Just got yelled at for leaving my kid alone in in the car while I went to the pharmacy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can totally leave it running for the AC, leave the key fob with the kid and have them lock the door. Then when you get back, they unlock it for you. 7 is plenty old to do this.

I worry about a car jacker showing up with a gun and demanding that the car be unlocked.

You are worrying about a fantasy that will never happen.

Yeah. You tell ‘em.

Or…

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-juveniles-sought-in-car-theft-with-child-inside-in-northwest-dc-police/3172083/

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-month-old-girl-found-after-being-taken-in-georgetown-car-theft/3508529/

Those cars were not parked in parking lots with security guards-- they were parked on the street.

The kids in those cases were much younger. In the case of the infant, the carjacker likely did not even realize the baby was in the car for some time.

It's also not clear how long those cars were left idling. In the infant case the mom left the car to go into a perfume store (wtf). Are these cases of people running short errands nearby or are they cases of people using leaving kids in idling cars for 30 or 60 minutes?

The PP is envisioning a situation where a carjacker approaches a locked car with a 7 year old visible in the back seat, and in full view of the security guard and what I'm sure are security cameras outside the pharmacy, points a gun at the child and demands they unlock the car. In the 3-5 minutes the mom was inside the pharmacy.

This will not happen.

So the security guard was babysitting the child? Is that his job?

I actually do think it's his job. It was a few minutes and the mom was right inside. The child is 7, not 2.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my 8 yr old and it started pouring rain while we were in the store. DD was in flipflops (post swim class) and I decided to run and get the car and pick her up at the curb. I left her in the vestibule next to the door. I did consider this a reasonably safe option in part because there was a security guard posted near the door and the area is monitored by cameras.

Am I a derelict parent for leaving an elementary kid alone in public for a few minutes?

Why would having wet feet with flip flops be a problem? Why couldn’t she walk to the car?

Flip flops in a torrential downpour are unsafe -- your feet slide around in the shoe and there is nothing to keep them on. Totally reasonable to just go get the car and pick the kid up and actually probably safer -- less likelihood of the kid losing a shoe in a parking lot and either doing something dangerous to try and retrieve it or stepping on something harmful.

Obviously waiting in a vestibule for a few minutes makes more sense especially for a kid who is 7 or 8 years old and therefore perfectly capable of doing that responsibly. A younger child is less likely to be wearing inappropriate footwear and also you could probably pick up a kid who was 6 or younger or put them in a shopping cart for the trip to the car.

I grew up in Florida, land of the flip flops, and I don't wear them anymore or have my kid wear them. When it's muddy they shoot mud up on the back of your legs. More importantly, every time a friend, a family member, or I had some kid of nasty foot injury, we had flip flops on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can totally leave it running for the AC, leave the key fob with the kid and have them lock the door. Then when you get back, they unlock it for you. 7 is plenty old to do this.

I worry about a car jacker showing up with a gun and demanding that the car be unlocked.

You are worrying about a fantasy that will never happen.

Yeah. You tell ‘em.

Or…

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-juveniles-sought-in-car-theft-with-child-inside-in-northwest-dc-police/3172083/

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-month-old-girl-found-after-being-taken-in-georgetown-car-theft/3508529/

Those cars were not parked in parking lots with security guards-- they were parked on the street.

The kids in those cases were much younger. In the case of the infant, the carjacker likely did not even realize the baby was in the car for some time.

It's also not clear how long those cars were left idling. In the infant case the mom left the car to go into a perfume store (wtf). Are these cases of people running short errands nearby or are they cases of people using leaving kids in idling cars for 30 or 60 minutes?

The PP is envisioning a situation where a carjacker approaches a locked car with a 7 year old visible in the back seat, and in full view of the security guard and what I'm sure are security cameras outside the pharmacy, points a gun at the child and demands they unlock the car. In the 3-5 minutes the mom was inside the pharmacy.

This will not happen.

So the security guard was babysitting the child? Is that his job?

I actually do think it's his job. It was a few minutes and the mom was right inside. The child is 7, not 2.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my 8 yr old and it started pouring rain while we were in the store. DD was in flipflops (post swim class) and I decided to run and get the car and pick her up at the curb. I left her in the vestibule next to the door. I did consider this a reasonably safe option in part because there was a security guard posted near the door and the area is monitored by cameras.

Am I a derelict parent for leaving an elementary kid alone in public for a few minutes?

It is your primary responsibility as a parent to keep your child safe. You make the guard’s job harder by handing over that job to the guard because you can’t turn off the car while you run into the store. So self-centered.

Again -- in a functional society no one considers a security guard keeping an eye on an older kid in a car for 10 minutes to be "baby-sitting." It's just being a person in society. But the US is not functional around families and children so we have this deranged idea that from birth until like 12 or 13 a parent must have eyes on their child at all times OR be paying a professional child minder to watch their kid. It is nonsensical and is actually BAD for kids in the long run.

The point is that a 7 year old is actually perfectly capable of handling themselves in a car for a few minutes. The security guard is not a baby-sitter (it's not a baby!) but is a layer of social protection against some of the rare and unlikely circumstances people are fretting about -- a carjacking or car accident. Those things are almost definitely not going to happen and the presence of a security guard makes them less likely.

This is how watching kids works in normal societies where kids are viewed as normal and necessary. People in other countries do not freak out when they see an unattended 7 year old in a public space where there are responsible adults present because why would they -- that kid is safe. It is only in the US where we have all been convinced that this is a dangerous situation thanks to the efforts of scare mongers who are mostly trying to rally hatred of working mothers and poor people (if it's illegal to leave any child alone for any length of time for any reason then I guess women have to stay home with kids for 18 years and poor people should not have kids at all right).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, my kid is 7 years old. I left him inside the car with it running while I went to go pick up my medication from the pharmacy. He asked me to, since he didn’t want to come in with me. I tried to tempt him but he wasn’t into it, so I told him he could stay in the car. I come out and a security guard started yelling at me, questioning me about where I was and saying I can’t leave my kid alone in the car until he is a teenager. He also went to my car and questioned my child. My kid is responsible because he has a special needs brother. For example, he is responsible in the morning for making sure his brother gets to his classroom because we aren’t allowed in (the school suggested this to us). Thoughts? Is it really a crime to leave a 7 year old in the car for 10 minutes?

I’m really surprised by all the people excoriating you. Assuming this is a super quiet and super safe neighborhood, I don’t think it’s a big deal. But with the caveat that it has to be a super safe neighborhood. Not one where there’s a lot of crime – violent and petty.

I think it’s good to give a little bit of independence. OP probably left the car running so it wouldn’t overheat. I’ve done this before, like if I run inside a restaurant to grab my already-prepared curbside order.

But maybe the security guard knew something you didn’t? About the neighborhood’s safety? Come to think of it, my super safe CVS does not have a security guard. So maybe the neighborhood isn’t as safe as you assumed it to be? Where do you live OP?

Yeah every CVS in Mayberry has a security guard assigned to the parking lot. Get a clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, my kid is 7 years old. I left him inside the car with it running while I went to go pick up my medication from the pharmacy. He asked me to, since he didn’t want to come in with me. I tried to tempt him but he wasn’t into it, so I told him he could stay in the car. I come out and a security guard started yelling at me, questioning me about where I was and saying I can’t leave my kid alone in the car until he is a teenager. He also went to my car and questioned my child. My kid is responsible because he has a special needs brother. For example, he is responsible in the morning for making sure his brother gets to his classroom because we aren’t allowed in (the school suggested this to us). Thoughts? Is it really a crime to leave a 7 year old in the car for 10 minutes?

I’m really surprised by all the people excoriating you. Assuming this is a super quiet and super safe neighborhood, I don’t think it’s a big deal. But with the caveat that it has to be a super safe neighborhood. Not one where there’s a lot of crime – violent and petty.

I think it’s good to give a little bit of independence. OP probably left the car running so it wouldn’t overheat. I’ve done this before, like if I run inside a restaurant to grab my already-prepared curbside order.

But maybe the security guard knew something you didn’t? About the neighborhood’s safety? Come to think of it, my super safe CVS does not have a security guard. So maybe the neighborhood isn’t as safe as you assumed it to be? Where do you live OP?

Yeah every CVS in Mayberry has a security guard assigned to the parking lot. Get a clue.

OP didn't say CVS. She said pharmacy. And we don't even know if this security guard was for the pharmacy (though that would not be atypical -- pharmacies even in safe neighborhoods often have higher security because of liability and regulatory issues around the drugs they stock) or if the pharmacy was in a shopping center with a guard or perhaps the car was parked in a paid lot with it's own security to ensure compliance with payment policies.

It is fascinating to me that a lot of people instantly imagined an urban CVS where carjacking is rampant and the CVS could be held up at any moment. I actually live in the city and have places like that near me and I assumed OP was in the burbs in a safer neighborhood because that's where I would do something like leave a 7 yr old in a car for a few minutes outside a pharmacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can totally leave it running for the AC, leave the key fob with the kid and have them lock the door. Then when you get back, they unlock it for you. 7 is plenty old to do this.

I worry about a car jacker showing up with a gun and demanding that the car be unlocked.

You are worrying about a fantasy that will never happen.

Yeah. You tell ‘em.

Or…

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-juveniles-sought-in-car-theft-with-child-inside-in-northwest-dc-police/3172083/

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-month-old-girl-found-after-being-taken-in-georgetown-car-theft/3508529/

Those cars were not parked in parking lots with security guards-- they were parked on the street.

The kids in those cases were much younger. In the case of the infant, the carjacker likely did not even realize the baby was in the car for some time.

It's also not clear how long those cars were left idling. In the infant case the mom left the car to go into a perfume store (wtf). Are these cases of people running short errands nearby or are they cases of people using leaving kids in idling cars for 30 or 60 minutes?

The PP is envisioning a situation where a carjacker approaches a locked car with a 7 year old visible in the back seat, and in full view of the security guard and what I'm sure are security cameras outside the pharmacy, points a gun at the child and demands they unlock the car. In the 3-5 minutes the mom was inside the pharmacy.

This will not happen.

So the security guard was babysitting the child? Is that his job?

I actually do think it's his job. It was a few minutes and the mom was right inside. The child is 7, not 2.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my 8 yr old and it started pouring rain while we were in the store. DD was in flipflops (post swim class) and I decided to run and get the car and pick her up at the curb. I left her in the vestibule next to the door. I did consider this a reasonably safe option in part because there was a security guard posted near the door and the area is monitored by cameras.

Am I a derelict parent for leaving an elementary kid alone in public for a few minutes?

It is your primary responsibility as a parent to keep your child safe. You make the guard’s job harder by handing over that job to the guard because you can’t turn off the car while you run into the store. So self-centered.

Again -- in a functional society no one considers a security guard keeping an eye on an older kid in a car for 10 minutes to be "baby-sitting." It's just being a person in society. But the US is not functional around families and children so we have this deranged idea that from birth until like 12 or 13 a parent must have eyes on their child at all times OR be paying a professional child minder to watch their kid. It is nonsensical and is actually BAD for kids in the long run.

The point is that a 7 year old is actually perfectly capable of handling themselves in a car for a few minutes. The security guard is not a baby-sitter (it's not a baby!) but is a layer of social protection against some of the rare and unlikely circumstances people are fretting about -- a carjacking or car accident. Those things are almost definitely not going to happen and the presence of a security guard makes them less likely.

This is how watching kids works in normal societies where kids are viewed as normal and necessary. People in other countries do not freak out when they see an unattended 7 year old in a public space where there are responsible adults present because why would they -- that kid is safe. It is only in the US where we have all been convinced that this is a dangerous situation thanks to the efforts of scare mongers who are mostly trying to rally hatred of working mothers and poor people (if it's illegal to leave any child alone for any length of time for any reason then I guess women have to stay home with kids for 18 years and poor people should not have kids at all right).

Please. This has zero to do with working mothers. Do you even know that OP is a mother?

Turn off the car. Go into store. Return to car and start the engine.

De minimus effort on your part to be considerate of the security guard and minimize risk.

This is not difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, my kid is 7 years old. I left him inside the car with it running while I went to go pick up my medication from the pharmacy. He asked me to, since he didn’t want to come in with me. I tried to tempt him but he wasn’t into it, so I told him he could stay in the car. I come out and a security guard started yelling at me, questioning me about where I was and saying I can’t leave my kid alone in the car until he is a teenager. He also went to my car and questioned my child. My kid is responsible because he has a special needs brother. For example, he is responsible in the morning for making sure his brother gets to his classroom because we aren’t allowed in (the school suggested this to us). Thoughts? Is it really a crime to leave a 7 year old in the car for 10 minutes?

I’m really surprised by all the people excoriating you. Assuming this is a super quiet and super safe neighborhood, I don’t think it’s a big deal. But with the caveat that it has to be a super safe neighborhood. Not one where there’s a lot of crime – violent and petty.

I think it’s good to give a little bit of independence. OP probably left the car running so it wouldn’t overheat. I’ve done this before, like if I run inside a restaurant to grab my already-prepared curbside order.

But maybe the security guard knew something you didn’t? About the neighborhood’s safety? Come to think of it, my super safe CVS does not have a security guard. So maybe the neighborhood isn’t as safe as you assumed it to be? Where do you live OP?

Yeah every CVS in Mayberry has a security guard assigned to the parking lot. Get a clue.

OP didn't say CVS. She said pharmacy. And we don't even know if this security guard was for the pharmacy (though that would not be atypical -- pharmacies even in safe neighborhoods often have higher security because of liability and regulatory issues around the drugs they stock) or if the pharmacy was in a shopping center with a guard or perhaps the car was parked in a paid lot with it's own security to ensure compliance with payment policies.

It is fascinating to me that a lot of people instantly imagined an urban CVS where carjacking is rampant and the CVS could be held up at any moment. I actually live in the city and have places like that near me and I assumed OP was in the burbs in a safer neighborhood because that's where I would do something like leave a 7 yr old in a car for a few minutes outside a pharmacy.

Like the mom who left her kid in the car with the engine running on M Street and got it carjacked? Like that?

Look up the CVS off Sangamore in MoCo. Gets robbed all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, my kid is 7 years old. I left him inside the car with it running while I went to go pick up my medication from the pharmacy. He asked me to, since he didn’t want to come in with me. I tried to tempt him but he wasn’t into it, so I told him he could stay in the car. I come out and a security guard started yelling at me, questioning me about where I was and saying I can’t leave my kid alone in the car until he is a teenager. He also went to my car and questioned my child. My kid is responsible because he has a special needs brother. For example, he is responsible in the morning for making sure his brother gets to his classroom because we aren’t allowed in (the school suggested this to us). Thoughts? Is it really a crime to leave a 7 year old in the car for 10 minutes?

Next time try parenting. A 7 year old doesn't get to decide, you tell them to come with you.

What a parent and their child decide is between them and not the government. Keep your government out of our personal choice.

Sound familiar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can totally leave it running for the AC, leave the key fob with the kid and have them lock the door. Then when you get back, they unlock it for you. 7 is plenty old to do this.

I worry about a car jacker showing up with a gun and demanding that the car be unlocked.

You are worrying about a fantasy that will never happen.

Yeah. You tell ‘em.

Or…

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-juveniles-sought-in-car-theft-with-child-inside-in-northwest-dc-police/3172083/

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-month-old-girl-found-after-being-taken-in-georgetown-car-theft/3508529/

Those cars were not parked in parking lots with security guards-- they were parked on the street.

The kids in those cases were much younger. In the case of the infant, the carjacker likely did not even realize the baby was in the car for some time.

It's also not clear how long those cars were left idling. In the infant case the mom left the car to go into a perfume store (wtf). Are these cases of people running short errands nearby or are they cases of people using leaving kids in idling cars for 30 or 60 minutes?

The PP is envisioning a situation where a carjacker approaches a locked car with a 7 year old visible in the back seat, and in full view of the security guard and what I'm sure are security cameras outside the pharmacy, points a gun at the child and demands they unlock the car. In the 3-5 minutes the mom was inside the pharmacy.

This will not happen.

So the security guard was babysitting the child? Is that his job?

I actually do think it's his job. It was a few minutes and the mom was right inside. The child is 7, not 2.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my 8 yr old and it started pouring rain while we were in the store. DD was in flipflops (post swim class) and I decided to run and get the car and pick her up at the curb. I left her in the vestibule next to the door. I did consider this a reasonably safe option in part because there was a security guard posted near the door and the area is monitored by cameras.

Am I a derelict parent for leaving an elementary kid alone in public for a few minutes?

Why would having wet feet with flip flops be a problem? Why couldn’t she walk to the car?

Flip flops in a torrential downpour are unsafe -- your feet slide around in the shoe and there is nothing to keep them on. Totally reasonable to just go get the car and pick the kid up and actually probably safer -- less likelihood of the kid losing a shoe in a parking lot and either doing something dangerous to try and retrieve it or stepping on something harmful.

Obviously waiting in a vestibule for a few minutes makes more sense especially for a kid who is 7 or 8 years old and therefore perfectly capable of doing that responsibly. A younger child is less likely to be wearing inappropriate footwear and also you could probably pick up a kid who was 6 or younger or put them in a shopping cart for the trip to the car.

Oh brother. Worried about feet sliding and not leaving a child unattended? What a bizarre risk asseesment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister has to attend homicide scenes as part of her job and she said the very worst one was a toddler left in a car. This is someone who has been to multiple shooting and stabbing scenes, this one was bad enough she called me sobbing. We can argue circumstances but based on her description of that scene plus that Post article on kid's who died in hot cars, I'm never sneezing in that direction.

A toddler can’t get out of the car and was asleep. This kid is 7, can get out of the car or open the window when it is too hot and was AWAKE. That isn’t the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can totally leave it running for the AC, leave the key fob with the kid and have them lock the door. Then when you get back, they unlock it for you. 7 is plenty old to do this.

I worry about a car jacker showing up with a gun and demanding that the car be unlocked.

You are worrying about a fantasy that will never happen.

Yeah. You tell ‘em.

Or…

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-juveniles-sought-in-car-theft-with-child-inside-in-northwest-dc-police/3172083/

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-month-old-girl-found-after-being-taken-in-georgetown-car-theft/3508529/

Those cars were not parked in parking lots with security guards-- they were parked on the street.

The kids in those cases were much younger. In the case of the infant, the carjacker likely did not even realize the baby was in the car for some time.

It's also not clear how long those cars were left idling. In the infant case the mom left the car to go into a perfume store (wtf). Are these cases of people running short errands nearby or are they cases of people using leaving kids in idling cars for 30 or 60 minutes?

The PP is envisioning a situation where a carjacker approaches a locked car with a 7 year old visible in the back seat, and in full view of the security guard and what I'm sure are security cameras outside the pharmacy, points a gun at the child and demands they unlock the car. In the 3-5 minutes the mom was inside the pharmacy.

This will not happen.

So the security guard was babysitting the child? Is that his job?

I actually do think it's his job. It was a few minutes and the mom was right inside. The child is 7, not 2.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my 8 yr old and it started pouring rain while we were in the store. DD was in flipflops (post swim class) and I decided to run and get the car and pick her up at the curb. I left her in the vestibule next to the door. I did consider this a reasonably safe option in part because there was a security guard posted near the door and the area is monitored by cameras.

Am I a derelict parent for leaving an elementary kid alone in public for a few minutes?

It is your primary responsibility as a parent to keep your child safe. You make the guard’s job harder by handing over that job to the guard because you can’t turn off the car while you run into the store. So self-centered.

Again -- in a functional society no one considers a security guard keeping an eye on an older kid in a car for 10 minutes to be "baby-sitting." It's just being a person in society. But the US is not functional around families and children so we have this deranged idea that from birth until like 12 or 13 a parent must have eyes on their child at all times OR be paying a professional child minder to watch their kid. It is nonsensical and is actually BAD for kids in the long run.

The point is that a 7 year old is actually perfectly capable of handling themselves in a car for a few minutes. The security guard is not a baby-sitter (it's not a baby!) but is a layer of social protection against some of the rare and unlikely circumstances people are fretting about -- a carjacking or car accident. Those things are almost definitely not going to happen and the presence of a security guard makes them less likely.

This is how watching kids works in normal societies where kids are viewed as normal and necessary. People in other countries do not freak out when they see an unattended 7 year old in a public space where there are responsible adults present because why would they -- that kid is safe. It is only in the US where we have all been convinced that this is a dangerous situation thanks to the efforts of scare mongers who are mostly trying to rally hatred of working mothers and poor people (if it's illegal to leave any child alone for any length of time for any reason then I guess women have to stay home with kids for 18 years and poor people should not have kids at all right).

It’s not his job. If he’s busy watching the kid then he’s not doing his actual job. What a selfish viewpoint. It’s your job to keep an eye on your own kids and you’re neglecting it. Why aren’t you doing the job youself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A family member is law enforcement who worked a case where a car with a child in it alone was stolen. It was in front of a Subway where the parents could see the car the entire time.

Again, that sucks, but compare it to school shootings. We send our kids to school everyday regardless of that risk. Did the kid die? I think the risk of death going to school is bigger than this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister has to attend homicide scenes as part of her job and she said the very worst one was a toddler left in a car. This is someone who has been to multiple shooting and stabbing scenes, this one was bad enough she called me sobbing. We can argue circumstances but based on her description of that scene plus that Post article on kid's who died in hot cars, I'm never sneezing in that direction.

A toddler can’t get out of the car and was asleep. This kid is 7, can get out of the car or open the window when it is too hot and was AWAKE. That isn’t the same.

So a 7 yr old can get out of the car by themselves? How reassuring. Maybe they would get out, and try to come into the store to find the parent. Navigating the parking lot alone isn’t safe. Wandering around alone isn’t safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t leave the car running because of highjackers, but otherwise you are fine.

Agree

+1

I’ve left my 7 year old in the car (although only with his 10 year old brother). I think at this age they know how to get out of the car if there is an emergency. Whereas a younger kid like a toddler would just be stranded. I take the keys with me though and lock the doors so no risk of carjacking. And only when it is not super hot out.

Usually it’s for something quick like dropping off a pre labeled package at the UPS store or dashing into preschool to pickup a younger sibling.

[Anonymous]

All you people saying a 7 year old would never be carjacked probably also thought at one point 7 year olds would never be murdered at their desk at school. The point is you never know. Obviously we can’t protect our kids from every possibility. But “get out we’re going in” isn’t so hard to do. Look at all the moms crying on TV when their kid is dead and tell me you can’t deal with a five minute tantrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can totally leave it running for the AC, leave the key fob with the kid and have them lock the door. Then when you get back, they unlock it for you. 7 is plenty old to do this.

I worry about a car jacker showing up with a gun and demanding that the car be unlocked.

You are worrying about a fantasy that will never happen.

Yeah. You tell ‘em.

Or…

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/two-juveniles-sought-in-car-theft-with-child-inside-in-northwest-dc-police/3172083/

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/4-month-old-girl-found-after-being-taken-in-georgetown-car-theft/3508529/

Those cars were not parked in parking lots with security guards-- they were parked on the street.

The kids in those cases were much younger. In the case of the infant, the carjacker likely did not even realize the baby was in the car for some time.

It's also not clear how long those cars were left idling. In the infant case the mom left the car to go into a perfume store (wtf). Are these cases of people running short errands nearby or are they cases of people using leaving kids in idling cars for 30 or 60 minutes?

The PP is envisioning a situation where a carjacker approaches a locked car with a 7 year old visible in the back seat, and in full view of the security guard and what I'm sure are security cameras outside the pharmacy, points a gun at the child and demands they unlock the car. In the 3-5 minutes the mom was inside the pharmacy.

This will not happen.

So the security guard was babysitting the child? Is that his job?

I actually do think it's his job. It was a few minutes and the mom was right inside. The child is 7, not 2.

The other day I was at the grocery store with my 8 yr old and it started pouring rain while we were in the store. DD was in flipflops (post swim class) and I decided to run and get the car and pick her up at the curb. I left her in the vestibule next to the door. I did consider this a reasonably safe option in part because there was a security guard posted near the door and the area is monitored by cameras.

Am I a derelict parent for leaving an elementary kid alone in public for a few minutes?

You alone think his job is childcare for lazy parents. Do you leave your children with strangers often without even checking with them letting them know they are in charge? Do you dump your 7 yr old at the pool for the day because the lifegaurds will take over? At the mall? Or anywhere with a security guard because it’s their job to watch kids?

DP but I don’t think it’s fair to equate this to childcare. The security guard has the purpose of deterring crime whether it’s for a 7 year old sitting in a car or a 70 year old sitting in a car. If the kid were 8 (or 10 or whatever age DCUM declares is ok) then it wouldn’t be babysitting, but at 7 it is?

OP’s error was leaving the car running. Also, I have my pharmacy at the grocery store so I can pick it up during routine shopping. There are also pharmacies with drive throughs. These may be better options for the future.