AKL Child Falls Off Balcony

[Terpgirl79]

All i can say is I hope the parents of this child are not Disers. I am sure that this family is devastated. I can only imagine the blame that they must be feeling themselves. I read that the mother tried to grab the child, but missed.

Accidents happen, thus the name. As parents, we are to protect our children, but we do our best. I bet everyone here, can remember some close call with their children. A kid runs in the street, baby jumps from a crib, there are a million examples. Sometimes people are lucky and sometimes good parenting can save the day, but sometimes we fail, and bad things happen.

I'm just glad she is recovering.

My grandpa use to say to leave judgement for the courts and God.

Total agreement.

 

[sndral]

Reading is fundamental. Perhaps you should reread the post and try to figure out the point I was trying to make.

Never mind, it's clear that I failed to communicate my point to you.

..

Investigations are a part of the procedure. Hopefully the family is damaged more from the investigation than from the fall.

I was quite concerned when I read that the little girl was medi-flighted out since that generally means serious injuries, but as she's already been released from the hospital it must have been not too bad.
I've said from the beginning that since they probably have video if the parents where not negligent then Child protective Services will make a quick decision in their favor, and if there is negligence then they'll have evidence and be able to take appropriate steps.

 

[Mom2six]

You never know. Mom could have been momentarily distracted. Kids can be so fast. Maybe this was unusual for the child involved, Mom could have been tending to another child and in a moment, the light plastic table waa dragged, kid was up and over. You really can't know without being there.

Kids can be darn fast. If my DS5 was on a third story balcony I would have to pretty much keep my hand an inch for his wrist - if he decided to climb over it would be mere seconds before he succeeded.

 

[wyurm]

???
Wow, a discussion about an event which we know very little about and thus cannot really judge the quality of the parenting positively or negatively has turned into assuming that posters who see things differently are raising future pregnant teens and druggies?

You just proved the point Sheilby was making. That post was just showing that it is not enjoyable to be judged. It wasn't saying those things as a definite but rather was demonstrating that judging this situation is just wrong especially for us who don't have any idea what really happened.

It is very possible that those parents could have posted in other threads like this one saying that there is no way such a tragic event could have happened to them. They could even be CPS workers or over-protective parents. I work for a company that is insane about safety and takes it to an extreme. Does that mean we never have accidents? No. There shouldn't be any high-horses in this thread. Take it as a learning experience and be aware of balcony dangers from now on. That's all. Leave the judging for those that actually know what really happened. I don't even want to imagine how those parents feel right now.

 

[1971DBday]

You just proved the point Sheilby was making. That post was just showing that it is not enjoyable to be judged. It wasn't saying those things as a definite but rather was demonstrating that judging this situation is just wrong especially for us who don't have any idea what really happened.

It is very possible that those parents could have posted in other threads like this one saying that there is no way such a tragic event could have happened to them. They could even be CPS workers or over-protective parents. I work for a company that is insane about safety and takes it to an extreme. Does that mean we never have accidents? No. There shouldn't be any high-horses in this thread. Take it as a learning experience and be aware of balcony dangers from now on. That's all. Leave the judging for those that actually know what really happened. I don't even want to imagine how those parents feel right now.

Amen! I refuse to post on threads with judgement. I was not there and pray never to be in a situation like this. Enough said.

 

[karriealex]

Not judging the parents but the door should have been securely locked if she was not right there on the patio with the child.

We have two severely ADHD sons, one also has a mood disorder and the other has Aspergers Syndrome which is a form of high functioning autism and you want to talk about impulsive. Dh and I were always on our guard with them no matter where we were, what we were doing, or how tired we were. We always made sure that one or the other of us were watching them. We never assumed that the other one was. The patio doors always remained locked unless we were right out there with them and then they had to sit in the chairs and one of us would stand at the railing. I never held their hands but held their wrists because it is too easy for a child to pull away if you are holding their hand. Until my eldest was about 9 and my youngest 6 we never stayed at a resort where we were on a second floor or that had a balcony. Oddly enough the first resort that had a balcony that we stayed at was AKL. People have said it is impossible to watch your kids every minute. Dh and I did. We had to. We knew because of their problems that danger lurked at all times due to their impulsiveness. I am not coming down on that mother or father. I am just saying that it is possible to watch your kids at all times. They are now 19 and 15 and we have been able to allow them more freedom. Am I still nervous. Yup you betcha. My kids are not wimps or momma's boys. They are very well adjusted young men who now know how to behave, be careful, be respectful, and have manners. They know why we had to do what we did when they were younger and they understand it was to keep them safe.

 

[Sheilby]

You just proved the point Sheilby was making. That post was just showing that it is not enjoyable to be judged. It wasn't saying those things as a definite but rather was demonstrating that judging this situation is just wrong especially for us who don't have any idea what really happened.

It is very possible that those parents could have posted in other threads like this one saying that there is no way such a tragic event could have happened to them. They could even be CPS workers or over-protective parents. I work for a company that is insane about safety and takes it to an extreme. Does that mean we never have accidents? No. There shouldn't be any high-horses in this thread. Take it as a learning experience and be aware of balcony dangers from now on. That's all. Leave the judging for those that actually know what really happened. I don't even want to imagine how those parents feel right now.

Thank you for understanding my point, I thought the line about being judged stinking made it clear that I was purposely chooseing to go over the top to make a point.

As for your second paragraph, I couldn't agree more. I have a good friend who had her kids much later in life than I did. She is very OCD and has everything childproof to the nth degree. She was very judgmental about parents who had things happen to their kids, it wouldn't happen to be she said because I watch by child like a hawk. Enter baby #2. Despite all the baby gates, somehow her daughter fell down the stairs and got one of those huge purple egg lumps on her head. The following year the daughter managed to break her leg when jumping off a tricycle. If her kid can get injured, anyone's can.

 

[Sheilby]

Not judging the parents but the door should have been securely locked if she was not right there on the patio with the child. .... Until my eldest was about 9 and my youngest 6 we never stayed at a resort where we were on a second floor or that had a balcony. Oddly enough the first resort that had a balcony that we stayed at was AKL. People have said it is impossible to watch your kids every minute. Dh and I did.....

What does securely locked mean? This was a six year old (you know, the age you said you would stay in a room with a balcony), what six year old can't turn a lock on a door?

By the way, why say you aren't judging the parents, but then turn around and say what they should have done and how you did things better? I will never understand how people think that isn't judging. I guarantee you, that despite the fact that nothing bad happened to your kids, you did not watch them every minute. I'm sure you were more vigilant than the average parent since you were aware your kids had issues that needed to be addressed, but getting distracted is part of parenthood. You and your husband weren't always both with your kids. Plenty of times one of you would have been alone with the both of them and one of the kids needed your attention and you took your eyes off the other one. You never had to go to the bathroom? Or are you claiming you took them in with you? You never had the phone ring and got bad news that distracted you for a moment? I mean please, that is the selective memory of parents with older kids that mentioned previously.

 

[Lynne M]

I see little point in keeping this thread open, if it's just going to be a place for people to beat up on parents they don't know in a situation they didn't witness. No one on these boards knows anything about these people, no one here saw the accident happen. Continued speculation serves no purpose.