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Parenting
TheNextWest
member
Someone tried to snatch my friend's little boy yesterday.
TheNextWest
member
in Parenting
Yesterday, my friend took her 2-month old and her 2-yr-old boys to Walmart. She got what she needed, and made her way back out to her vehicle. While her oldest son was sitting in the big part of the cart, she took the baby (who was strapped into his carseat) and turned to put him in the car, when she turned back around, she watched in horror as a man wrapped his arm around her 2-yr-old and pulled him out of the cart. She immediately started screaming and hitting the man as hard as she could until the man dropped her son, she then threw DS in her car as quickly as possible and locked the doors before falling to the ground. Another couple heard her screams and came over to help. They did call 911, but the man got away. My friends was able to memorize the man's license plate and the make/model of his vehicle, one or both of which was apparently stolen. Walmart's surveillance camera's caught the whole thing on tape and also showed that the man/men had basically been stalking the parking lot all day, probably waiting for this opportunity to present itself.
As soon as she shared her experience, I LOST it. I sobbed. I cried off and on all day over this. I'm absolutely terrified of this every.single.week. I take my kids to Walmart with me by myself every week and deal with this anxiety for the same reason- I have three kids, and only two hands. It's so easy to start to feel safe in a small town or think that these things will never happen to you. I start to back off because I don't want to live in fear and because it's HARD. It's hard and it's exhausting and it's time consuming to be THAT cautious all the time. And then something like this happens. Her DS could have been gone. Just like that, in the blink of an eye- she watched a stranger grab her child and he could have been gone. That could have been anyone. It DOESN'T just happen to other people. It DOESN'T just happen in big cities. It can happen to you, it can happen to me. Anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Just wanted to share as a reminder to hold your babies tight. Don't take your eyes off them for a second. So what if it's hard? So what if it takes a minute longer? It's worth every minute we have those sweet things next to us.
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Re: Someone tried to snatch my friend's little boy yesterday.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
OMG! That's so bold of someone to do that with the mom right there! I remember when I lived in my old house a child was nearly abducted right around the corner from where I used to live walking home from school. She fought off the guy who was trying to drag her into a car.
I used to walk home as a kid. I don't know if it was just safer where I grew up, but things just aren't the same these days and I would NEVER let my kids walk home alone the way I did.
How is the 2 year-old? How did he react to all this?
Alex (11/14/06) and Nate (5/25/10)
"Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are." - Rev. Forrest Church
This. What a nightmare.
How awful!
When DD was 6 months old I parked at a store. There was no other car around mine. Stupid, I know. When I came out I noticed a white van parked next to my car. No one else around it. The windows were tinted very dark. It was parked so close to the side where I put DD in that I could not get in on that side.
I called a friend on my phone and said, "talk to me until I get us in the car." She told me to just put DD and the bags in the back and slowly pull the car to the fire lane at the store. DD was still in the carseat carrier at the time.
I pulled to the front and went to buckle DD in and watch as the van pulled away.
Scary stuff. DH has been trying to get me to want a gun ever since then.
Thank goodness everything turned out okay with your friend!
Omg, that is so scary. I'm so glad he is ok. Seems your friend did all the right things.
See, this is what pisses me off about parents who criticize you for being "paraniod" when you just want to be safe. Did anyone ever think that maybe the reason the rates are lower for kidnappings now than 20 yrs ago is not b/c there are fewer predators, but b/c parents are taking more precautions now than they did 20 yrs ago... so that these things don't have as much opportunity to happen? Every story like this is a warning. You don't have to live your life in fear, but just take note and be prepared, whether it's kidnapping, heavy furniture, hot faucets, or whatever. I would much rather be the parent who learns from the tragic story than the parent who became the advocate b/c their kid WAS the story.
Jesus. I will definitely be more vigilant. I admit I've been lax lately, but no more.
I am beside myself for your friend. My God.
Me with my littlest.
It wasn't even like she walked away from him for just a second, the cart he was in was up against her thigh while she turned around to snap the carseat into her car. He was *right* there. The guy was just that quick.