Insanity Gone Viral

I actually saw this photo on Facebook last night and thought it was a joke... That was until I saw this actual article on Yahoo, then I just wished it was a joke.  Who, in their right mind, would leave their child in the car while shopping?  It doesn't matter if it's for two minutes, twenty minutes or two hours; you are a parent.  Your child is YOUR responsibility, not an inconvenience to you.

For those of you who do not know, this happened in New Zealand.  The Yahoo article states:

A photograph taken in New Zealand is causing quite an uproar around the world. The photo at the center of the controversy is of an infant asleep in a car seat locked alone inside a car. A note, seemingly written from the baby's perspective, is attached to the chest and reads, "my mums in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything." There is a phone number written at the end.

This child has to be a few days to a week old, sleeping peacefully in her car seat.  All her mother had to do was snap the carrier out of the base and place the carrier on the front of the shopping cart.  I mean, on average a newborn baby sleeps 16-18 hours out of the day, I doubt this little one was going to interrupt her mother's shopping.

Another part of the article states:

The couple also noted that the baby did look well taken care of and that they know how difficult it can be to get an infant to go to sleep.

I'm sure the baby was well taken care of however it seems like the mother feels the child is an inconvenience to her when she is going out.  It is the mother's responsibility to make sure the child is always well taken care of and that means not leaving her sleeping newborn in an unattended car.  Who knows what could have happened?  Someone could have stolen the car, kidnapped this baby, etc...  The worst part about the above quoted statement is that it seems this couple condones what the mother did by stating that they understand how difficult it is to get a newborn to sleep.  I actually couldn't believe what I was reading when I was reading it.

In my honest opinion, the New Zealand police should have at least charged the mother with child endangerment.  I can't believe they aren't charging her at all since a formal complaint was never filed.  It sickens me to know that this mother might continue to leave her child in the car while she's shopping, especially in this uncertain and dangerous world we live in.

Ok, Ok, maybe I've threatened to leave my kids in the car a few times, especially when we're going to Toys R Us, but I never do! (Even though the temptation is so strong sometimes.)

What do you think about this article?