MoCo Mom Arrested for Leaving Kids Alone at Rehoboth Beach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

I totally disagree. It's not his responsibility to assist these kids with their dog and to make sure they are safe. That is the parents job. Or do you think it's better for people to look the other way when they see young children in situations that are potentially dangerous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

So, are those not Olney schools? Do those parents not count as living in Olney, and therefore part of your holier-than-thou Olney image?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imagine if the dog got loose and the children ran into traffic and got killed? The stupid mom should've just taken everyone in her car or ordered delivery.

Oh, FFS. What if the mom had taken everyone in the car and then (god forbid) got into an accident. Would you have still called her stupid? Probably more risky to take the kids in a car ANYWHERE.

[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

Not the PP, but I wanted to also agree that people in my neighborhood DO keep kids alone at home for short times. Montgomery General Hospital (in OLNEY!) offers classes for kids to learn what to do if they are at home alone.

Some kids are quite capable. Just because your kids aren't, don't assume all kids are that immature.

[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.

I think the concept of XH is difficult for you to understand. Why would anyone call for someone to divorce when they are already no longer married? And that address isn't in "the hood". Nor was the mom drinking.

Hood is short for neighborhood, coolio. It doesn't mean "the hood." And how do you know she wasn't drinking?

If she had been drinking, the police would have charged her with DUI.

[Anonymous]

This thread has devolved to speculation about a stranger's fertility and an Olney Mom smackdown.

[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

Not the PP, but I wanted to also agree that people in my neighborhood DO keep kids alone at home for short times. Montgomery General Hospital (in OLNEY!) offers classes for kids to learn what to do if they are at home alone.

Some kids are quite capable. Just because your kids aren't, don't assume all kids are that immature.

One of my neighbors was at home working in her basement. Her car was in the driveway. Two "young men" kicked in the French doors to her den (her alarm was off), went down to the basement, and confronted her. It's not that some kids aren't more mature than others, but most kids (and that's why we have laws and guidelines that DFCS follows) are viewed as too young at 8 years old to be left alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

You don't have to name the breed, but do you mean as large as a lab or golden retriever? Bigger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think the concept of XH is difficult for you to understand. Why would anyone call for someone to divorce when they are already no longer married? And that address isn't in "the hood". Nor was the mom drinking.

Hood is short for neighborhood, coolio. It doesn't mean "the hood." And how do you know she wasn't drinking?

If she had been drinking, the police would have charged her with DUI.

She was in a restaurant!! You don't get a DUI sitting at a restaurant.

[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

Not the PP, but I wanted to also agree that people in my neighborhood DO keep kids alone at home for short times. Montgomery General Hospital (in OLNEY!) offers classes for kids to learn what to do if they are at home alone.

Some kids are quite capable. Just because your kids aren't, don't assume all kids are that immature.

One of my neighbors was at home working in her basement. Her car was in the driveway. Two "young men" kicked in the French doors to her den (her alarm was off), went down to the basement, and confronted her. It's not that some kids aren't more mature than others, but most kids (and that's why we have laws and guidelines that DFCS follows) are viewed as too young at 8 years old to be left alone.

How would a 10 or. 13 year old be better equipped to handle? Or an adult? This is a terrible, rare example to use about why kids should never be left alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Would you leave your rising 4th grader alone in charge of his third grade sibling while walking 2 large dogs in a beach neighborhood that isn't where they live? For 2 hours+? Many people are saying 5 miles up Rt 1 would take about an hour- and how long was she planning to stay before the cops arrested her? There's a lot more here than leaving your 4th grader in his house while you run to Giant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Would you leave your rising 4th grader alone in charge of his third grade sibling while walking 2 large dogs in a beach neighborhood that isn't where they live? For 2 hours+? Many people are saying 5 miles up Rt 1 would take about an hour- and how long was she planning to stay before the cops arrested her? There's a lot more here than leaving your 4th grader in his house while you run to Giant.

+1 Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Not the PP, but I wanted to also agree that people in my neighborhood DO keep kids alone at home for short times. Montgomery General Hospital (in OLNEY!) offers classes for kids to learn what to do if they are at home alone.

Some kids are quite capable. Just because your kids aren't, don't assume all kids are that immature.

One of my neighbors was at home working in her basement. Her car was in the driveway. Two "young men" kicked in the French doors to her den (her alarm was off), went down to the basement, and confronted her. It's not that some kids aren't more mature than others, but most kids (and that's why we have laws and guidelines that DFCS follows) are viewed as too young at 8 years old to be left alone.

How would a 10 or. 13 year old be better equipped to handle? Or an adult? This is a terrible, rare example to use about why kids should never be left alone.

I think most people would view most older children as better able to handle an emergency situation. That's why DFCS has guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread has devolved to speculation about a stranger's fertility and an Olney Mom smackdown.

You obviously aren't from Olney. This is what we do. Shocking that we don't have our own Real Housewives yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has devolved to speculation about a stranger's fertility and an Olney Mom smackdown.

You obviously aren't from Olney. This is what we do. Shocking that we don't have our own Real Housewives yet.

People would have to care about Olney for that to happen