Steam Coming Out Of My Ears

Today's order: Grande Non-Fat Vanilla Latte, Extra-Hot

I was so incredibly angry.

It's nearly 12 hours later and it still makes me so angry I could throttle someone. Someone in particular.

Let's backtrack a little so you get the whole story...

The Boy goes to preschool now (yeah, it's been a while since I posted regularly. He's 3 and a half now, can you believe it?). Preschool is on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning. This past Tuesday I arrived to pick him up as per usual, and parked my car in the parking lot of the school. On my way down to the school I passed a minivan with its windows partly rolled down. Much to my surprise, a little voice called out "hello!" as I passed. I glanced back to see a small child, no more than 2, buckled into a car seat, sitting in the car alone. Alone! No parent or other responsible individual in sight.

I was stunned.

I called over a friend of mine who was also on her way into the school, just to be sure that I wasn't crazy and seeing things (I'm a tad sleep-deprived these days). She was equally stunned. We both thought we recognized the vehicle as belonging to a mother from the other preschool classroom. Neither of us knew her name.

I was so flabbergasted that I just didn't know what to say or do. I was speechless.

Sure enough, as my friend and I were leaving the school and heading back to our cars, the woman we suspected as being the culprit was driving off in her minivan without a care in the world.

Fast-forward to today.....

Again I arrived at the school and parked in the parking lot. I noted the vehicle in question once again, and detoured out of my way to go past it and look inside. You can guess what I found.

I was livid. I saw red. My adrenalin was pumping, my heart was racing, and this time I was not going to sit back and watch as someone put their child at risk.

I marched into the school and made a beeline for the other preschool classroom. Sure enough, there she was, nonchalantly conversing with another parent, her back to me. I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, but did you leave your child alone in the car?" To which she non-chalantly replied, "Yeah" with a look that said "what's it to you?" (!!!!!) *cue the sound of my head exploding*

At this point I mustered up every ounce of composure I could locate and somehow managed to not rip her head off. Instead, I tore a healthy strip off her, reminding her that leaving your small child alone and completely out of your sight in a vehicle for the 10 minutes it takes to pick up your child from preschool does not constitute acceptable behaviour. Any amount of time is unacceptable. I told her that if it was too inconvenient for her to bring her child safely inside the school, all she has to do is ask me to watch the child in the parking lot and I will happily do so to ensure that child's safety. I also told her that she could now consider herself on notice, and the next time I see her leave a child alone in a vehicle I will call Children's Services right away and report her.

And don't think for one second that I won't.