Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
I agree that there is some risk of the kid getting out of the car but well trained kids wont. That is also why My personal rule is in sight of the car. Also your commitment to never leaving your kid in the car alone will be put under great pressure when you have a kid and their asleep in the back and you need to run in and get something. I am confused how an automatic car gets into neutral without keys.
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Not sure what I was on when I wrote that, now that I read my post again.
Perhaps I was actually thinking about dumb parents who leave the keys in the car with the kid. I was adding 2 + 2 and came up with 222.
Anyhow, I guess what I was trying to say is that even if you can see the car, I still wouldn't want a 3-year-old being able to move about on his own. I mean, yeah sure, as long as I've got the keys, that car is probably not moving. Toddlers are still smarter than we give them credit for though.
It sounds a little Helen Lovejoy-esque, but most of my friends who have little kids, those kids are more than smart enough to open a car door on their own. In fact, one of my really good friends has a 5-year-old son. He and his wife train him well and keep him in check. But that kid is one smart cookie; he'll listen to what his parents say all day long, but if you leave him alone in a car, I'm pretty sure he'll get a bright idea to go exploring.
It's not that kids wouldn't be well-trained, or disobey what you tell them. But most toddlers have the attention span of a goldfish. The kid I mentioned above would simply get bored of sitting. I agree that the risk is minimal if its not super hot or freezing outside. All that being said, I still probably wouldn't do it.
You're right, when the time comes, there will probably be situations where I have to get something, and there's a sleeping kid in the back, and the wife isn't with me. And maybe my tune will change later, maybe it won't. But right now, the way I see it, I don't think I'd leave him/her in the car alone. Call it not wanting to take a risk, or not feeling right about it, or even just not wanting to be subjected to the ongoing hysteria from the Helen Lovejoys of the world about leaving anything with a pulse alone in a vehicle.
What I have a problem with though, is parents who leave little kids in the car when it's either +25 or -25 outside, or, running into a store to grab something, and leaving the kids in a car with the keys in the ignition. Either case is just a recipe for disaster. I think everyone here can agree on that.