What do you think about all this?? (babysit, legally, baby)

[cliferton]

OK so here is the story. I live in an apartment complex. There is a family that lives below and across the breezeway from us. The lady is a single mother with 4 kids (ages 4,6,8,13-14). I do not think that the mother works because her van is rarely moved, but I now know that she is rarely there even though her van is (you will see why soon). The kids seem to just run wild with no parental supervision. They scream and slam the door so hard that is shakes the mirror on our wall numerous times throughout the day. Just a few moments ago I saw the six and eight year old fighting in the large parking lot in front of the apartment which reminds me to tell you that this parking lot doubles as their playground. I often see the 4 year old just sitting in the middle of the lot.
About two weeks ago my roommate was was changing a hose on his radiator(were college students so we do it our self when we can). I was out there helping him. We were away from the car taking a break when we turned to see the 4 year old urinating on the cardboard that we had been using to lay on.
The 8 year old will bark at you like a dog when you walk past him sometimes, and I hear him out front talking about fighting and going to be a thug at times. This kid also seems to bully the others when they are laying in the lot.
I do not see the 6 year old around very often.
The 13-14 year old I assume is in charge, but she seems to be more worried about flirting with boys outside than what the other 3 are getting in to.
One day me and my girlfriend were out on the balcony and we saw the 4 year old run out to the van where the mother had been sitting for some time screaming that the 8 year old had hit him. She then screamed for him to go back in. She finally went in about an hour later.
So last night I was having a few drinks because it was my last night to relax before I begin the cram for finals. I was standing on the balcony smoking a cigarette when the 8 year old comes running out beating on all the doors screaming that the building was on fire. I ran outside to see what was going on. one of the kids had caught their kitchen on fire the girl did not even call 911 she was too busy trying to track down her mother. I know that this was the wrong thing to do but I had to go back in for the cat and the roommate(shower) in that order. While doing this I called 911. The fire department showed up and put out the fire (just burned their kitchen up in the end) Then 15 mins later the mother finally showed up. Now the next day and the kids are running wild out here with mom nowhere in sight. How are these kids eating with no kitchen?
Sorry for how i skipped around I just typed it as it came to me. What should I do about this if anything. I grew up in a rural enviorment where i could play outside. Is something going on here that I should be worried about or am I just having a bit of culture shock. We have complained about the door slamming to the managment, they offered to move us to a new unit on the property, so the middle of next month we will be moving. so should I say goodbye goodriddence or should I contact someone to help these kids out? Do they even need help?

[stormy night]

Call Child Protective Services. If this post if for real, the landlord should have been notified of the fire when it happened, by the police. The kids should have been taken at that time and the apartment barred shut so no one could enter.

There have been people posting fake stories a lot lately.

[afoigrokerkok]

There's obviously an extreme lack of supervision going on here. I'd be most concerned about that 8 year old boy. This is a good example of how bad single mothers can be for boys. Wouldn't shock me at all if he really does grow up to be that "thug."

As far as the fire, accidents happen but the mother should have been supervising her. Also, depending on the girl's age, she maybe shouldn't have been cooking at all.

You could always try reporting it to CPS.

[phonelady61]

I think maybe this mom needs help with these kids . Maybe she is just overwhelmed with so many kids and just does not know how to handle it and yes I would say call child protective services . I dont know how they eat if they dont have a kitchen maybe they are raiding the garbage cans of neighbors . We once had neighbors that did that and I saw em do it . Yes call child protective services .

[maciesmom]

Originally Posted by stormy night

Call Child Protective Services. If this post if for real, the landlord should have been notified of the fire when it happened, by the police. The kids should have been taken at that time and the apartment barred shut so no one could enter.

There have been people posting fake stories a lot lately.

Depends on the size of the fire and if any damage was done. Another vote for CPS if this is true....Having lived in some apartments in my time, I have seen things similar. Unfortunately, it is not as unusual as one would like to think....

[cliferton]

Thanks. and yes this story is for real. I thought that we would have had to stay out of the building for the night, I dont think that the fire was that bad they didnt even use a hose on it, but still i would think that the kitchen would be messed up. the fire fighters just put it out and used some air pump to suck out the smoke we were kept out for about an hour and a half then they told us that it was ok. red cross showed up for a while after that. Later that night the truck came back to check it and the fam stayed elsewhere, but they are back today.

[afoigrokerkok]

How old was the girl who was cooking?

[cliferton]

here he going for a stroll alone at the age of 4 in an apartment community.

[Sam82]

I've been cooking since I was about 9 and I've never burned down the kitchen.

Anyway, you should call CPS. They may not be able to do much though. I'm just being realistic. If the oldest is 14, there is nothing legally wrong with her watching the children. Many states don't have an exact age, but I'm pretty sure that you can legally babysit at age 14. If the children are not being harmed, CPS isn't going to remove them from their home. I would also talk to the landlord and tell them that there are children running around the parking lot. That is definately something to be concerned about.

[cliferton]

she is 13-14. Is she old enough to watch these other 3 kids if mom was not home? I do not know which one of them had started the fire. Ya I've cooked for a long time also, and I stayed at home alone when I was 13-14 but i was raised in a way different enviorment. Plus my grandmother was next door