I can’t lie. There have been times when I unknowingly fall asleep for a few minutes while Princess quietly plays next to me. I remember feeling startled and guilty upon waking up to find her safe and sound. What if something happened to her? I would never forgive myself. Unfortunately, this kind of thing does happen. In fact, one mom fell asleep for more than three hours. She woke up and realized her kids were missing.
It didn’t take long for police to find her sons lying in the bottom of a neighbors pool. Apparently, the two boys snuck out of the house, climbed the neighbor’s gate, and ended up drowning next door to their own home. When I first heard this story, I thought of that time I closed my eyes for a second. As it turned out, I only dosed off for about fifteen minutes. Even though Princess was ok, I felt horrible.
I can only imagine what this family must be going through. There are some who may think this mom was careless or stupid for leaving her kids unattended. But, my heart goes out to her. What if she’d been working a double shift to keep a roof over her family’s head. I don’t know her situation, so it’s hard for me to blame her.
I work long hours. There are times when I wonder how I manage to keep my eyes open. The theme of my blog is balancing career and motherhood. Between work, school, and taking care of Princess it leaves very little time for sleep. There are so many other moms like myself, who grapple to find balance. No one should judge this mom. We should keep this family in our thoughts and prayers.
Here’s the story in case you missed it.
Do you think this mom was at fault or was this just a freak accident?
Weather Anchor Mama
Oh man that is horrible..I could say if the mum hadn’t fallen asleep the boys would be still alive but I don’t know the situation. I cannot imagine her pain
Wow. This is just SO sad. Like you said, we don’t know her situation. Falling asleep for almost 4hrs is a lot, but it probably could have happened within 20 minutes too. It’s just so sad. My first thought was the 3yr old probably went in and the 5 year old tried to save him? Such a tragedy. I cannot even imagine what the mother is going through losing two children.
We lost my little sister while my Dad was sleeping. He worked a night shift and had gotten home to sleep. My infant brother and almost 3 year old sister were taking a nap as well. My step mother went to the store with my 5 yr old brother (I lived with my Mom) while they all napped. My sister got up and tried to climb into the baby’s Evenflo’s Jump-up and the strap wrapped around her neck and she couldn’t get it off. My Dad slept and had no idea. He’s never been the same since (obviously). It’s been 23+ years. So…it can happen to anyone and is a terrible, terrible tragedy.
I’m paranoid with my children. My daughter still has a monitor in her room and she’ll be 5 in October. We actually put an alarm on her door recently because she was starting to sneak out and go around the house at night. It’s like one of those at a business that bings when she opens the door.
My son has a child lock on his door on the inside. We’ll leave that on until he’s old enough to go to the bathroom on his own at night. He’s 2 now.
I’ll hug my kids extra tight today for all the baby angels.
That’s incredibly sad. When we were little that was my mom’s greatest fear too. I know there are parents who don’t look after their kids like they should, but I’d rather not judge this mom without knowing. I’m sure here family is going through hell.
Visiting via SITS 🙂
so sad. i can’t imagine how she feels! it’s an easy thing to do, fall asleep unknowingly. prayers for her and here family!
stopped by from sits.
I know. It’s hard for me to point the finger. I’m not sure what happened.
I am so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine a parent ever getting over something like that. I am so paranoid about my own daughter. The other day she climbed up the stairs all by herself. My husband caught her doing it. Instead of freaking out, he acted calmly until she got up the stairs. She’d done this one other time, and was scolded for it. It’s been a few months and I thought for sure she’d never do it again. But, obviously she had other plans. You never know with kids. They are so smart and can unlock a door and find their way out of the house in a matter of minutes. I don’t even leave my daughter unattended in the bathroom. Even though she takes swimming lessons, she’s no pro and can easily drown. Thanks so much for sharing your story.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I know. This story is a tough one.
Oh, what a terrible story! I don’t think we could blame her any worse than she is already blaming herself. That poor woman. What hell she must be going through. She will be in my thoughts, and I hope that someday she can forgive herself and heal. Every mother has at some point fallen asleep while on duty. Who can blame us? Nobody but another mother can know how bone-tired and weary balancing work and mothering and every other duty that falls on our heads makes us.
I’m going to hold my little one tighter tonight.
Peace and Love
Tara
So true! The other day my daughter woke up and my hubby went to get her. I slept right through everything. I was that exhausted!
OMG that is a scary story. I feel bad for that mother. No one can truly understand her grief and the loss. Take care of yourself and allow yourself to take a break every once in awhile. Visiting you via Sharefest.
Thanks so much stopping by. Heading over to yours nOw!
So crazy you posted this. We were talking about getting a pool but also about all of the stress it would create worrying about drowning. To me it really doesn’t sound worth it especially after reading that some older kids drowned too. I can’t imagine how this Mom feels. I definitely wouldn’t make a judgement because like you said who knows what the situation was. It gave me goosebumps reading it. I often think how sad it would be to have a child with an illness or an injury or even something happening to one of them. I just hope this Mom gets counseling. She will never be the same.
When I was a kid, I wanted a pool SOO bad. So glad we never got one. I know. It’s one thing to lose a child from an illness, a completely different story when you lose one from a freak accident.