Photo: GrooveZ / Shutterstock
She leaves him in the car regularly.
By Amanda Hartmann — Last updated on Dec 08, 2023
Feeling conflicted after arguing with his wife over the safety of their son, a father turned to Reddit after a conflict with his wife left him worried if he had done wrong.
He had convinced his wife their baby was missing after noticing she left him in the car alone.
The father began his Reddit post by giving the context behind the incident, explaining that two months before, he discovered that his wife had a habit of leaving their baby in the car when she ran inside for relatively quick errands. He gave an example of a talk they had while trying to decide where to get food. He suggested a drive-thru because it would be easier with the baby, but she said it was unnecessary.
“She told me it’s not a big deal to leave the baby in the car to run in and pick it up really fast," he wrote. "I had no idea she ever did this.”
The conversation led him to realize that she had been doing this since their baby was born when she had to run in for short errands, and he was shocked. He wrote that although their neighborhood isn’t very dangerous, it also isn’t the safest, either. Later, in an edit, he specifies that his wife leaves the car on, as well, so she can keep the heat or air conditioning on.
The father shared that after he confronted her and asked her not to, “she told me she never stopped to think about the potential dangers and that she would stop doing it.”
For a while, that’s all there was to the story. But then, on his way home one day, he saw his wife’s car parked outside of a gas station by their house. He decided to stop and say hi and pick up some food, so he pulled in and parked.
He realized that their son was alone in the car again in his car seat and “the car wasn’t even locked.”
When he saw his son left in the car, he was furious, writing, “I don’t know what came over me.” He wanted to show his wife what could happen if she kept doing this, so he picked up his son and put him in his own car, parking farther away. "It took SIX MINUTES for her to appear,” he wrote.
However, she was shaken by his “lesson.” He said, “When she saw that he was gone she looked stunned for a second and then started to frantically look around and cry.”
The father insisted in his post that the charade did not go on long. According to him, he drove up as soon as she pulled out her phone. He showed her that their son was actually in his car, and while she was relieved at first, she soon became furious with him, ignoring him the rest of the day. The next day, she tried to get him to apologize to her, but he disagreed and wanted her to apologize instead.
At this impasse, he went to ask for a third opinion from the thousands of users on Reddit’s “AITA.”
Over 200 children were taken with stolen vehicles in 2022 alone.
Despite the shocking element of the situation that he pulled on his wife, many of the most-liked comments did not think the husband was wrong in this situation — most of the commentors were far more concerned about the safety of the baby should the mother continue to leave him in the car, and for good reason. Even though the father specified that his wife leaves the car running with the heat or air conditioning running, a reported 265 children were taken with stolen vehicles in 2022, according to Kids and Car Safety.
Photo: Kids and Car Safety
Technically, Kids and Car Safety reports that only 21 states have outlawed leaving children unattended in vehicles. However, parents should be aware of the potentially fatal consequences of doing so, even for a minute.
And car theft isn't the only worst-case scenario, as one person on Reddit pointed out.
"Fire in the gas station. Flash flood. Gunpoint robbery where she then can't get out to the kid for a long time. Roof falling on the car. Another car hits that one (brake failure pulling into the carpark, swerves off road etc) Her car left running spontaneously bursts into flames (happened to my SIL car 2 mins after she parked last week). Kid gets older, escapes seat, locks car/disengages handbrake," they listed as examples. "There are literally hundreds of things that could go wrong."
Meanwhile, many people commented on the mother's complete disregard for the father's wishes.
"I wouldn't leave my kid with her to run an errand again," one person wrote.
While Reddit has not heard an update on their conflict, we can only hope that thousands of votes and voices online will mean that their baby is not in a car by himself for a long, long time.
Amanda Hartmann is a writer who covers human interest stories, relationships, parenting, and more.