MoCo Mom Arrested for Leaving Kids Alone at Rehoboth Beach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did she have 2 kids a year apart at age 46

My guess is she is raising her grandchildren or she fostered to adopt them. Fat chance they are her biological kids given her age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did she have 2 kids a year apart at age 46

My guess is she is raising her grandchildren or she fostered to adopt them. Fat chance they are her biological kids given her age.

Or she had fertility treatment as many affluent older MoCo women do. Donor eggs not. Maybe even a gestational carrier. Or she adopted them by choice. Doesn't matter. She's their mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have no hesitation leaving my 7 and 9 alone in this scenario for a quick errand. Guess the dogs complicated things though. Crate them while mom is out.

Quick errand? It had been 45 minutes at the time of her arrest. Would have been even longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The very act of having the police called and the mom charged proves the kids didn't meet the threshold of "12 or mature enough." Someone called because they were running around and were not under the supervision of an adult. She was wrong.

That might be witch hunt standards. But the reality is, most of the time leaving 8/9 year old kids at home alone for under an hour is not an egregious error. Witch hunting on the other hand is pretty awful.

You think the guy who was concerned about an 8 and 9 year old running in the streets after a dog because mom was gone for an hour was witch hunting?? She used shitty judgment, her kids were not safe alone in the house, they were out in the street and a guy almost hit them/their dog and she was at a restaurant. That's BAD PARENTING.

No. I understand why the man called CPS. I do not understand why the mother was arrested though.

If she had literally just gone down the street to pick up dinner and got delayed (crowds/order not ready/traffic) and thought that her kids were safe inside the house - that was reasonable. The dogs getting out and running off was unexpected and accidental. The kids running after their beloved pets is understandable. Those kids could have ran out into the street after their dogs even if their mom was home at the time. Stuff happens. Accidents happen.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. Perhaps the cops/CPS saw something that has not been reported. But if this was just a matter of kids running after dogs that accidentally got out.....and arresting the mother for daring to be out picking up dinner at the time....that seems over the top to me. These kids weren't toddlers or preschoolers.

This isnt what happened. A pp posted the kids intentionally took the dogs out and were not able to control them. This is why parents need to be avalablr to their kids. Did mom tell them to walk the dog while was gone? If so, very poor judgment on her part.

Assuming this PP knows these people. Do you really think these are the only two people walking dogs at the beach?

No, I don't know them. And of course they're not the only two people walking dogs at the beach. But I encountered two young kids just before the time given on the police report, on the same street, walking two dogs as big as they were, and their ability to handle them appeared questionable. I also saw the mom (they were several doors down from us) a few days later.

I don't personally think it's unreasonable to leave an 8 or 9 year old home alone while picking up dinner. But there are easily half a dozen restaurants within a block or so of their rental. If their mother was really heading five miles away (which means Route 1 traffic, generally awful in season), not so much.

If the mom was routinely allowing the kids to take those large dogs on walks by themselves then I think she was wrong in allowing that. Those children were physically too small to handle the task and they did not have control of the animals. The dogs breaking away from those kids was easily foreseeable and quite likely inevitable - it wasn't so much if but when this would happen.

If this is true, the charges make more sense.

[Anonymous]

I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Wow. Delaware does not have a set age, but will investigate if a child up to TWELVE is alone. That is mind boggling. This seems like a huge over-reaction.

http://kids.delaware.gov/faqs.shtml


Virginia is also 12 - another reason never to leave kids younger than that alone in car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sad part is that if a divorced DCUMer posted a vent that her XH left the kids under 10 for 45 min in their vacation rental, everyone would tell her she was unhinged or trying to control him. It's only neglect if a mom does it.

Yeah right ! They would be screaming for divorce. It's bad parenting all Round and she's only getting any excuses made on her behalf BECAUSE she's the mom. An hour gone at a place 5 miles alway? Sorry, I think she was sitting at the bar having a drink or two while her kids were loose in the hood chasing the dogs.

Have you BEEN food places at the beach?

Do you think it's 5 mins in/5 mins out?

Parking can be a bitch. And even if you phone in an order, you still have to wait b/c you're not THE ONLY ONE phoning in.

Furthermore, there's traffic with which to contend. 5 miles at the beach is not a 5-min drive.

You all must be living under a rock.

"The beach"? Yeah. Rehoboth? No. But your post only further reiterates why she had no business leaving those kids to go to some restaurant 5 miles away. Clearly it takes an hour to go that far there according to several posters. So she was going to be gone ~2ish hours to "pick up dinner"? Makes sense.

Rehobeth is a hot mess in the summer, you know. not as crazy as OC but crowded - Route 1 doesn't get any easier up that way.

And it was an hour. I fail to see how she's now an unfit mother for leaving them for an hour. This is absolutely ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

They're not too little to be left alone where she lives in MD. I'm guessing this is their last Rehoboth vacation, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

They're not too little to be left alone where she lives in MD. I'm guessing this is their last Rehoboth vacation, though.

People don't leave 8 and 9 year olds home alone where she lives in MD.

Signed,

Olney mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

They're not too little to be left alone where she lives in MD. I'm guessing this is their last Rehoboth vacation, though.

People don't leave 8 and 9 year olds home alone where she lives in MD.

Signed,

Olney mom

LOL! Yes they do!

Signed,
Olney mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

They're not too little to be left alone where she lives in MD. I'm guessing this is their last Rehoboth vacation, though.

People don't leave 8 and 9 year olds home alone where she lives in MD.

Signed,

Olney mom

LOL! Yes they do!

Signed,
Olney mom

You leave your third and fourth grader home alone? What neighborhood/elementary school? I bet I know. Parents in our school would never do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids were 8 and 9. Dogs got loose and the person who helped them called the police! She only went a few miles away to get food. Plus, in MoCo, isn't it legal to leave your kids alone for short time periods once they're 8?

Seems over the top to arrest this lady.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/eaf1bb6a-14f4-30bc-9db9-4f5a79516239/ss_police%3A-mom-charged-for.html

The person that called the police is a busy-body with zero life and zero common sense!

[Anonymous]

Well, I live in a relatively nice NoVA neighborhood and I leave y rising 4th grader alone. I was basically the last in my group of friends to do so. Maybe people don't tell people like you because you are crazy helicopter-y judge mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

They're not too little to be left alone where she lives in MD. I'm guessing this is their last Rehoboth vacation, though.

People don't leave 8 and 9 year olds home alone where she lives in MD.

Signed,

Olney mom

LOL! Yes they do!

Signed,
Olney mom

You leave your third and fourth grader home alone? What neighborhood/elementary school? I bet I know. Parents in our school would never do that.

Brook Grove. But it's impressive that you know every single parent with a child at your child's school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like free range parenting, but arresting her is a bit extreme. I guess she learned they are too little to be left alone still.

They're not too little to be left alone where she lives in MD. I'm guessing this is their last Rehoboth vacation, though.

People don't leave 8 and 9 year olds home alone where she lives in MD.

Signed,

Olney mom

LOL! Yes they do!

Signed,
Olney mom

You leave your third and fourth grader home alone? What neighborhood/elementary school? I bet I know. Parents in our school would never do that.

Brook Grove. But it's impressive that you know every single parent with a child at your child's school.

Figured it would be Brooke Grove or Olney Elementary.