normal or not. :tongue_smilie:

 

I know a lady that put her 5 week old baby on the kitchen counter. Baby fell off, cracked her skull and had two brain surgeries. It is worth freaking out about, IMO.

[BakersDozen]

When it comes to child safety I never mmob. I have called in license plates when I see children unrestrained or in the front seat who are obviously too young to be there. One lady had not one but two very young dc in the front of her minivan while the back seats were empty. That one made me so angry!!! I will point out how unsafe it is to have an infant carseat on top of the cart and if I see a dc in the basket part of the cart standing up I definitely say something. I have no qualms doing whatever it takes to get unthinking people/parents to think. ;)

[Lacie]

Most states (and countries) have a number to report unsafe drivers. I would find it and program it into my phone. I would have not problem calling that number to report a child that was not buckled properly.

[~Tara~]

more than once, ok, more than thrice, ok ok, a good dozen times...I have called 911 for improperly secured children in vehicles (I was a child passenger safety tech, now expired, but still calling in reports..so, add me to the list of 'maybe not the best person to ask')

 

I can't recall a specific instance now, but, I am sure I have done some other similar things.

 

Someone's gotta watch out for these kids, right?

[Ibbygirl]

Once when I was in the Dominican Republic with my husband and 8 month old (at that time) dd, we were driving in the capital and these young men on a motorcycle kept honking at us. I kind of ignored them at first thinking they were just being obnoxious or something, but they just kept honking and following us. When we finally got to a red light they pulled up next to us and motioned to us to roll down the window and then told us that the rear door was ajar. DD was in her car seat back there. They kept shouting, "your door is open. The baby! The baby!" DH got out and made sure the door was shut tight and thanked the men who smiled and drove off. I was grateful that they stopped us. You just never know. As they say, "it takes a village" :)

[KnitWit]

I am pretty myob, except when children are obviously in danger.

 

I actually jumped out of my vehicle at a red light once because I followed a car down a two lane highway that was driving erratically and ran two cars off the road. The second ended up in a ditch on it's side, and yet he kept going!! I called 911 and reported the cars in the ditch AND the guy but kept driving as well. We came up on an intersection and he pulled into the turn lane so I pulled up beside him. I immediately saw that there was a child STANDING in the front seat beside him and he was DRINKING AND DRIVING! I don't know what came over me, but the next thing I know I was out of the van and yelling at him. I look back and I'm lucky I didn't get shot. I think he was too drunk to do anything about it though. I guess I looked like a loon and drew attention because the guy behind me jumped out too and when he saw what was happening he started yelling at him too and took the keys out of the ignition. The police came soon after.

 

My kids were freaked. I admit. Not my brightest moment...but we stopped him.

 

Then I went home and threw up. For real.

Edited January 25, 2012 by MSPolly

[BamaTanya]

I am pretty myob, except when children are obviously in danger.

 

I actually jumped out of my vehicle at a red light once because I followed a car down a two lane highway that was driving erratically and ran two cars off the road. The second ended up in a ditch on it's side, and yet he kept going!! I called 911 and reported the cars in the ditch AND the guy but kept driving as well. We came up on an intersection and he pulled into the turn lane so I pulled up beside him. I immediately saw that there was a child STANDING in the front seat beside him and he was DRINKING AND DRIVING! I don't know what came over me, next thing I know I was out of the van and yelling at him. I look back and I'm lucky I didn't get shot. I think he was too drunk to do anything about it though. I guess I looked like a loon and drew attention because the guy behind me jumped out too and when he saw what was happening he started yelling at him too and took the keys out of the ignition. The police came soon after.

 

My kids were freaked. I admit. Not my brightest moment...but we stopped him.

 

Then I went home and threw up. For real.

 

Oh, my! I'm glad you and your children were safe. And you may have saved that child!

 

I do physically get worked up when I see a child in danger. I know I have anxiety issues, but something happened to me when I became a mother. Maybe I got some of the protective drive some others seem to be missing! It feels better to know I"m not alone.

[Harriet Vane]

I am pretty myob, except when children are obviously in danger.

 

I actually jumped out of my vehicle at a red light once because I followed a car down a two lane highway that was driving erratically and ran two cars off the road. The second ended up in a ditch on it's side, and yet he kept going!! I called 911 and reported the cars in the ditch AND the guy but kept driving as well. We came up on an intersection and he pulled into the turn lane so I pulled up beside him. I immediately saw that there was a child STANDING in the front seat beside him and he was DRINKING AND DRIVING! I don't know what came over me, but the next thing I know I was out of the van and yelling at him. I look back and I'm lucky I didn't get shot. I think he was too drunk to do anything about it though. I guess I looked like a loon and drew attention because the guy behind me jumped out too and when he saw what was happening he started yelling at him too and took the keys out of the ignition. The police came soon after.

 

My kids were freaked. I admit. Not my brightest moment...but we stopped him.

 

Then I went home and threw up. For real.

 

God bless you, truly. May you never, ever regret your courage on behalf of a child.

[Laurie4b]

Seriously.

 

I just got home after a trip to the mall. Stopped beside me at a stoplight -- heading onto a six-lane highway - - was a Suburban with a 5-6 yo boy. In the front seat. Without a seat belt. :001_huh:

 

It made me so nervous. I really considered whether I should roll down my window and yell, "Excuse me. Your little boy hasn't fastened his seatbelt yet."

 

Should I have???

 

I can't STAND to see a child in an unsafe position.

 

I can't stand to see parents walking across a busy parking lot, chatting on their cell phones and not noticing whether or not the children are close or safe.

 

I can't stand seeing toddlers toddling around the escalators while their parents look at clothes or chat with a sales clerk. Or count on a 5-6 yo to supervise the toddler.

 

I can't stand to see infants in car seats with loose straps.

 

Am I the only one??? Is it just a symptom of anxiety? Or do normal people

have the same reaction?

 

 

(Yes, I've told strange children to stay away from the escalator because it might hurt them. I've told children wandering around stores to "go back to your mommy." And people look at me like I'm crazy or I should mind my own business. I just couldn't stand to witness a tragedy that I might be able to prevent.)

 

Do you say something? Should I? Or should I mmob?

 

You forgot the kids standing up in grocery carts!

[BamaTanya]

You forgot the kids standing up in grocery carts!

 

Oh, yes! You're right! Almost every single time I'm grocery shopping I see a child standing or climbing on the cart. :confused:

 

I am SO not a perfect parent, but I've shopped and tried on clothing and written checks and unloaded shopping carts -- all while keeping a hand or at least AN EYE on my toddler who wanted to climb or run or stand or whatever.

 

No wonder shopping was so exhausting when I had little ones. I was on ALERT the whole time. Some parents seem to be totally oblivious to their own children when they're on that shopping (or driving) mission. :confused:

[KidsHappen]

I am normally a MYOB kinda gal but when it comes to children I have a tendency to hover extremely close until the parent gets a clue. I have stood outside people's cars watching their children that have been left strapped in their carseat while momma ran inside (20 minutes), I have grabbed children from running into traffic, getting on an elevator or escalator, once had fight a power door because a child's finger was pinched in the hindges while the mother was somewhere else, I have caught babies falling out of shopping carts and unfortunately once when I was manager on duty I had the very unpleasant experience of having a baby fall out of a shopping cart and hit her head on the very hard floor because the mother wasn't paying attention. In almost all of these situations the parents seemed to be younger and not really experienced in all the ways a child can get hurt. This is one thing that I would prefer they not learn through experience.

[sewingmama]

You would have hated to live in South Korea. No seatbelts, kids sleeping on the back shelf, kids hanging out of windows with no seatbelt, kids riding on motrcycles with no helmets - SK has one of the highest child death rates by motor vehicle accident in the world -I wonder why.

 

Oh it made me so sick to see people holding their new babies in the front seat and not even the person holding the baby had a seatbelt on. Toddlers standing up on the front seat. 3 little kids all sharing the same front seat. It was AWFUL.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I will point out how unsafe it is to have an infant carseat on top of the cart ;)

 

This is one I didn't think was unsafe until I had my last baby. I read about a baby who had so many surgeries after the top-heavy cart she was in fell over, then I was like OMG, how could I not have thought about that happening! I remember taking my baby into Wal-Mart after reading that and I put her carseat in the basket, which of course took up all the space. The greeter told me I could click the carseat into the top of the cart and I told him that was unsafe.

 

I think in many cases, people really don't know something is unsafe, and they don't mind if you tell them. They may even thank you! (Honestly, some really good mothers never know that the seatbelt clip in a carseat needs to be up high on the chest, not on the belly).

[celticmom]

The most recent situation that I have been in involved a preschooler and a door. He was leaning against it holding it open while his mother was talking to another adult and ended up putting his fingers in the hinge area where they would be smashed if the door closed. And he was beginning to close the door. I pretty much lunged across the waiting room yelling "Nononono," and everything ended up okay. His mother was very thankful and had been closer to him than I was but he was behind her.