Are some mothers really so stupid?

pukkamum

Mojisola wrote: »

But if you were the mother, would you be happy to rely on strangers to tell you that the baby was crying or that someone had picked up the baby and walked off the bus with him/her?

No personally I wouldn't but I sure would be the one offering help.

coolcait

pukkamum wrote: »

I didn't once say it was fine, the point I was making was about the attitude and behaviour of the other passengers on the bus, the whole car thing is completely different, I could call upstairs if thebaby was crying, I couldn't do that in asda.
But that's just semantics.

But, would it really have been any better if one of the other passengers on the bus had said "Oh, I'll look after the baby for you"?

Unless the mother knows that person, it doesn't seem particularly responsible to leave the baby in the care of a complete stranger.

However, at least there would be someone there to stop the pram tipping over when the bus driver braked, cornered, or set off too jerkily. Or someone to blame (other than herself) if the pram tipped over anyway.

There's also a risk to the 'kind stranger'. If something did go wrong, then you can bet your life that the mother would blame the 'kind stranger' for it. Then there are all of the theories you can come up with if you wander into 'what if the mother is some kind of con artist/ has mental health issues' and so on.

Plus, you're simply reinforcing the mother's behaviour by enabling it.

Mojisola

pukkamum wrote: »

No personally I wouldn't but I sure would be the one offering help.

I would too but what if my stop came before the family got off? It says something when strangers are more concerned than the mother about a baby's welfare.

pukkamum

fabforty wrote: »

I am more than happy to help a fellow mother, or any other person, stranger or not where possible and where necessary.

However as I was about to get off with my children, minding her baby wasn't a possibility, was it? And minding a strangers' baby so that she could pander to the wishes of her two older children, is hardly a necessity.

My son always wants to sit upstairs on the bus, but when his baby brother is with us, he cant. It's as simple as that.

And thats fine so I take it that had you not been getting off you would have offered help instead of derision.
No offering to mind a stranger s baby isn't a necessity, it's just a kindness.

fabforty

pukkamum wrote: »

Do you truly think that this is a plausible scenario?
That a baby snatcher happened to be on the bus at that point and already knew what he was going to do after he got the baby, and he knew that not one other person on that bus knew the baby wasn't his or hers, that the bus driver wouldn't realise, that the mother wouldn't see him get off and make the bus stop.

In central London's West End this (the part in bold) is more than just plausible. I'm guessing that you are not London based .

pukkamum

Mojisola wrote: »

I would too but what if my stop came before the family got off? It says something when strangers are more concerned than the mother about a baby's welfare.

But if said strangers were so concerned about baby's welfare that they would publicly lambast her, could they not have been concerned enough to help her?
I am more interested in the reactions of the passengers than what is obviously a daft thing for the mum to do.
The op made the point the mum got off and probably did it on another bus, so the comments clearly made no difference, maybe an offer of help would have made her think again.

BitterAndTwisted

I wouldn't let a baby, child or anything else I valued out of my sight on a London bus. That woman is reckless in the extreme. Or certifiable.

pukkamum

fabforty wrote: »

In central London's West End this (the part in bold) is more than just plausible. I'm guessing that you are not London based .

No I'm not but I have worked and lived there, funnily enough as a nanny, and no I didn't leave them on the bus;) I know there are a lot of weirdos out there, I just don't think it a very , likely scenario, more chance of said bus being hit by an asteroid.

fabforty

pukkamum wrote: »

But if said strangers were so concerned about baby's welfare that they would publicly lambast her, could they not have been concerned enough to help her?
I am more interested in the reactions of the passengers than what is obviously a daft thing for the mum to do.
The op made the point the mum got off and probably did it on another bus, so the comments clearly made no difference, maybe an offer of help would have made her think again.

She got off the bus but I have no idea what she did after that. Perhaps the other passengers' reactions made her think again.

pukkamum

fabforty wrote: »

She got off the bus but I have no idea what she did after that. Perhaps the other passengers' reactions made her think again.

Yes perhaps it did.