Toddler hit and killed by SAPD patrol car (San Antonio, Howe: apartment, roofing)

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

My kids never had a 9pm bedtime until they were old enough to go to school. Toddlers take naps during the day (that's when busy mommies have time to clean the house) and so they don't always need to go to sleep as early as kids who go to school.

I don't think the father, or the driver of either vehicle, should be blamed (unless it's proved that there was some sort of neglect or distracted driving). This sounds like a terrible accident, and sometimes an accident is just an accident...no one to blame.

No bedtime for a two year old? Hence, the widespread problem of incompetent parents. This will happen again. I rest my case. It's just so sad.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

No bedtime for a two year old? Hence, the widespread problem of incompetent parents. This will happen again. I rest my case. It's just so sad.

I never said they didn't have a bedtime...they just didn't have a 9pm bedtime. I am a full-time mother. There's no need to stick the kids in bed by 9pm when you're not racing out the door at 7am to dump them in daycare for the day.

You're really quick to judge the father of the little boy who died. I hope you're never in his position...with no more details than that article, and the simple fact that the child was awake at 9pm, you've already labeled that parent as incompetent.

[perticusrex]

The article made it appear as though the Father was "watching" the 2 year old from his apartment while the child was outside. In MY OPINION, that is not an acceptable form of supervising your child, particularly a 2 year old child who in MY OPINION has no business being outside in the first place at 9:00PM especially when an adult is not physically outside with the child.....primarily because stuff like this can happen. Kids are running the streets at all hours and of all ages in my neighborhood and there is rarely a parent in sight. Maybe the parents are all "watching" from inside the house....who knows???

[mrstxcop]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

I never said they didn't have a bedtime...they just didn't have a 9pm bedtime. I am a full-time mother. There's no need to stick the kids in bed by 9pm when you're not racing out the door at 7am to dump them in daycare for the day.

You're really quick to judge the father of the little boy who died. I hope you're never in his position...with no more details than that article, and the simple fact that the child was awake at 9pm, you've already labeled that parent as incompetent.

I completely agree with you Hedge Mom...

I am also a fulltime mother and before school age, none of our 3 children went to bed before 1030pm... They just didn't... That was our routine, our schedule... Plus, our kids were all very, very late sleepers... They all slept regularly for 12-15hours... They would also still take a 3 hour nap during the middle of the day from 2-5pm... So to have them back in bed by 9pm just wasn't gonna happen... We were never a family to have our kids in bed by 7pm and have them wake up for the day at 5am...

I also agree that we should not be judging the father until more info is known... As RD said 2 yr olds are quick and accidents do happen... I remember when our youngest was 22months old my neighbor brought him home to us... I had NO idea he had gotten out... Our front door was open with our storm door closed and locked... I ran to my middle daughters room to get a game down from the closet shelf for her... My son was playing in the living room, and in the time that I was in the next room getting the game and opening it for my daughter, my son had walked over to the storm door, wiggled the lock and somehow managed to get it open and walked out... I was gone less than 5 mins when our doorbell rang and our neighbor was carrying our son... Luckily she was outside and saw him walk out... It terrifies me to think what could have happened had my neighbor not been outside...

It was after the above incident that we went out and got hotel locks for all of our doors and they are installed at the very top...

I really hope this incident with this toddler is a true accident, and not due to neglect, drugs, alcohol, etc on the fathers part... Again, either way, it is tragic all the way around...

[Verio]

Apparently "ThenewTexan" is the end-all be-all parent on this forum, lol.

[thenewtexan]

I knew I would tke some heat for saying that because too many people are afraid to say it. All of you are making my point. This two year old child mysteriously found his way to the front door, through the front yard, and in the street in the middle of the night. Bottom line: No one was watching the kid! It seems to happen quite often in this town. Not having an appropriate bed time for a toddler is only a small part of the problem at large. It's just sad no one was REALLY watching the kid. BTW, I never said I was the "end-all be-all" parent. I was just trying to illustrate that if all parents just used a little COMMON SENSE, we wouldn't be reading this story today. I don't want to be harsh, because this family will never recover from this tragedy. Accidents do happen, but if it comes down to blatent irresponsibility, tragedies like this will continue to happen. Kids that age need to be watched every second. Any idiot knows that. If a person is too thick to comprehend that, they have no business having kids. Period.

[mrstxcop]

While I agree that the parents should face charges if they were being negligent I also think it is unrealistic to think that accidents don't happen or that a parent is expected to keep their eyes on a child "every second"...

The full story has not come out... The investigation is not complete... So I am not sure how you can say that bottom line is that noone was really watching this child... What if the father ran to use the bathroom, what if he went into the kitchen to get the boy a snack or a drink, what if he was tending to another child, what if he got up to go and throw something away in the next room... What if the child was asleep on the couch and suddenly woke up without the father realizing it and he walked out the door...

This happened at 9pm, hardly the middle of the night... And I don't see much mystery in a 2.5 yr old finding his way to the front door... There are no yards at these apartments... There is a door, a small sidewalk, the parking lot and a major street, Culebra... It would not have taken a long time for this child to get to the street... We are talking a matter of steps... In other words I can see how quickly this accident would happen...

In reading your posts I am reading that any parent that has a child who gets into an accident, injured, tragically killed, is basically a parent who was an idiot and had no common sense and should not have had kids to begin with...

Again, if the parents were negligent, then yes, prosecute to the full extent of the law... But atleast do your juding when the full story comes out and all the details are given...

[Verio]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

I knew I would tke some heat for saying that because too many people are afraid to say it. All of you are making my point. This two year old child mysteriously found his way to the front door, through the front yard, and in the street in the middle of the night. Bottom line: No one was watching the kid! It seems to happen quite often in this town. Not having an appropriate bed time for a toddler is only a small part of the problem at large. It's just sad no one was REALLY watching the kid. BTW, I never said I was the "end-all be-all" parent. I was just trying to illustrate that if all parents just used a little COMMON SENSE, we wouldn't be reading this story today. I don't want to be harsh, because this family will never recover from this tragedy. Accidents do happen, but if it comes down to blatent irresponsibility, tragedies like this will continue to happen. Kids that age need to be watched every second. Any idiot knows that. If a person is too thick to comprehend that, they have no business having kids. Period.

Well, you did make a statement that people have children too young in this city. That happens in any city. In fact, my wife and I had our first child when I was 22. She's 6 years old and doing great. It's really about how you were brought up, where your parenting skills come from.

I do agree that the toddler shouldn't have been in the street, but "bed times" are very generalized. Is the child getting 12 hours of sleep? If so, does it matter if the bed time is 1AM - 1PM, or does it have to be 9PM? My youngest (19 mo) goes to bed at 7PM. She also gets up at 6:00AM while we get ready for the day.

Don't be the one to judge people when you don't have specifics. You made a general statement which was full of BS.

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by Verio

Well, you did make a statement that people have children too young in this city. That happens in any city. In fact, my wife and I had our first child when I was 22. She's 6 years old and doing great. It's really about how you were brought up, where your parenting skills come from.

I do agree that the toddler shouldn't have been in the street, but "bed times" are very generalized. Is the child getting 12 hours of sleep? If so, does it matter if the bed time is 1AM - 1PM, or does it have to be 9PM? My youngest (19 mo) goes to bed at 7PM. She also gets up at 6:00AM while we get ready for the day.

Don't be the one to judge people when you don't have specifics. You made a general statement which was full of BS.

Blah blah blah...people have kids too young everywhere. True, but it happens way more than it should in THIS city. Admit it, though. IF the kid was in bed, would we be having this conversation? No. If I thought that IF something good could come of this, (i.e. in the future, parents would be extra careful to not let there kids run outside into the busy street), I wouldn't take such a hard line with this. Unfortunately, I believe something like this will happen again...and again...THAT"S what makes me so angry.

[rd2007]

My wife got pregnant on her 18th birthday and I'm less than 8 months older than her, so that made us incompetent parents? My son basically did the same thing and he works a later shift, so their 2 1/2 year old stays up later at night with the rest of them, so they're incompetent parents? I've been guilty of it quite a few times and will also admit that blanket statements don't work at all.. There are too many details missing for any sort of conclusion to be drawn. If the guy was "watching" the kid from a window, then hell yeah he should be flogged, tarred and feathered, and lit on fire to die in the worst pain possible. However, I don't trust the writing skills of any of the local media here, so I would give it time. All I know now is it would suck so bad to be anyone involved in this story. Talk about an awful way to ruin an upcoming fathers day..