Sorry teacher I forgot my child....?!?!?!?!

Philippines
January 6, 2011 4:54am CST
Gosh!!! What kind of a parent are you to forget your child??? Today a parent said that, not to me but to my co-teacher, the morning class ends at 11:30, the parent was able to fetch the child at 1:05 something and said "I forgot her".... Everyone was like speechless for a long time, we all thought that maybe the parent was really busy and couldn't get away or get somebody to fetch the child, but to forget her was something entirely...how should I say it but irresponsible! I can't believe it...
4 people like this
26 responses
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
11 Jan 11
I think you are all being quite unkind and judgemental. Truth be known this has happened to many people and this is such a small hiccup or imperfection. It's not like the child is deliberately left somewhere so the parent can do something else and I have known this to happen and I think it's criminal. Some lead very busy lives and have a lot on their mind. None has a perfectly organised mind and memory. People lose things and forget thing...we are all guilty of such a thing and yes, a child can be one of those very important items we lose, misplace or forget. The parent this happens to is shocked and full of remorse as they rush to get to where they are supposed to be Are you so perfect that you can call the shots here.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
11 Jan 11
Most children would probably not be too aware...unless of course they were being stirred up by a total drama queen.
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
excuse me, I am not saying I'm perfect. I forget things, like my wallet, extra clothes, my printed and laid out in my bed worksheets (which is very important), a phone call I promised my mother, yes, we all are guilty of forgetting important things, but to forget a child, your child, is unforgivable, and have the audacity to admit it within the earshot of the child is already a criminal action, how do you think the child feels??
• Philippines
12 Jan 11
are you for real??? children are the most aware individuals in this world!!!
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
7 Jan 11
OMG...that happened to me once back years ago when I was babysitting. The parents all picked up their kids by no later than 5:00pm unless we had an agreement. This one lady was always late but one night, she was more than late. I had plans and I waited and waited. finally, I loaded up my kids and hers into my vehicle and drove out to her house. This was after trying to call her several times to no avail. She was outside in her yard hanging clothes. I was like, WTF. She said, "OMG, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot!" I reacted like you did. How the heck do you forget your kid? I don't get it. I am very spacy...probably one of the spaciest people you could meet and yet I have never not even once forgotten when I had to pick up my kids. I've forgotten to send in notes with them or things like that but never ever forgotten them. Unbelievable.
• United States
7 Jan 11
Hid sid, this is really disheartening and as I commented, hopefully the parent or others similar to this one will not someday forget their child in a mall, as the child is using the bathroom or something and the parent drives home to recall I forgot my child. Instances like this can be a final regret in life. Truly sad.
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
Unbelievable...but sadly it happened and as you have related, I think many are guilty of this crime...
@ladygator (3465)
• United States
7 Jan 11
It is a very startling thing to hear. Is there any way that the mom is suffering from amnesia? I know there are times when people will start exhibiting signs of this in the younger years. What is your previous experiance with this mother? I would have to know more about her to judge this completely as there could be something really going on with her. People can throw words around like a ball. Is she having major depression or stress? Now if she was doing something bad like having and affair like the woman in Unfaithful. Or playing games and lost track of time. If the latter two were the case then man oh man, what do you do about that?
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
my co-teacher is the one who could answer that, but I have observed that the child is usually picked up late, I'm too busy with my own students to really mind about that parent since the child id not in my class...
@meenneixz (668)
• Philippines
7 Jan 11
Maybe she was just so busy at that time that she not able to look on her clock or it could be that she have a dozen of children to attend to, Lol.
• Indonesia
8 Jan 11
lol... yes may be they have so many children that they don't even remember missing one. lol. but I don't think so. I once read an article about parents who had 64 children. I bet they never forget about their children, except they do not watch their children grow.
@dloveli (4366)
• United States
7 Jan 11
I certainly hope this chic was joking! I think I would keep an eye on this child and the mother. If it happens again I would call social services. No one forgets their own child. My daughter is 15 and I still think of her all day long. I have been so busy that I was late or missed the bus but Ive never just forgotten her. Hopefully we can chalk it up to the fact that she was so busy that it slipped her mind accidentally and will NEVER happen again. These things happen unfortunately. We dont know the family circumstances. Perhaps she's a single parent taking care of it all on her own. Been there and its the toughest thing in the world. GIve her a break! Lets put the shoe on our foot. Keep and eye on it. Happy MyLotting dl
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
Hmmn, she's not a single parent...and most single parents are the best parents of the world...
@SIMPLYD (90727)
• Philippines
10 Jan 11
Wow, that was so irresponsible! But that happens, to parents who are at work and have to ask permission or files undertime to get their children from work. My lady boss is a very busy person herself. In this regard, she assigns her driver to pick up her child and the yaya at their dismissal time and send them to their house. Sometimes, on events which needs her presence , she forgets what time should she be attending, she has to text the yaya. Sometimes, one of us , her executive assistants would attend for her in case she is in a very important meeting with the owners of the company. LOL
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
atleast she never forgot her child!!!
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
7 Jan 11
that is really irresponsible of the parent to make that excuse... how can a parent forget his/her own child??? unbelievable... i will be calling the parents non-stop if i am the teacher to find out what is happening... especially if the parent is so late... take care and have a nice day...
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
my co-teacher was actually calling the number that they listed but no one was answering...tsk, tsk, tsk...
• Indonesia
8 Jan 11
Whew... I think that parents has irresponsibility of their children. I mean, how could someone forget their children? Are they really busy to take care of their children and give the nurturing process to their maid or baby sitter, I don't know. But what I think from your experience is that they are too busy with their work so they really forget their children. Even busy parents actually should not forget their children. I feel very sorry for the child.
• Philippines
12 Jan 11
Yayyy! That is a verrry baaad thing!!!! I hope the parent has a very valid reason like an emergency for instance... Yayyyy
• Canada
7 Jan 11
That's nothing. I had a friend, many years ago, who left her newborn at the grocery store. Her and hubby got all the groceries packed up and put into the car, got all the way home and realized they'd forgotten the baby. Rushed back and baby was fortunately being entertained by the cashiers who were quite amused by the whole incident. It's a small town, so no-one called cops or anything, just chalked it up to newbie parents.
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
that is also crazy, but they did rush back when they realized they left their baby, and I think they didn't intentionally mean to leave her, they were just so occupied with the task of hauling groceries, and to note they are newbie parents....this parent is not, actually the child is their youngest...tsk, tsk, tsk...
@EdnaReyes (2622)
• Philippines
6 Jan 11
This could really happen not because some are not good parents, many times I had this kind of experience in school. Parents forgetting to pick up their kids because they're so preoccupied with some problems. Teachers are to understand this situation,after all, children under our care are our responsibilities.right?
• Philippines
6 Jan 11
...yes we are responsible for the children during the class hours but teachers also need to eat and prepare for their other class don't they??? ...forgetting to fetch your child could never be justified, why didn't you hire someone to take care of the child since you know your busy? Why did you have a child in the first place if you are not able to give them the time they deserve? ...I have come across parents that get too busy but called that they would be late in fetching their child, naturally I understand and took care of the child (even if I don't get notified I take care of my students since I do care for them), and I was able to tell the child not to worry because mommy is coming...but it's not only a nuisance to the teachers when parent's forget to fetch their child, the child also suffer trauma due to emotional distress...
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
6 Jan 11
Wow! Well she might be suffering from selective amnesia or she might not be in her right mind at all, or she was extremely busy and having some personal problems. It's a little disappointing though when parents don't give much attention to their children so much so to say that they have forgotten them. How many children does she have to forget that one? If she has a dozen, maybe that's possible but nevertheless, i would still consider her irresponsible too.
• Philippines
6 Jan 11
...only four, and you maybe right, but even if you did forget your child would you give that reason to the teacher? -sigh- ...this is really perturbing for me
@sumocuk (32)
• Turkey
6 Jan 11
It is really sad to hear such things happen. But I heard a similar situation from a friend who is also a teacher. She had to look after the child for nearly two hours while the parents ate lunch without noticing the child wasn't there. I don't get it. I really can't understand how they could do this. They don't deserve to be parents.
• Philippines
11 Jan 11
I couldn't say it much better, they really don't deserve the being parents, especially to a very sweet child...sigh
• United States
6 Jan 11
In my opinion, this is totally irresponsible behaviour on the parent's part. I have no children, so I generally don't comment on how parents should act. However, making you stay for an extra 1.5 hours is a bit much! This incident makes 2 points for me; 1. There is no license to be a parent and some people are not capable of doing a good job of parenting, 2. the teacher is sometimes required to do extra work and put in extra hours, due to neglect by parents. In my mind, there is no justification for "forgetting" your child.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
7 Jan 11
Wow. And also, who would admit such a thing? Usually when I had parents late to pick up a child, it was because they each thought someone else was picking up the child.
@celticeagle (157593)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Jan 11
All of the above! How dumb! Forget to pick her up , I can understand that but it is alittle, no alot, dumb. An hour and a half is a long time. Hope it never happens again. She must have something going on in her life for this to have happened. Luckily people were still there and keep the child for a while and if not the police or other authorities would have to be called. Scarey.
@aerous (13434)
• Philippines
8 Jan 11
Ouch! Maybe there is some reason for the parent forget to fetch her child? We don't say that when the parent, forget her child. It doesn't means she is irresponsible. We are all committed mistake and one this mistake is to forget something important which should first do...But if the parent, always forget about her child. There might be a problem with the parent...
@nangisha (3496)
• Indonesia
7 Jan 11
Hi Mara!. I think thats will be happen if parent put their job as first priority. I find this day so many parent busy making money and let the maid or nanny raised the child. I see most of this case when I pick up one of my cousin who school at international school. I do it for one week because my aunt sick, I see most of them pick up by their maid or nanny. I think we just need to think how lucky thats our parent always there for us. Even when I was in elementary school I already go by my own because the school near my house.
• United States
7 Jan 11
Oh my goodness, how a parent so casually say I forgot my child, makes you wonder what else they could possibly be forgetting. I know people can be busy but too busy to remember a child needs to come home. Oh dear now I opened more room for questioning. At any rate the parent if with any absolute conscious could be feeling guilt after recalling her line, if not then maybe this parent is absolutely heartless. As I could easily forget to retrieve my purse from a store counter, knowing well that it will not be there when I come back. But to actually believe a parent can forget their child. Wow, hope the child is not forgotten in places like the mall, now that can be the last regret a parent will ever have. My, my.. what is going on with parenting today.
7 Jan 11
i have been late picking my son up from school but have never forgot him