Hey Lady, Hang On To Your Baby

Something's off here. If it's not your story, then it's the people ( starting with the Mom). Let me know which Starbucks this happened in and I'll try to avoid the neighbourhood.

WHO leaves their baby on a chair by himself in a coffee shop while they go to the washroom??? And I've got a 2-year-old, so I know what I'm talking about. Yes, it's difficult to visit the washroom in a public place when you've got a baby, it's difficult to do a lot of things when you've got a baby. But you fricking deal with it, you don't endanger your child so you can have a peaceful pee. I've peed with my kid on my lap in emergency situations. You did the right thing. That woman doesn't sound fit to raise children. What is wrong with people? Ah, nothing like a good morning rage to get the blood flowing.

that baby looks very perturbed...

wow, I can't believe that she just left her baby there and then yelled at you. so much for being nice. now you know. ;)

Neighbourhood: South Granville.

And yeah, doesn't the baby in the pic look hilariously perturbed?

It's people like that who make me think you should have to have a licence to be a parent. Scary stuff.

Man, what a bitchy old lady :P

That'd be rad if the mom reads BR.

Yes, it would be really interesting to see her weigh in if she does read BR.

That said, the more I think about it, the less sure I am that she IS the Mom. She could definitely have been a nanny or something.

Maybe it was a one time thing. I have no idea. She was definitely VERY ashamed and seemed very worried about what I would do and what people in the coffee shop saw.

Regardless, it was weird weird weird.

Excuse my language, but jesus titty fucking christ. Who the hell leaves their baby unattended in this day and age?
Seriously, with all the reports of child abductions and stuff you hear about? Or even just the fact that the kid could have gotten hurt falling out of a chair when the mother wasn't around?

Was it a mistake to pick the child up? No, I don;t think so, but the question you should be asking is "why the hell did you have to?" The mother should have been there to keep the fall from happening in the first place.

Please excuse my righteous anger, but parents these days (and in the city especially) boggle my mind sometimes.

What about the patrons that sat and did nothing?

Either:
a) these people don't care
b) they care more about being accused of wrongdoing than the welfare of a baby.

Either way, it scares me that I live in a society like this.

This woman wasn't Britney by any chance was it?

I don't know what's worse, if it was her baby (i.e. she at least did a major parenting screw-up) or if it wasn't (i.e. that there are nannies and that who are that terrible).

One thing's for sure: that is one cute, scared baby.

Was she driving a Mini?

No. She came into the store on foot, I think. No car.

If i'm not mistaken, the mother is Angela Weise. You can find her at #244-1520 w 11th ave. Don't know her cell # though.

statusq: I don't think it's very cool to post her name and address on a public web site like that.

Or maybe I'm just missing a joke?

Yeah, that was just my joke. Felt like people were jumping on the Find The Mom and PUNISH Her bandwagon, so I dropped a fake-o name and address for kicks.

Hell, people make mistakes, and i bet she won't make that one again. Especially if she sees the hilarious thread here.

Status:corrected.

That mom sounds nuts.
Yaletown, right?

Ok, Ok, South Granville was my SECOND guess.
: P

Jen, you did the right thing as your motherly instincts kicked in.

That mom was careless in just leaving her baby alone in public, and esp. on a such a chair. Perhaps she'll have learned from that experience.

But you did well, and who cares what everyone else thought at SB. Kudos to you.

Jen, you totally did the right thing. You took care of the child while everyone else looked the other way. When mom came back, you diffused her anger and embarrassment.

Public rest-room use with a baby can be inconvenient and it's twice the dilemna when you have an opposite-sex child scenario. When my daughter was little, I usually found store employees were happy to watch her for a quick tinkle, but I learned how not to pee for hours at a time. Single dads have bladders the size of weather balloons.

babies and toddlers should not be left alone ever. of course the baby fell out of the chair, every mom knows that babies babies wiggle around. So the mom took a chance. She also took a chance that someone could have taken her baby...what an irrisponsibe, selfish person and she needs to wake up to the reality that the world is not only about her anymore.

i don't know if i'm much for the whole baby snatchers scenario. The Sun had a big article a few wks ago about how people have huge fear of things like baby-snatching although statistically it practically never happens. As opposed to risk of dismemberment in a car crash or what-have-you.

When you are a parent you hear about all sorts of things that happen to babies/toddlers. mostly when they are left alone for just a few minuts. like rolling and falling off things, tumbeling down stairs, drowning, eating crazy stuff, pulling stuff on thier heads, burning themselves, running out in to traffic. As crazy as it all sounds to people without kids it is a reality for us parents with babies and todlers 247. I am sure she hoped for the best but she had to know.

i doubt she was the baby's mum. nanny, aunt, friend of mum, but not mum and someone with little experience with kids. as sarah and others have said, if you're familiar with babies, you know they wiggle, squiggle and squirm like nobody's business. you know they won't sit still long enough to sit in a wooden chair. most mothers (and others for that matter), wouldn't dream of leaving their babes unattended in a very public place.

and jen, you absolutely did the right thing. i would have done the same thing on instinct. crying, unattended baby? gi to the rescue! maybe others didn't respond b/c they didn't see lady leaving baby unattended and thought mum was nearby? either way, the reason the woman in charge of babe was so pissed was because her crappy child care skills were exposed in a busy starbucks.

Its great to see so many responses to what happened to this baby. I like to think there is a real community there to take care of babies in these situations. Mind you the reaction of some of you and the people in the Starbucks in the first place is rather disconcerting to say the least. Babies should not be left by themselves in wobbly situations by anyone. Not the mother, nor anyone in that coffee shop! But that does seem to be us, our community. That baby needs a community to check to see if its' Ok and it's caretaker is Ok? Talk to her, befriend her, that baby's welfare depends on us and that caretaker may need to know as well that someone cares enought to check to see if shes OK. She's human just like the rest of us.

Take care

I am flabbergasted. Jen, you did the right thing, and this woman should never be allowed to have babies, she should instead be neutered! This is, however, the result of Anglosaxon customs. Never in my life (and I've lived in a few countries) I have seen so many people that are soooo worried about their personal space, their private lives, strangers doing random acts of kindness. Come on you people! In other countries, a mother would have not done a stupidity of this magnitude! Furthermore, when she saw that you picked up the baby, she should have been grateful. What a bitch. This is one of the reasons why I hate living in Canada/Vancouver. But when I see all the other positive things, I can't help but be happy.

Honestly, Jen ... you should really consider denouncing this woman with Social Services or whatever sort of agency you guys have here. She should NOT be allowed to have children or raise them anyway.

Did the woman at least have a chance to drink her venti, no-whip, half decaf, extra shot, long, dry, non-fat, extra-hot latte, with a twist of lemon?

Because if not, then that would be the real crime here.

:)

As this woman is obviously a complete and total idiot lacking any sort of maternal instinct, I would like to say that you absolutely did the right thing by picking that poor child up. The louder one protests, the more one usually has to hide, in this case, it should be the shame of being an absolute moron. As a mother of four, spanning 21 years, I've had many, many different and awkward situations in public places with my kids when they were small. Can't tell you how many times I had to one-arm my way through the facilities while holding my child with the other arm. I'm thinking this gal is a soulless nanny. Next time you see her, look at her like you know something she doesn't, that she has the IQ of a letter opener.

You should have definetely taken the baby and sold it on ebay.