Saw something scary this weekend...

[minn_camping_fa]

We were at a state park this past weekend. Early Saturday morning I was up in my pj's having my coffee and looking out the window. There was a pop-up with a family that was diagonal from our site. At about 7:30am the pop-up door opens and out come the two little kids in their pj's. Couldn't be more than 3 and 2 years old. I expected a parent to come out of the camper also but no-one did. These two little kids went down the road and around the corner to where I could no longer see them.

There was a very large group across the road from them and I thought, maybe, they are a part of that group and the kids are just going there? There were a few people walking around so I know I was not the only one to see them, still it made me extremely uneasy and I watched and watched to hopefully catch a glimpse of them.

About 20 minutes later the mom comes out of the pop-up and starts looking for the kids. At this point I'm really anxious because now I'm thinking, she doesn't know where they are. I'm about to go out there and tell her what direction they headed when I see the little boy come from the opposite direction and the girl trailing behind. They had gone around the entire loop and the only thing I can think of is that they went up to use the bathrooms and then came around the long way.

This lady sent her 3 and 2 year old babies to use the bathroom by themselves. Even now, days later, I can't comprehend it. We just had a terrible thing happen in a different cg in this state where a little girl wandered off and was found dead in the river not long after. There is a river going thru this park also. It wouldn't take long for two quick moving kids to get down there.

Very thankful nothing bad happened 😞

[rode2nowhere]

well said

[CORNFED__5-0_]

I have been involved in the search for many lost kids and we found 99% of them. A 1/2% was taken by a family member or friend and can be a victim of a violent or sex crime.. The other 1/2% are victims.

I have had to tell parents their child is dead and have found dead kids. I have arrested a lot of sex offenders and can tell what they look like. They look like anybody and everybody and you just do not know...

It sucks something like this even had to be posted on here, but it does.

And to all the people that keep a secure eye on kids running loose, thank you because as people need to protect our kids.

JMHO.

[noe-place]

Whether intentional or not, there's no excuse for allowing children that small to run around a campground alone. And I didn't learn to drive a farm tractor till I was 30; that's when I bought my farm. You can rationalize any point with an opinion.

[minn_camping_fa]

Well my post was getting really long so I did edit out some info that I thought was not important... but perhaps clarifies why I think the woman did this on purpose.

Dad got in truck and drove away from campsite about 30 minutes prior.

Little girl exited camper first, followed by little boy... little boy left door open and walked to edge of site... little girl told him to turn back and close it... he walked back and slammed it shut... this would have left the remaining parent- the mother- in the very small popup with the door completely open for about a full minute, long enough for her to notice if they had snuck out.

After they had been gone the mother came out of the camper fully dressed and made up, which tells me she was up and about for at least a little while that morning.

So yeah. I do think she did it purposefully, and still am shaking my head. Very easy for little ones to get turned around and lost, and even if nothing bad happens, still could be very scary for them. Too young to be on their own navigating a very busy campground.

[ANewCreation]

exeter_acres wrote:

This lady sent her 3 and 2 year old babies to use the bathroom by themselves.

that is an assumption.....

maybe the parents were still asleep and unaware at first?
maybe the door was locked and the 3 yr old unlocked it.........

That is exactly what I was thinking. No one should make those kind of judgments without first knowing ALL the circumstances IMHO.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

PUCampin wrote:
However I will admit to being on the other side of things too. My 5yo son is autistic, curious and has absolutly no sense of fear. He is also an escape artist, and has managed to elude us a couple times nearly giving me a heart attack. Without speaking to the parents directly there is just no way to know. Glad we are not hearing about them on the evening news.

Oh my goodness, we've had the same experience with our youngest son. He is severely autistic and nonverbal, so he doesn't answer to his name. He loves to walk and he's very fast. DS has gotten away from us at home, in the grocery store, and at school a few times. Keeping him safe in a campground is a full-time job. In fact, when he was 5 he discovered how to unzip the tent and walk out. I spent one very cold night with my arm outstretched over his body so I'd know if he got up. Next morning I broke camp and tossed it all in the car. I told my DH that was the last camping trip until we got a lockable rig.

I'll reserve judgment on this mother for now. She may not have even known the kids were gone. It's possible that she's clueless. But I know how quickly and quietly a child can disappear. I'm just glad nothing happened to the kids. It could have been so much worse.

[rockhillmanor]

phenrichs wrote:
No offense intended here folks but I gotta play devil's advocate and point out something. Many of us here are old enough to remember driving heavy farm equipment at or before the age of ten. We were allowed to be around and work around large animals that can be very dangerous at a moments notice. Many of us also had experience using (safely I might add) firearms by that age. At 2-3 years old you would be doing chores on the farm by yourself that now would be held for someone that is nearly a teenager.

I am not making any assumption as to what happened in the OP story but I am say that perhaps those kids haven't been raised to be scardy cat wimps as many of the over-protected children are these days.
I believe there is something to be said for the school of hard knocks. I took my licks and came out rosy on the other side. I was run over at 8 and had my leg broke because I was stupid and was playing in a blind alley. Learned my lesson.

Agree with you 100%. AND I think we were the luckiest kids 'back then' to be able to go out and play anywhere we wanted and our only concern was to come back in when the street light came on! :W

Sadly this world and many of it's occupants have changed dramatically since then. When you read and see the news of countless children who have disappeared and/or have been found murdered when simply walking to the bus stop, one does have to change the way we think of how we 'now' have to raise and keep our children save in today's world. 😞

[Bumpyroad]

Escargot wrote:

snip

it's *always* the woman's fault.

x2
bumpy

[sandsprite]

Escargot wrote:

This lady sent her 3 and 2 year old babies to use the bathroom by themselves

If that was the case, why would she be searching for them knowing they went to the restroom? BTW, where was the father in all of this? Maybe *he* sent them off to the restroom without telling his wife.

Pffft... assumptions, and, of course, it's *always* the woman's fault.

X2

[phenrichs]

No offense intended here folks but I gotta play devil's advocate and point out something. Many of us here are old enough to remember driving heavy farm equipment at or before the age of ten. We were allowed to be around and work around large animals that can be very dangerous at a moments notice. Many of us also had experience using (safely I might add) firearms by that age. At 2-3 years old you would be doing chores on the farm by yourself that now would be held for someone that is nearly a teenager.

I am not making any assumption as to what happened in the OP story but I am say that perhaps those kids haven't been raised to be scardy cat wimps as many of the over-protected children are these days.
I believe there is something to be said for the school of hard knocks. I took my licks and came out rosy on the other side. I was run over at 8 and had my leg broke because I was stupid and was playing in a blind alley. Learned my lesson.

[rockhillmanor]

HappyKayakers wrote:
As a workamper, I see situations like this way too often. I don't know if the parents assume that campgrounds are the safest places in the world or if they assume that someone else in the campground will babysit the kids for them. Either way it's just wrong.

Since going full time I have observed this also and a lot! God love em but most of them are from the city where their kids can not go outside safely and so they go camping so the kids 'can' run around free. They get a false sense of security and don't keep an eye on them.

I don't think they realize that all is NOT safe in a CG.

[Escargot]

This lady sent her 3 and 2 year old babies to use the bathroom by themselves

If that was the case, why would she be searching for them knowing they went to the restroom? BTW, where was the father in all of this? Maybe *he* sent them off to the restroom without telling his wife.

Pffft... assumptions, and, of course, it's *always* the woman's fault.

[Terryallan]

Bumpyroad wrote:

exeter_acres wrote:

This lady sent her 3 and 2 year old babies to use the bathroom by themselves.

that is an assumption.....

maybe the parents were still asleep and unaware at first?
maybe the door was locked and the 3 yr old unlocked it.........

wait a minute, let everybody jump to their own conclusions. it did take the mother a while to notice that they were gone however.
bumpy

If she had been asleep, She would not have noticed till she woke up.

[ksg5000]

Kinda scary. Pretty common to see moms walking though parking lots texting away oblivious to their children walking behind cars backing up. I recall one women taking pictures at the Grand Canyon while her two year old was stumbling towards the edge - no brains/no headaches.