First off, I am not advocating murder here, but let me tell ya what the deal-y is. Today while at Hy-Vee picking up stuff for David’s surprise birthday bash tomorrow (yes, i can write that on my blog since I KNOW he won’t be checking it out anytime soon!), Nathan and I secured ourselves in the car after loading the car with the bags and as i am pulling out of my parking spot, I look to my left and see a silver mini-van parked two spaces over from me and a little curly-haired girl peek over from behind the wheel! Yes, you read that right….BEHIND THE WHEEL of a mini-van. Naturally, I assumed she had climbed over into the seat while her mom was maybe getting the rest of the kiddos out of the back of the van or something so I waited and watched. Waited and watched for some supervisory life form to appear. Nope. Not a chance.

I called my mom who was incidentally at my house with Will, explained the situation and asked her what i should do even though i knew darn well what i should do, but i was really in shock! After hanging up with her, i walked over to the van and noticed the driver window was cracked about half an inch or so. I leaned into the window as much as i could and politely asked the girl, “hi honey. How long’s your mommy been gone??” She replied sweetly, “for just a little while”. After noticing the beads of sweat on her forehead and temples, i calmly walked over to my car and got back in. I called 911 and explained the situation to the operator who wanted me to drive around back of the van to get the license plate. I did. After answering several questions from the emergency operator i was able to hang up. The operator had informed me that police were on the way. So i waited and watched.

About 5 minutes later i noticed the van was honking and the lights were blinking. I see the mom grinning ear-to-ear with the keys in her hand unlocking the van remotely while looking into it (probably to make sure her daughter hadn’t melted yet). I noticed she had about 7 or 8 grocery bags with her. She loaded them in, talking and joking the whole time with another child, a blonde boy about 10 years-old, whom she’d obviously decided to take into the store with her for some odd reason!

When it appeared that the cops were not going to make it there in time (surprise, surprise) i got on the phone and redialed 911. I informed the operator that the irresponsible-sorry-excuse-of-a-mother was now leaving with the kid she had taken into the store as well as the one that was left to fend for herself in the 100+ degree weather. The operator asked me to follow them to determine where they’d be going next. I did.

I ended up following the van to Harmony Elementary on 141st and Switzer. The operator informed me that officers were headed that way and that they’d contact me later if they needed more info. Nathan and i went along our merry way back home. About 10 minutes after arriving i received a phone call from OP police. The officer informed me that they had indeed been able to “deal with the situation” and had caught up to the mother and they thanked me for my call. For some reason, that still didn’t make me feel better because i know this kind of stuff happens all the time and it’s rare to actually witness it. In fact, we rarely even hear about this sort of thing happening unless it’s on the news and it’s too late for the child. To this depressing reality, i repeat, some parents should be shot.