This is a difficult one.
A mother has taken to Mumsnet to share her concerns after her friend didn’t notice her child went missing.
The woman said that her eldest son has to go to a birthday party in her friend’s house, and she doesn’t know if she feels safe letting him do so.
She explained the story here:
“She has a daughter who is 4. Was at home ‘doing bits and bobs’ (her words) and thought daughter was in living room on tablet. An hour later police knock on the door saying they had found her daughter wandering around corner shop trying to take sweets for half an hour alone. Apparently she had a big meeting with social services and they said they don’t believe she’s at risk at all.
“DS is due to go there for a birthday party (he’s 7 and it’s for her eldest son). I’m a bit uncomfortable about it now tbh and don’t really want to let him go! AIBU? I can’t imagine not noticing my 4 year old leaving the house and not being there for an hour.”
Many mums replied to the post saying that if Social Services believe there’s no risk, it should be OK.
One wrote:
“I’d have thought that if SS think there’s no risk then she’s proven to them that she’s learned her lesson. She probably didn’t expect her four year old to go wandering out of the house.
“My DS did it once and got as far as the garden gate before DD snitched on him, I didn’t hear the door open as it was a quiet latch/smooth hinges but it gave me enough of a jump to make sure after that it was always locked and the keys hung up out of his reach.”
While another said:
“I actually know 3 different people it happened too. Unless you decide to always be in the same room as your child until they are 12, or to check on them every 20 minutes, it sometimes just happens.”
What advice would you give this mum?
