Do we really need this?

It may be time to just go ahead and issue a license deemed qualified and responsible enough to procreate. Seeing on the news AGAIN that another child has died after being left in a car in Texas where the inside got up to a reported 180 + degrees, I think we seriously need to take a closer look at who is actually taking care of the children here. The mother who was being interviewed on the news (appearing nowhere near distraught enough for me) actually had the audacity to say "...as a mother you can get really distracted."

Now, I have seen my mother in action, and I am pretty sure with as much as she constantly had on her plate, she never got too distracted and left any of us in the car. (although it would explain why my brother and I have such a hatred for heat...) I guess I can just truly not understand how anyone could forget they had a child in the car.

So let's insert the new invention here. A Dallas Computer Programmer has created a device for those said 'distracted parents'. An alarm is placed on the child's clothing, and then another on the parent's keys. When the two devices are more than a programmed distance (with 10' being the preset distance) a 88 decibel alarm goes off on the parent's keys. Now personally I think the state agency should have a third unit to come and take the child away from the parent's if the alarm goes off. As bad as foster care may be sometimes, it has to be better than being forgotten by your own mother and dying from heat in a car seat locked in a car.

And to leave you all on a truly disgusted note, a mother had gone into a shopping mall in Southern California, leaving her 18 month old in the locked car. A passer-by had heard the child crying, and after calling police and waiting over 5 minutes with no sign of the mother, he broke a window to unlock the car and get the baby out. The police and paramedics come and the baby is check over and is okay. That is the good news. A whopping 35 minutes later, the mother comes out to her car to see all the commotion. She is actually given the child back after arguing that it was only 82 degrees outside and she knew the baby would be fine. And now, to make matters worse, she is suing the man who RESCUED her child for damage to her car AND basically the equivalent of slander as she claims that the news coverage caused her severe embarrassment and harassment and she can no longer work because of it. The worst part is, she will probably actually win the case, even though she should have her child taken away, and she should be sent to a special place with padded walls and a nice white jacket for her, because she is clearly psycho and needs immediate help.

So as a wonderful public service announcement to all you 'distracted parents' pay attention to your kids or maybe when you are old and in diapers again, your children will be too distracted to remember you too.