Have you ever left a child in the car or elsewhere accidentally?

[6packofun]

I'm asking because I have several young moms--as in single, teen moms--on my FB friends list today who seem to think it's absolutely outrageous that anyone in any circumstance ever could leave their baby or child in the car accidentally.  Of course they resort to calling these moms, regardless of any nuance, "retarded", stupid, idiots, selfish, and terrible mothers.  It's very interesting and I thought they'd like to hear about some decent mothers who HAVE made the mistake and that it's not an uncommon thing always related to poor parenting.  I *certainly* don't wear my experience of leaving 2 week old ds in the van with a badge of honor, of course, but I have also forgiven my exhausted new mother self and was able to learn early on to be less judgmental of other stressed out, distracted moms.  

 

Thank you for participating!

[DesertBlossom]

I have not. But I am super paranoid about ever doing it. I'm not naive enough to think it could never happen to me. I am constantly counting kids.

[Starr]

Several friends have headed home from church and forgot a kid. I think it happens when routine changes. 

[MEmama]

No. Perhaps a benefit to the constant talking? Lol

[unsinkable]

.

Edited April 12, 2017 by unsinkable

[Mergath]

No, but I only have one kid, so it's pretty hard to forget her somewhere and then not notice. ;)

[zoobie]

No, but I've been the constant, SAHM caregiver with a boring routine. If I go somewhere, I know I have all of the kids with me. I have driven somewhere wrongly just going on autopilot. I wound up at DS's preschool instead of wherever else I was supposed to go. I understand how it could happen with sleep deprivation and a change in routine.

[happypamama]

No, but I am almost always the one who takes children everywhere. There's no sitter or daycare, and DH doesn't generally take them places by himself, unless it's a special outing, and then he knows he has the kids. I think a lot of the forgetting happens when one parent does the routine and the other does it one day.

 

Now, my big kids would make sure we got all the small ones, even if I forgot.

[teachermom2834]

I did...an 18 mo in the car for 5-10 minutes. It was very upsetting. I only remembered when I got back to the car. If I had gotten distracted or ran into a friend who knows how long it could have been??

 

For me it was the change of routine. In my busy mom head I had previewed the day many times and it involved leaving the baby with someone else while I ran in the store for a missing dinner ingredient. I ended up taking the babe with me but in my head I had planned all day just to run in quickly with no kids and that is what I did. :(

[AimeeM]

No, but I can absolutely see how it happens. I've seen articles wherein it's the Dad who leaves the kiddo accidentally, and 9 times out of 10 when you read the article you see that it was "out of the ordinary" for him to have the child at that time, and the child fell asleep in the car. My husband NEVER has the children during the day, so I'm always cautious if I even leave him home alone with them during the day if he's randomly home for some reason - dS6 is naturally very quiet, lol. 

Also, I've had times when I'm so used TO having the children with me, that there's a momentary panic when I look in the backseat and there are no children there. If I can forget that I *don't* have my children, it would be ridiculously hypocritical of me to judge those who forget that they DO have their children. 

[Tap]

Yep, once when I first got dd8.  She was only with us a week (she is my niece and was 5mo at the time), and was in her car seat in the back.  My older kids and I jumped out to go into a store and I realized I forgot the baby.  It wasn't even a solid 2 minutes, but it was enough to rattle me.  

 

The older kids and I were in a conversation and she just completely slipped my mind.  Like others have mentioned, it was a change in routine.  I hadn't had a baby in 8 years.  She didn't come the natural way, so I wasn't thinking baby,baby,baby all the time ahead of it.  It was an exhausting first week adapting to new schedules and case workers etc.

[SKL]

Yes, very briefly, at home in their cribs.  This was shortly after I adopted.  A friend called in the middle of the night and said could I drive over and help her with her flat tire.  While I was driving, I remembered that I had two kids back at the house.  :P

 

I know this happens to a lot of good parents, especially during the times when they are very sleep-deprived or out of their usual routine.

 

I really hate it when people kick moms when they are down.  :/

[MysteryJen]

I left #5 in his crib and buckled all the other kids and got in the car and started it when I had a chorus of "mom, where's the baby?" I had not backed out of the garage yet. Then I instituted a count off in the car. We still do it to make sure everyone is accounted for. Dh left newborn ds2 in the car (winter time) for about 5 minutes.

 

I forgot to pick up ds2 last week. He called, thank goodness, or I would have gone home and he would have been waiting for two hours.

 

A little grace would go a long way. Change in routine, sleep deprivation, and just normal stress can make remembering hard.

[Arcadia]

No chance to. My kids were clingy and loud since they were born.

[LucyStoner]

Yes. Research shows this tends to happen when there is a break in routine.

 

My situation was thus:

 

My second son was an tiny infant (<2 months) and my older son was in kindergarten. This was in the final 6 months of my mother's life. She had to go to the hospital and I recall my dad staying with the kids while I went with her. My dad then took my older son to school and came to the hospital with my younger son so I could nurse him. He then tagged in on staying with my mom. I left to go and get some rest. My dad walked me and my son down to my car and was the one who put him into the car seat. My son was a small child, born 5 weeks early and very sleepy. He slept quietly and we had to rouse him for feedings so that he made no noise in the car was not surprising. When I got home I went inside and promptly collapsed on the couch. I woke some time later, under 2 hours but more than 30 minutes with my breasts full and leaking. I was pretty disoriented but in a few seconds of looking around for him, I was like huh, where is my son?! For a moment I thought he was still with my dad. I ran to the car, parked on the street in front of the house, and he was sleeping in his car seat. Thank goodness that this happened in a chilly February and not a hot July.

 

So I definitely believe that it can happen to perfectly loving, attentive parents. I was too tired and too in go mode and we were all more careful after that until things had stabilized.

 

Once I drove to my office in historic downtown Seattle, remarking on the light traffic and easy to find parking. Then it hit me. I was in my boot camp clothes, not my work clothes and it was 5:30 am and not 7:30 am. I'd passed the exit for bootcamp and just autopiloted to my office. Most people can understand that but not leaving a child by accident. It happens roughly the same way.

[Butter]

No, never.

 

My daughter claims I "forgot" them at instructor training a few weeks ago, though.  I was 2 minutes late and apparently I am always early and waiting so she got scared I had forgotten about them (Those two are 13 and 15 and surrounded by 2nd to 5th degree black belts.  They were perfectly safe for that 2 whopping minutes.).

[shawthorne44]

I did once, and I only have one.  It was in the car in my garage.  Friend of mine with child same age was coming over for a playdate.   Our tradition was that instead of cooking, one of us picked up some food.  I was hosting but for some reason, I was picking up the food.  I'd had the order placed and paid for online at Jason's Deli with a pickup time.  They hadn't even started to make the food when I got there at the appointed time.  I was irate (it had been a bad few days).  

When I got back home, I parked in the garage grabbed the food, left DD in the car seat, went inside, told the story to DH and my friend.  When I was done, my friend said, "Where is DD?"  

In my defense, I would have thought the same thing in a second.  

[Caroline]

I have a friend whose mom had a habit of forgetting the groceries. She would leave them in the parcel pick-up, go to the car and then forget the groceries and drive home. So them she left my friend (we were in middle school at the time) with the groceries so she wouldn't forget them. You guessed it! She drove home sans groceries and my friend. At the time she had a new born. I can totally see this happening to me. I leave the leftovers from restaurants on the table at the restaurant or in the car all the time.

[Southern Ivy]

I voted no...
HOWEVER, I have caught myself going to work instead of the babysitter several times and had to backtrack. (She was an infant and DH usually took her to the sitter.) I may not have left her in the car, but I have forgotten she is in the car with me.  I certainly can't judge those who, through different circumstances have forgotten their kids. 
Mistakes happen.

 

[JustEm]

Yes. It happened 6 months ago when I was out with my youngest without the other 3 for the first time. To add to that change in routine I had also just gotten in a 20 minute argument with my sister whom I never argue with. I was so upset over the argument I was too focused on that to remember my dd was with me. She slept the whole 15 minutes.

[purpleowl]

Once, for less than 5 minutes.  While I was on maternity leave with DD#2, so she was maybe a month old?  I went to meet DH for lunch somewhere.  DD#1 was in daycare, so DD#2 was the only one I had with me, and she was asleep.  I got to the restaurant and walked halfway across the parking lot and then realized she was still in the car.  It was terrifying, and that was probably less than 2 minutes, in mild weather (winter in Florida).

 

I worry about it a lot less with multiple kids in the car.  At least one of them is bound to be talking, and when I get one out I'll see the other(s).  I do frequently ask as we leave the house, "How many children are in this car?  Are all of them mine?"  

 

My parents once left my sister at church by accident.  I don't remember the details, but we didn't live very far from church, so at most she was probably only there 15 minutes (and other people were there).

[Jean in Newcastle]

Left dd in her baby seat in a store and started to leave.  A store employee came running after me.  

 

You said child - dd who was about 6 was left at gymnastics in a communication snafu.  Dh didn't realize that when I asked him to take care of gymnastics duty that it meant that he had to both take her and bring her home.  I was taking our other child to another activity  but got a call from the gym to let me know that dh had not picked her up.  Dd was never left without adult supervision.  I apologized profusely to the employee who stayed with her until I drove the 30 min. out (which took less than 30 min. that night if you know what I mean. . . ).  Dh was in the dog house but not too much.  It happens.  

 

I accidentally locked ds as an infant in a running car.  I knew it instantly and was always there but there were some tense moments as we figured out how to get him out.  (No hide-a-key and dh was at work.)

[Farrar]

I said yes... because I'm sure I did. Never in the car because they never slept in the car and it's hard to forget a loud baby or toddler. Mostly I can't remember though... my whole memory of that era is completely Swiss cheesed.

 

More often though, I know I lost them. Especially BalletBoy, who used to wander all the time. I've lost him at a million places. The worst was when I lost him when he was 4 yo in Paris at a park for an hour. I had to frantically run around explaining in French that I was missing my kid.

[marbel]

Not sure this counts -  my husband left our son at church once.  I had left earlier and he thought the boy was in the car with me.  (Sometimes we take two cars because one of us has to be there early or stay late.)    But he was 17 years old at the time, so it wasn't scary or anything.  Just, oh wow, sorry honey but yeah, we forgot about you. 

[Farrar]

I feel compelled to add that our memories are NOT as reliable as we want them to be. The situations in which the vast majority of infants are genuinely forgotten - not just for a minute, but all day - are times when families changed their habits for some reason - mom takes baby to daycare instead of dad who needs to get the oil changed, dad picks up toddler from playgroup instead of mom, mom has to run an unusual errand on the way back from somewhere, etc. Our brains are on autopilot way more than we realize.

 

The real "dummies" are the parents who think "that could never happen to me!" because they're clearly not aware of how the brain and memory really work. It could happen to the smartest Einstein or the most organized Flylady. It could happen to anyone because that's our crazy shortcut seeking brains. So it's real hubris and hopefully not "pride goeth before a fall" to the moms who are so sure they'll never ever forget their kids.

[Scarlett]

Once in a very crowded play area at the mall I got busy talking and didn't notice my 2 year old slip out. A co worker of my then husband recognized him and brought him to me. When I saw my son I about had a heart attack.

 

My mom left my brother, 3 at the time, in a grocery store when we were traveling across country with family. There were 4 adults and 6 kids in the car....we made sandwiches in the parking lot and they sent me back in the store to buy more bread.....that is when I saw my brother wondering down the isle alone.

[Guest]

I feel compelled to add that our memories are NOT as reliable as we want them to be. The situations in which the vast majority of infants are genuinely forgotten - not just for a minute, but all day - are times when families changed their habits for some reason - mom takes baby to daycare instead of dad who needs to get the oil changed, dad picks up toddler from playgroup instead of mom, mom has to run an unusual errand on the way back from somewhere, etc. Our brains are on autopilot way more than we realize.

 

The real "dummies" are the parents who think "that could never happen to me!" because they're clearly not aware of how the brain and memory really work. It could happen to the smartest Einstein or the most organized Flylady. It could happen to anyone because that's our crazy shortcut seeking brains. So it's real hubris and hopefully not "pride goeth before a fall" to the moms who are so sure they'll never ever forget their kids.

 

YES^^^

 

I have not forgotten a child anywhere that I can remember off the top of my head, but I've put a child in his car seat, got in the car and driven to wherever I was going, only to realize upon arrival that I never buckled him in. I did that at least once with each kid.

 

It's awful but it happens to perfectly sane, competent (well-rested, even!) people. That's why people have habits like checking to make sure they have everything they need every time they leave the house/store/car, or a habitual walk-through the house at night to make sure it's locked up.

 

Sometimes brand new moms can't imagine ever having ANYTHING on their minds other than their new baby. Obviously, we do eventually have to have thoughts about other things.

[myfunnybunch]

On my dd's birthday, I handed baby ds to the reception staff at her summer camp (not total strangers---women I'd been seeing all summer long and who loved playing with ds) so I could go out to the car to get her cupcakes, brought the cupcakes into the summer camp, and left.

 

I was driving out of the parking lot, reached back to make sure I'd buckled ds properly, and realized the car seat was empty.

 

I was horrified and SO embarrassed. The ladies at the desk laughed at me and said that they figured I'd forgotten something in the car when I went by without stopping for ds.

 

And I was completely out of routine. Birthday, plus usually I left ds at home with dh while I did camp drop-off.

 

And, reading previous post....there's a reason I was in the habit of making sure I'd remembered to buckle the car seat. I only forgot once, but that was enough to make me double-check regularly.

[BlsdMama]

I'll admit it and same child.  Sigh.

 

We forgot Abigail in her crib asleep when I took Ana took soccer nine years ago just shortly after she was born.  I blame that one on lack of sleep.

 

Then, about four years ago, we all went to a large park and we had company - my sister and her daughter.  We took everyone potty and were laughing and talking and loaded everyone up and pulled out of the parking spot when we realized Abigail wasn't with us.  There was no parking spot so we had to drive the circle around the park to pull up and run up.  She was still on the potty.

 

And almost once at Grandma and Grandpas.  We've figured her out now - when we say, "Everyone load up," she slips off to go potty.  Now we do role call and I'm NOT kidding.  I'm so paranoid it's not funny anymore.  She's getting a little nervous about it too. ;)

[Word Nerd]

No, but I temporarily forgot about my younger DD in the backseat when I took her to work with me because she had a doctor's appointment that morning. I remembered as soon as I started shutting the door, and she was old enough to get out of the car anyway, but it still startled me that I forgot about her at all. It was not part of my usual routine, and I was sort of on auto-pilot. I can definitely understand how it happens.

[Lolly]

Yep. Left ds in his bed asleep once shortly after he was born. Took the other three with me. Simply forgot he had been born, I suppose. Realized it fairly quickly and turned around. Same child was left behind at around 2 or 3 years of age. I am certain I had put him in his carseat. I think he got out of it and left the car. He was sitting on the front porch perfectly content when I got back home (turned around when I noticed he was no longer in his seat). Pretty sure I left him, same child, in his car seat in the driveway at some point too. none of the leavings were for long periods of time. (I did have his older sisters to remind me...It helped.)

 

Reason? lack of sleep. He never slept for more than 15 minutes at a time until he was 5 or so. Also had night terrors to deal with. And, the eldest (barely 4 when he was born) didn't sleep well. She could never go to sleep before midnight--ever. Add in a set of toddler twins, and I pretty much never got any sleep. It is a wonder they all survived! I tend to require 9-10 hours a night....plus a little daytime nap...for optimal performance. Not sure how I ended up with kids who don't need sleep. I blame dh's side of the family!

[Guest]

Never, but I'm the primary caregiver, very routine, do a roll call, and am generally super paranoid about it this. I know it can happen, so I take steps to try and avoid it, like never leaving one child in the car without another supervising while I run inside, or making sure all people are named and accounted for before we depart anywhere.

[T'smom]

No, but one time I forgot to buckle my baby's carseat. Y'know those baby carriers that snap into the base in the car or into the stroller? We were at the zoo and the car seat was in the stroller, but I had taken the baby out and put him back in without buckling the straps. (I kept taking him in and out to hold him up to see the animals). Usually he was strapped into the car seat while it was in the stroller. I just popped the seat out of the stroller and into the car and drove home. I had NO IDEA until we were home. I even took the car seat out of the car and carried him into the house without noticing. It wasn't until I actually took him out that I realized. Then I held him and sat on the floor and cried. I don't even know if i was crying because i was so stupid or I was so incredibly grateful that we were not in an accident. I would not throw stones at a parent who forgot their child. I have nothing but sympathy for them.

[Caclcoca]

I voted no, but I can see how it happens.  Last fall I forgot to drop my dd at dance class on the way to taking her brother to swim.  I couldn't figure out why we were early for swim practice that day until I realized that she was still in the car.  It could've easily been the other way around with me forgetting to pick her up.

[Mimm]

I have not. But I can easily see it happening. Children left in hot cars to die is so incredibly heart breaking. I hate thinking of what they suffered, but my heart breaks for the parents. I could not live with myself, knowing I had caused the miserable death of my child. I can't imagine the pain of that, the guilt. It's my worst nightmare.

[T'smom]

No, but I can absolutely see how it happens. I've seen articles wherein it's the Dad who leaves the kiddo accidentally, and 9 times out of 10 when you read the article you see that it was "out of the ordinary" for him to have the child at that time, and the child fell asleep in the car. My husband NEVER has the children during the day, so I'm always cautious if I even leave him home alone with them during the day if he's randomly home for some reason - dS6 is naturally very quiet, lol.

Also, I've had times when I'm so used TO having the children with me, that there's a momentary panic when I look in the backseat and there are no children there. If I can forget that I *don't* have my children, it would be ridiculously hypocritical of me to judge those who forget that they DO have their children.

I've forgotten that I don't have the kids too. I'm so used to having them with me that it's disconcerting when they are not!

[Ms.Ivy]

I haven't forgotten the kids because I frequently slip into "auto pilot" mode and I'm aware that I COULD forget someone.  So I am extra-cautious and always do a thorough check, even when I think I got everyone.  I especially did this when I was sleep deprived after having twins.  I would even stop the van half way down the street and check AGAIN because I couldn't remember doing the first check (my oldest kid would ask me why my brain didn't work very well at remembering anymore).  But I have loaded all the kids into the van and got home to realize that I left all the groceries sitting in the shopping cart in the parking lot.   :001_rolleyes:

[redsquirrel]

There was  a really good article about this a couple years ago...

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

 

Warning: This is NOT an easy article to read, but in my mind it puts paid to the idea that someone is 'stupid' for forgetting their kid in the car. 

 

And do the people you know really use the word 'retarded' to describe someone they thing is stupid? Because I thought that word was no longer used that way in polite company.

[Alice]

I've never left them anywhere but I have lost them places. 

 

I can totally see how it happens though and have had a fear of it. I have a good friend who has seven children and it's happened to her multiple times. I think the main thing that saved us is that we don't have a very set routine so we have had less chances to go into autopilot. I always read the stories where a tragedy happens with sadness but also a great sense of realization that it really could happen to anyone. 

[mathnerd]

Never. But, it is because of the personalities of the people involved - i am super paranoid that it will happen to me that avoiding it is paramount in my mind when i leave the house. I also have a very talkative and energetic child who is also clingy and I used to feel that something was amiss if I had a quiet moment. There was almost non-stop interaction and clinging that it was impossible to leave my baby/toddler and even go to the bathroom. 

 

But, that being said, if I had a quiet and more emotionally self-contained child, I would have definitely answered yes - because I am forgetful and have lost or missed many valuable items in my life.

[Cinder]

Yes, once, for 15 minutes. I completely forgot to pick up ds1 from school one day and ended up being 15 mins late. But he was 15yo at the time so he never got scared, just annoyed. It was one of those change-of-routine kind of days.

 

[Acorn]

No but I left a baby gate open on top of our stairs. I don't know how, it had been needed for years. Sometimes things just happen. My one year old who fell down the stairs was okay, but I still see her falling in my mind.

[SproutMamaK]

Yes, twice, both times within a few months after having a new baby and changing the family's routine. Once was when we'd had baby #3 and I realized we were out of something we needed to for dinner. I packed up the older two and went to the store to buy it (the store is literally a quarter mile away). I didn't realize until I was paying for my things that I'd forgotten the baby at home, napping in his crib and completely oblivious.

 

The other was the opposite. I remembered the baby and went to the store, bought our stuff. Put the baby and carseat on the ground while I loaded the groceries and put away the cart, and then started to drive off without them. Thankfully almost as soon as I put the van into drive the older kids asked where the baby was.

[SKL]

The other day, I was so flustered, I started backing my car before one of my kids was in.  I had heard something land in the booster seat, and in my mind, it was my kid's butt, not her bag.  :/  Luckily both kids hollered immediately and no damage was done.

[Tenaj]

Yes.  Not left in the car but we did leave my third child at home by himself by accident when he was about five.  We were picking up 4-H goats for the first time and the kids were all excited.  At the time we had a station wagon and a car, so we had decided the goats could ride in the back of the station wagon for the short trip because we hadn't gotten the wagon we were borrowing for them yet.  Anyway, so my dh jumped in the station wagon and I jumped in the car with the kids.  I thought that my dh had Eli and he thought I had him.  The pick up place was just about 5 minutes away.  When we got there, the lady we were buying the goats from looked at us and said, "Where's Eli?"  I drove that five minutes back home at record speed!  Putting the story together later, we realized that he had gone outside to wait on us to leave and had gotten bored and wandered into the backyard to play on the swing set which is why we never saw him.  

 

To make it an even better story, while we were gone, my parents who live two hours away pulled into the driveway.  Eli went running to meet them and they asked where everybody was.  He said, "I don't know . . . I think I'm supposed to be at (the neighbor's house)".  We had always told the kids to go to the one neighbors house if we weren't around for some reason.  Because of the presence of my Mom and Dad, the story gets told quite often at family gatherings.  I've learned to laugh about it, but at the time my adrenaline was pumping high.

 

I'm still paranoid, especially in instances where we have multiple vehicles and kids are being shuffled between dh, myself, brother/sisters, grandma/grandpa.  It's so easy to think that one is in a different car.  My family thinks I'm a maniac about it because we often go on multi-generational vacations and the kids often switch between vehicles for variety but I've trained everyone to do a head-count after every stop.

[fraidycat]

Not forgot them, but accidentally locked my baby and both mine and DH's keys in the vehicle. In August. We were standing right there, saying goodbye to the neighbours after our final housing inspection - we were moving out of state.

 

Thankfully, AAA responds immediately to child in car situations. The truck was seriously there in about 3 minutes.

[Grover]

I think I've shared this before on here:

 

DD was a small baby, perhaps under about 3 months?  Certainly under 6 months.  I had paperwork to drop off about 5 min drive away, so I loaded my 2 year old in the car and headed around.  I walked to the door, handed over the papers and walked back to the car.  As I got to the car I glanced through the window and saw the empty baby seat.  I had a split second "the baby is GONE!"  Followed by a realisation that I had left her at home.  I raced back home and she was still sound asleep in her cot. 

 

I did have a friend put her new born in a capsule down on my deck while she buckled in her sn, then hop in the car and prepare to drive away.  I picked up baby and asked if she thought she might be forgetting someone.  And another friend left her baby in the capsule beside the car and drove out of her garage (after strapping in her two other kids) and only realised when she looked back to close the garage door. 

 

I can definitely see how it happens to ordinary people - otherwise "good parents". 

[Rachel]

I sort of have left a child in the car. I didn't actually forget my son but I locked him with my phone and keys in the car as I was getting out. It was January and I was no one near the building into which I was heading. I was terrified of leaving my vehicle unattended to go call my husband so I was flagging people down to borrow their phones. I wasn't worried about his safety as much as a random passerby calling the police. My son was fine and dressed warmly but the 20-30 minutes it took until my husband could arrive to help felt like an eternity.

 

My parents on the other hand left me places more than once. I was older and my parents had the attitude that the kids (6 of us) need to pay attention to the parents when it was time to leave places. We lived in a small town and either my parents or grandparents home was pretty much walking distance from every where so it wasn't a huge deal.

[ocelotmom]

I have never left a child somewhere by accident.

 

I did have DS wander out of the house in the middle of the night when he was 2 years old, dressed only in a scarf (it was a really hot night), and thankfully got noticed by kind random strangers and picked up by the police before wandering into a busy intersection, and didn't notice until I woke up at 5 AM, having gotten the best sleep I'd had in the past 2+ years. I can only imagine what the media would have made of that if there had been a tragic ending, which there easily could have been. And I've seen parents dragged over the coals in similar cases.

 

So I try not to judge.

[unsinkable]

My girlfriend ( friend who is female. i thought id clarify that. :D ) was always leaving one of her kids at different places. He's an outgoing, talkative kid and when she'd tell her kids to go get in the car, he wouldn't bc he was too busy socializing.

 

Sometimes she'd do a head count and realize she didn't have him but sometimes she wouldn't and he'd get left behind.