If you’re a parent then the chances are high that you’ll be no stranger to stress, nor to cutting corners in a bid to make ends meet.
A lot of stress is around childcare. As a parent you must always make sure there is someone available for babysitting or entertaining the kids when you are not there.
Neither parents are flawless. Simply put, making errors is a natural part of the process of becoming a parent.
And yet, a single mother of five from Georgia is reportedly going to jail for something I am very sure other people are guilty of. It should come as no surprise that her case is generating a lot of online discussion, with many people believing that she is receiving severe treatment.
According to reports, Melissa Henderson is a busy mom who tries to make ends meet by working to provide for her children.
Being the only caregiver for five children and fulfilling the position of family provider is obviously not an easy task. Her youngest kid, Thaddeus, usually attends day care, but Melissa had to find someone to watch him after the daycare closed because of a COVID-19 epidemic.
Unfortunately, after trying everything else, the diligent mother was forced to ask her 14-year-old eldest daughter whether she could watch Thaddeus while she went to work. The teenager consented to watch the children.
At some point during the day, Thaddeus is said to have slipped outside while his older sister was doing schoolwork. He played for around 15 minutes before the 14-year-old realized that he had gone and went outside to bring him in.
No harm was done, but a neighbor had spotted the boy playing alone and, concerned for his well being, called 911.
Two weeks later, the police showed up at Melissa’s home and placed her under arrest for criminal reckless conduct.
Speaking to Inside Edition, Melissa confessed: “It was the most embarrassing and humiliating day, honestly, of my life.”
As per Little Things, the police report focused on what might have happened to Thaddeus while he was outside alone, including being “kidnapped, run over or bitten by a venomous snake.”
Melissa, the mother of the accused, faces a year in prison and $1,000 in fines if found guilty of the offense.
I do not know about you, but I believe that the authorities have overreacted in this case.
Although it is not a good idea to leave a 4-year-old unattended outside, I do not think Melissa did anything particularly wrong by entrusting her teenage daughter with Thaddeus’s care.