Raising a preschooler isn't easy, I'll give him that; the whining, the demands, the "testing" of the "boundries." The 3-5 set can be a major pain in the ass, and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about taking mine to the fire station drop box once or twice. Of course, I'd never in a million years actually do it - but that doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to want to, sometimes.
You know what I'm talking about.
But, thanks to good friends, family, and luxuries like a home and health insurance, I will never have to go as far as the unnamed dad in Japan who reached his preschooler-malarkey threshold yesterday, and deposited his 3-year-old son in a drop box in Kumamoto. The drop box, known as "Stork's Cradle," was meant to discourage abortions and abandonment of babies in unsafe public places, and was installed after a high-profile wave of abandonments in public parks and shopping areas. The boy was left in the box on its first day in operation.
So far, police have been able to establish the boy's name, which is being kept private, and that the boy rode the bullet train with his father to Kumamoto. They have publicly urged the mother and father to come forward, while condemning the parents for their "unforgivable" act.
I wonder what kind of desperate circumstances would lead a parent to such an act; poverty, disease, mental illness, homelessness...? The list could go on and on. The unnamed father undoubtedly faces a lifetime of despair for such an act - and a lifetime in jail if his identity is discovered. If anything good can come out of such a sad event, I hope it's that this little boy finds a new home with a family who appreciates him - and that he is young enough to forget this ever happened to him.
