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Parked in front of a convenience store on the way home today. Had the windows down, taking my time. The mother in the car to my right gets out and goes into the store, leaving her car running. This ticks me off because it's just asking for trouble and it's a waste of gas. I went in and was out again in less than a minute. Got into my car, windows still down, and go to start the car when I hear in a small voice "Hi". I look over and a little 3-yo (maybe) girl is in the drivers seat playing with the auto windows and the steering wheel. The car is still running...

The mom in the store seemed a bit ticked, but was probably a cover for her feeling extremely stupid that her DD was crawling around and playing in a running vehicle while mom was in the store getting a soda...

I just wish that I had some confidence that this mom won't do it again.

UGH that makes me nauseous. Did you go in there and tell her to get her ass back in the car before you had her arrested? That's easily child endangerment.

Not that there's a "worse" part to this.... but I cannot BELIEVE the car was running AND the toddler was LOOSE in the car?!?! On top of how grossly negligent everything else about what she did was, I would have had that toddler out of the car with one arm and the police on the phone with the other.

My blood is literally boiling right now. Take two fucking seconds and make your kids safe!!!!!!

Wow, that's really, really stupid and dangerous.

I once called the cops when I saw a parked car with a baby in an infant seat alone in it. The baby was strapped in and the car was off, but still. The mom was in the supermarket.

WTF is WRONG with some people?????

Sure, kids can be inconvenient at times, I get that. But that just means that you have to plan around it, or expect for things to be more of a hassle and take longer.

Leaving the kid alone in the car is bad enough. But leaving the car running on top of that? Unconscionable, incomprehensible, I just don't even know what to say!!

I've had to do shopping, errands, drop offs and/or pickups with 3 - yes 3 little ones (when they were little that is!). My first 2 are 15 1/2 months apart. My 'baby' is another 2 1/2 years younger. Oh boy, was the supermarket an adventure!!

If you don't want to take your kid in with you then GET A BABYSITTER YOU MORON!!!

I nearly drove my dad's car through the front of a convenience store when I was 4 in a similar situation

To be fair, I was in the back seat with my 10 year older brothers when my dad got out of the car

My cousin DID drive his mom's car through their house when she left him in the running car to carry groceries into the house. He was around 6.

Ugh! That is so wrong. Never have understood this. I have twins and always took them out of the car, even though it was a huge inconvenience for me. Their safety mattered more than being able to quickly run in somewhere. Some people do not understand how precious children are.

Poor kid. She's lucky you were there and not someone else. This could've ended badly in many different ways.

Wow, unbelievable.

Car danger and stranger danger all in one stupid mistake.

Last fall I parked at Sears. They weren't open yet so I stayed in my car and read the newspaper. Car pulls in beside me. Woman exits...knocks on door, they let her in (guess they knew her). She had an envelope in her hand.

I see little baby hands moving in the back seat. My goodness , it's a tiny baby (month's old). The car was not running, and it was locked (she beeped it when she left).

Sears opened. I waited, did not want to chance that car being broken into and the baby taken.

When she came out I was getting out of my car to give her a talking to....but she was too fast (I believe she saw me and knew she was going to get in trouble).

Fortunately the weather was good, not too hot, not too cold, so in that sense the child was fine. But babies that age spit up...she could have choked.

It's nuts...I know I'm not a perfect dad, but this seems like one of those easy rules to abide by.

A friend of mine is going through a divorce. She has a 4 year old son with her ex.

She noticed that her son was FLIPPING out whenever they would go to the store. He was really, really concerned that she would leave him in the car. To the point where she had to park the car, reach around and unbuckle him from his car seat before she was allowed to turn the car off or get out herself. Finally, she got the story as to why out of the little guy...

Apparently he was with his father when they went to a convenience store. Dad left him in the car. The little guy got scared and was crying for so long and so hard that a STRANGER opened the door, unbuckled him and walked him into the store to find his father. So, not only did he leave his son in the car, alone, he left the doors unlocked. Luckily, for everyone involved, the stranger was a good person and not a kidnapper or worse.

My friend was so horrified, she called CPS on her ex.

Should have taken photos and called 911. Including her plate number.

The mother will only do it again, and the next time, the consequences could be worse - car and toddler get stolen, kid starts to drive it, etc.

I have seen this happen way to often where I live. About 3 months ago, I was at the Post Office. Went out to my truck and there was a 2 yr old sitting in the back seat, front windows down, car running and mom was in the PO. I walked into the PO and loudly got the mothers attention and told her "you know, your child isn't groceries that you CAN leave in your car! That's your child! Someone could have stolen your car and your son! Next time I'll call the cops!" I never understand this way of thinking. And this is not the first time I have had this convo.

There is absolutely NO excuse to do this, ever!

I always call them on it, loudly

I never understood this either. Back in the day before you could put your card in gas pump, I would have to get both kids out of the car to go into the store to pay for gas and then put them back in the car. I could never for the life of me understand (even for a quick sec) of leaving your kids in the car.

I remember a few times, sitting in my car waiting to go into the store, because someone left there children in the car. So I was watching to make sure no one took them. If I had a cell phone then I would have called the police.

Stupid stupid stupid. Some people don't think and some just should not have children.

There was a scary story a few months ago. A mother had left her child in the car when she went into the aid office or something, and two people stole her car, apparently not realizing there was a baby in the back seat. The car was found abandoned with the baby inside, fortunately safe, but several hours later. Scary as hell. I definitely held my son a lot closer that night when I heard it. Tighter still after Sandy Hook. Life's too short to be careless with your children.

What is an acceptable age to leave a kid in a car nowadays? I picked my 9 year old up from school and stopped at the gas station to get him a snack. He cried on the way there cause his friends were being mean to him and he did not want to go in with me. I told him no, he needed to go in with me, but he said he knew to stay in his seat and not talk to strangers. I let him stay in the locked car with no keys, but I felt like one of "those" parents. Too young still?

We had a case some years ago here where a woman admitted going to work every weekend for a month and left her five year old locked in the trunk of her Toyota in the parking lot while she was at work.

So she wouldn't be accosted and all.

I guess I'll answer since I started this one...I think 9 would be fine as long as you take the keys. That was my biggest beef with this whole situation. A running car is 1) a target, 2) wasteful, and 3) not a place to keep a small child if the parents/care takers are not in the immediate vicinity.

There is a huge difference between a 9-yo and a toddler.

Thanks for replying Baxters! He's the first 9 year old I have had to raise, lol. I am always shocked when parents do stuff like that. Luckily I have never had to witness it, but I second guess myself at times since he is at that strange age of knowing things, yet not knowing things, at the same time. I finally let him out of the booster seat last year when we pulled up to football practice and I heard all his friends laughing at him cause he still had to sit in it. Best be safe than sorry!