Where's your Momma?

Yesterday, my son was looking out our front window just watching the activities of the neighborhood. He then asked me, "Mom. What's that boy doing?"

So I checked it out. What I saw was a toddler in the middle of the street. I quickly put my shoes on and ran out to him. We live on a busy street with lots of blind spots. This is also the same street that our dog got hit by a car a month or so a go. So he was in danger.

As I came up to him, he was riding a tricycle with only a shirt on, no pants or a diaper, filthy from head to toe and a bit confused looking. He looked to be maybe 2 years old. As I steered him away from the road, I asked him where his Momma was? He said, "Sleeping". The only other words he could say was his name and unintelligible baby talk.

I did not recognize this boy as a neighbor kid, so the assumption was that he came from the apartment complex down across from our house. Because my kids were still in the house, I could not go searching for the mom.

So I then brought him into our house, and left his tricycle outside on our porch as an indicator that he was there. I called the police to report finding a lost child. Then I proceeded to quickly put a diaper on him, give him some water, and washed the dirt from his legs and arms. My heart was breaking for this boy. All I wanted to do was hold him and keep him safe from this situation, but it was not my place. :( He happily played with my children until the police showed up and started the door to door search.

Finally, his grandma came as she and his parents were looking for him once they discovered he was missing. The story goes that mom is a single parent who works the night shift and was trying to catch up on some sleep. This type of incident was not the first time, as she was going to court the very next day for a previous incident. I felt bad for her, but still there definitely seems to be a problem that needs to be addressed. My first thought was I could babysit for her, so someone could be caring for him at all times. Although I didn't think she would appreciate that as I was the one that had to call the police.

Just a real bummer. But so thankful he wasn't hurt from being in the street. I couldn't imagine and don't ever want to experience the panic of loosing a precious child.