I could have hit a child yesterday with my car :(
Skeemer
member
My emotions go back & forth every time I think about it. I go between being mad at the parents & feeling so sad that I could have seriously hurt a little child.
I was in the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A & had just got my order. I pulled up just a tad & saw a kid about 4 years old kind of darting around the parking lot to my right. I slowed waaaaaay down. I mean barely scooting since my car is a manual transmission. The kid is running crazy & there are cars everywhere. I can tell he's getting closer to me. I completely stopped my car. I see the parents dawdling around their car & I make eye contact with one of them. He never says a word to his kid & the kid darts in front of me, jumps onto the sidewalk & stares at me. I shoot my head over to the parents & again make eye contact with the dad. Even if he didn't see what the child did he obviously doesn't care that the kid is now even further away from him in a large parking lot with traffic.
They're both still hanging around their car. The dad never says a freakin' word. Not to me & not to the kid. And of course they're in no hurry to catch up with their child who could now dart 3 different ways into traffic. I'm still sitting completely stopped because I'm afraid the child will run out in front of me again. The parents just mosey on across the parking lot, in front of me & up onto the sidewalk.
I was FURIOUS. Even if they seem to not give a crap about the safety of their child...I do. What if I had seriously hurt that child? Not only would I have to live with that for the rest of my life but they could have potentially lost their baby. It was just beyond me how they didn't even have enough sense to say, "Hey, John...come over here. Be careful!" or try to go after him or anything.
It still has me shook up this morning. I know kids can get away from us sometimes & I know kids are unpredictable. Neither of those played into this situation at all. I hope that kid has some heavy duty guardian angels following him around. Thank God he did yesterday. Had I cut my eyes the wrong way for just a few seconds I could have hit him. 
Re: I could have hit a child yesterday with my car :(
When I pulled my car up some my windows were still down & I said, "You're welcome that I didn't run over your child that ran in front of my car!" They stared & I drove off.
Idiots.
When I nannied I always held both the kids' hands or at least had the 5 yr old have a hand on the cart rule if we were at the grocery store.
@huahine That's terrifying.
Had my son got away from me I would have ran for him, grabbed him, got down on his level & had a very serious converstation with him. That's what shocked me about these people. They just acted like they didn't care. Let's just all get some chicken nuggets...
*sigh*
This made me laugh.
DS isn't a "runner" either but on the occassion he wants to squirm out of our grip. And he does the exact same thing. He wants to touch everyone's gross car & wipe it on himself because then he doesn't like his "durty hans" 
Your poor nanny. I'll bet she was scared to death.
oh we've definitely had those talks with DS. repeatedly...
i'm sorry that you had to watch someone else's kids for them - it seems like a lot of parent's out there just depend on the kindness/dilligence of others to keep their kids safe.
unfortunately, my next-door neighbors, as well as the people who live directly across the street from them are those types of people. nice families, but the 4 kids between the two houses (three of them under 4) are ALWAYS IN THE STREET. they NEVER look before they cross, and their parents are NEVER in the vacinity because they are too busy talking on the phone or to each other. i've just gotten in the habit of slowing down to a crawl a couple of houses away from theirs every time just to be sure.
it scares the living ish out of me b/c the people across the street have a 16 year old who always has his friends over - he's a really nice kid too, but i'm positive that his "new driver" friends aren't as careful when coming down the street. i'm just waiting for horrible news one day
^snipped
Yeah it's like people take it for granted that you're going to see their child. Or that their kid won't get hurt. No one is perfect. I hate to think of the outcome if I had looked the other way for just a few seconds.
There's a 3 year old at church that I'm always having to tell not to do things because it scares me. The child once had a play telephone cord around his neck wrapping it over & over. I told his mom, "Hey. Caleb has cords around his neck!" She calmly told the dad to get Caleb unwrapped. Dad never moved. Finally my husband walked over there & unwrapped the child & told him it was very dangerous. Even though the phone cord might not have been a huge deal, what if the kid thought it was okay & started wrapping blinds cords around his neck or something when no one was around to see him?
I almost hit a kid yesterday too, not as young but still scary. I was getting ready to back out at the park and there had been two kids aged 10 or so riding bikes coming up the sidewalk behind me, I saw one kid but not the other so I waited. They had crossed off of the sidewalk path and rode directly behind my vehicle in my kind spot, I saw his head pop up in my back window. If I hadn't noticed them while getting DS loaded up I would have hit him.
@Huahine DS is the same way in parking lots, once out of his seat he either holds onto the car, my hand, or my clothes until I get him in the cart or have his hand to start walking.
@Emilyfae I would have called too, especially since you took the time to find the owner before calling.
Glad nothing came from it and that you managed to take control of the situation even when the dumb parents wouldn't.