Green! if thats okay? :rolleyes:

> Last time I looked I have a baby and you don't at the moment so I think I am more than qualified to comment

LOL - But I do have two grown up children that have suffered terrible neglect by their mother and appear to have thrived on it

Daisy

Those were the days, Daisy......:D :D :D :D :D

(If we were suddenly catapulted from the 70s/80s into motherhood in the 2000s, we'd have our children plucked from our bosoms....but hailed as wonderful for the way we fed 'em ;) )

Margot

But we didn't have the obese, allergy-ridden children that seem to be everywhere nowadays. ;) We can't have got it too badly wrong! :D

To right - I like to think my mum took good care of us when we were younger and we grew up ok.

(Now where did I put that fly I need to pull some wings off!)

I'm allergy ridden, and I was born in the 70s!! Saying that, if I was born now, I'd probably be so bad I'd be living in a bubble ;) AND I was left in my pram outside shops (and apparently made other babies cry by glaring at them!), AND my mother was Xrayed when pregnant with me. Doesn't affect brain development does it? :D

:(

I've just realised......I am of the generation that raised the angst-ridden generation that now (1) does not allow anyone to call a child "naughty" (it's the deed that's naughty, not the child) (2) has allowed its young to eat anything that they have wanted to, and now agonises about feeding a healthy diet (ie the one they were brought up on) and (3) cannot allow a child freedom (although they themselves were able to have so much) (4) cannot remove/ban electronic equipment from a teenager's bedroom without there being rows between parent and teenager (so what's new?)

So, once again, its All Our Fault :rolleyes: ;)

Margot

And we were so wicked as to take an overtired, sleepless, screaming child for a quick drive round the block till it fell asleep, then park the car on the drive with the sleeping baby still inside and go and put the kettle on before bringing it in. Or, when the baby was asleep when you get back from a shopping trip, you unload the shopping from the car and take it indoors before you unload the baby. Then to make matters worse, we'd put the child down in its cot for a nap and leave the room leaving the baby alone, unattended!
:D

AND without a baby alarm in the whole street .................

We would even "pop next door" leaving sleeping babies alone.....going back to check every 20 mins or so :rolleyes:

Not, of course, to mention parking a tiny, sleeping baby in its BIG pram outside, in the FRONT garden, in all weathers (apart from fog!)  Tucked up like a little bug in a rug, hottie bottle at the bottom of the pram.   Fresh air!!!   All babies needed it!!!

Margot

Yep! We brushed the snow off every now and then, before the pram got snowed in entirely and you tried to wheel in an igloo!

fee i need to clarify a few point here, as i was the OP!
Baby was in one of thos carry seat things, just a seat belt through it so not hard to lift out!
I sat for about 5 minutes wondering what to do. You CANNOT see the cars from the store. Then i went into the feed store ...i was the only customer in there & I could see the cars from there. Noone came back to the car. I ordered some sheep nuts and layers pellets, which took about 10  minutes, then I loaded it into car. Still no-one. So then I went into the main store. The only place you can actually see the carpark , is when you are coming through the till. I walked around the store, there were about 20 or so people in there but non looked like new-mother material!!. Then I picked up a few bits & bobs, went to the till & as i was paying i saw a lass go out of the door, jump in car & drive off. She was out of sight of the car for at least 15-20 minutes the I know of, let alone how long she had been there before I arrived

> for at least 15-20 minutes

Definitely too long :(

Daisy

Just maybe in todays world, people feel more scared of things happening. I have just started letting my son out on his own, he is 11. My daughter is 8,and has never been allowed out. You read so many horror stories today that it makes it very stressful being a parent. Each to their own, we all do our own daily 'risk assessments' for our own kids. If I pop to the shop, I put my Staffie in the pet cage even for 5 minutes. I do trust her but would rather not take the risk,if my son is in the lounge watching telly.

>I'm too scared of my dog getting stolen if left in the car alone

Ah, but since I apparently have a "killer breed" I'm not so worried now. ;)

:D  Maybe I should put a "killer breed" mask on my cuddly golden retriever!  Mind you, the way the stupid Press works, they may be next on the list. :rolleyes:

When it comes to debates where parenting is involved there are always  those who take the holier than thou and i'm a better mum than you attitude.It makes them feel somehow superior.I think it's safe to say we've all done it... :o :( You know the scene where all the mothers are standing in a group,and then the "outcast" mum appears,and all the other mums natter to themselves saying what a bad parent, or whatever, she is,it makes them feel better and smug about themselves!

I'm one of "those" mums who left her baby in the car WITH the dogs if i went in to pay for petrol or dashed to the cash machine,as long as they were in sight and i was only gone for a minute,i really dont see the cause for alarm.I also never had a problem leaving my kids alone in a room with my dogs,why would i? I cant imagine owning a dog and not being able to relax if he was alone around my children.If i thought there was some kind of risk then i would have to look into why and fix it!
Dogs attack/bite for a reason,if one of my dogs bit my kids my first thought would be what did my child do to provoke it I would be looking into re-training both my kids and my dog ;) I always made sure my kids knew how to respect our pets,they were forewarned that if they teased or hurt our dogs then they should be prepared to get bitten,needless to say this never happened.

>Yep! We brushed the snow off every now and then, before the pram got snowed in entirely and you tried to wheel in an igloo!

Been there too! As well as on those circular evening car journeys which ended with us bolting into the house for restorative refreshment when the colicky insomniac had finally dropped off and was still sleeping like...er, well like a baby, out on the drive in the car!

I'd of liked to of seen some one try to steal my car or my baby with my Lurcher in their with it?

My children grew up with our Lurchers and my son even napped in the dog bed during the day with his head on the dogs deep chest. I trusted my Lurchers completely, although my children knew to respect them and even at a very young age, gave them their space.

My 3 year old daughter escaped into the lane one day and my dog alerted me with his bark. When I went out to see what was going on, a man was trying to shoo her back through the gate, she was off to the village shop and our Lurcher would not let the distraught gentleman near her. Common sense should be the word of the day as certain breeds have certain traits which need to be taken into account, but I would of thought that dogs are more likely to get into trouble for being overly protective of the young of the household than attacking them. Only my experience of course.

quote:"certain breeds have certain traits which need to be taken into account"

All breeds have these traits, they are DOGS!!!
For some reason people seem unaware of the effect a crying baby can have on many, if not all dogs. Just cos you have a fluffy cute lap bred doesnt mean the "instinct" wont set in with the right stimulous......usually a childs noise.

>For some reason people seem unaware of the effect a crying baby can have on many, if not all dogs.

.... until they're accustomed and habituated to it; just as all dogs are likely to chase sheep unless trained not to.

I must say i put my daughter in the passenger seat once and threw the keys on the drivers side locked the door, leaned thru as you do to lift catch on back door got dog chucked it in the back seats LOCKED THE DOOR!!!!!

She was about 4yrs at the time and she screamed her head off while i ran around like a headless chicken with fellow dog walkers (we were at the park) standing by whilst i called my husband to bring the spare key.

I have never been so proud of our dog as she climbed into the drivers seat for about 30mins or so she stood stock (or sat upright as she was a big dog :D ) and growled her head off everytime someone went to the passenger window to ease my daughters stress while i was on the phone.

Bit off topic but i love sharing that story :)

(as most dogs i know dont care about whats on the inside of a car but outside!! :D :D)