By her own admission – she did “the unthinkable”… she forgot about her daughter and left her in a car.
It’s something that Britta Eberle never thought would happen.
So when it did – and while she was shocked and terrified to her core – she decided to share her haunting experience with other parents.
Britta is a Vermont-based mum who has a blog – This Is Motherhood.
She recently posted a photo of her adorable two-year-old daughter, Ada, on Facebook along with her words of warning.
“Here’s how it happened: our family arrived at a friend’s house and in our excitement we all darted out, assuming that someone else had remembered to grab the youngest member of our clan.
“But no one remembered her. And she sat for about twenty minutes crying alone before one of us grabbed her. It was such a small mistake but it could have had devastating consequences.”
She admits: “Thank god we were parked in a safe place. Thank god it wasn’t hot outside. Thank god she wasn’t alone for long. Thank god she has already forgotten about it and forgiven us.
“But it will be a long time before I forgive myself.”
Ms Eberle goes on to say that usually she thinks she’s “a good mom”. However, she adds that what she did has made her feel “terrible,” and that there are “no excuses”.
She goes on to say that she wants to share her mistake with the world because “if I did this, anyone could do this. And that scares me but also makes me judge a little less and makes me pay attention a whole lot more.”
Britta concludes: “Tonight I snuggled my baby girl to bed. I read her a story, turned out the light, and stayed beside her listening to her breath got deeper and slower as she fell asleep.
“And felt so incredibly lucky.”
The mum concludes: “Hug your babies tight and practice forgiveness. Forgive those that make mistakes, even if the person who you need to forgive is yourself.”
