Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Laura — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:39:02 GMT

and could someone please tell us what recourse Dad had for the kid who was acting up? So tired of people saying parents can't discipline - leaving him might have been silly but bet the brat could have walked home from where they were - betcha!! LOL Young people have lost their respect and yet we continue to let them!

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Poot — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:06:54 GMT

Abandonment issues the rest of their life? Darlin', you gotta be kidding me. Oh yeah, let the kid act like a disrespectful little pr*ck, that'll be just fine the rest of his life when you reward him for his behavior by letting him have his way... but we can't let him walk home--he may feel.... abandoned! Good lord, and we wonder what the hell is wrong with kids these days.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Cindy — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:53:06 GMT

I saw a woman leave her tween before, I was watching in the parking lot. She tried for several minutes to get him in the car and he would not budge so she left him. She did come back about 5 minutes later and the boy finally got in the car. Oh, and the boy did threaten to call the cops if she left him.

When I was about that age my parents left me (similar situation, except I was not being defiant) and came back to get me. I know I was not harmed because of the incident and I learned a good lesson from it. No bitterness towards my parents, no scarring.

He probally would have been best off though to handle the incident with the kid when they got home.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

chyna823 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:15:28 GMT

Leaving the kid was probably not the wisest move, but involving CPS and charging this guy is utterly ridiculous. The kid is 11, not 4. Like other posters have said, if this kid walked to McD's himself to get breakfast, no one would say boo.

When I was 11, I was babysitting other people's babies.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

BBBGMOM — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:49:30 GMT

You go, Cassie ... that's what I would've done, too. All the while crying in my car about how the heck I was going to reform my kid. Parenting is tough!

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Cassie — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:45:26 GMT

When my son was 12 he and his buddy decided to shop lift at a local drugstore. When I arrived the manager greeted me wiht ,

"Are you related to this two little foul mouthed punks?" I was so mad I thought my head would explode. The boys had been cussing at the manager and saying they would not get into trouble. They decided not to press charges. They released the two boys to me. I walked with them outside and then they tried to get into my car. I locked the doors and told them to walk home. They did and never said a word about it.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Bethie — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:08:48 GMT

Yeah, you can send a kid to the corner alone to buy the McDonald's food but you should never ever EVER leave your kid somewhere because you are angry with them. What a way to scare the sh** out of them and give them abandonment issues for life. Please people, use your head.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

BBBGMOM — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:01:03 GMT

My first reaction was - boy I know how he felt! As a mother of a "tween" (10.5 years old) I can imagine being exasperated enough to "abandon" my son a few blocks from home. Heck I actually let him walk a few blocks and bike a couple of miles without any supervision even when I'm not mad!

But, tempted as it might be, I don't think I would quite as far as the columnist did... maybe when he's fourteen, though.

So, my question is, would the cops have gotten involved if the boy had been sent to McD's to pick up his own McMuffin without the angry part? I wonder, too, Brett, if the "out of anger" thing is what tipped this. Did the boy cry and tell people his dad ditched? (Sorry - I have not yet read the column, which might answer that question.)

Esther's story made me cry. A four year old with a pee accident is sooooo different than an eleven year old. Mama sounds like a messed up lady. That poor boy. CPS should've swooped in.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

esther — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:36:25 GMT

When I was in college, I worked at a Barnes and Noble. One day a woman came in with her son (about 3-4 years old). While they were standing in line, the boy started complaining loudly that he had to pee. The mother kept telling him to hold it until, of course, he wet himself.

The most horrible thing is, she took him into the bathroom, stripped him naked, and told him to wait for her in the bathroom while she went across the street to Walmart to buy him more clothes. I kept going into the bathroom to check on the little boy, who was scared and humiliated. I asked my boss if we should call the police, but she told me to keep my eye on the boy and not "cause trouble".

The woman was gone for 45 minutes, and when she got back she yelled at me for harassing her son. I still wish that I would have called the cops.

re: Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

crysbellis — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:19:23 GMT

my brother and i were latchkey kids at a young age, and were permitted to go to the park, store, etc., by ourselves as children. i agree that the guy seriously screwed up, but the charges do seem strangely harsh. this seems like a case of overreaction, probably on the part of child protective services. if one boneheaded move is all it takes to incur those kinds of felonies, then by that logic, people who really do abandon, neglect, or abuse their children would all be in jail by now. just saying.