what should i have done?

[CherryBombMama]

so ... this is kind of a touchy subject and i did what i thought was the best thing to do at the time, it was stupid but, the past is past.

i have a 3 week old and a 17m. the other day i went to drop of overdue library books. so i put them in the car and drive to the library with the intent of parking in the drop off and dropping the books into the slot.

well, i get there... then realize - what do i do with the kids? i am for sure not about to unbuckle them both, walk 20-30 feet to the slot, walk back, then buckle everyone back in. i would have just went into the library and stayed a while but it wasnt open. i was the only one there.

was i wrong to leave them in the car, with the car running (so the air could be on - it was really hot) and the door open? i literally RAN to the slot and back. my dh says i should have taken the keys out cuz someone could have taken the car w/ the kids in it, but i dont agree. i obviously wont do this again without taking a second person to stay in the car, but was it horribly wrong?

what are your thoughts on leaving kids in the car to do similar thing? (like running back in the house for a forgotten sweater, etc) It felt so wrong, but i was torn because the slot was sooo close and completely in view.

[Drummer's Wife]

I think what you did is fine, and in that scenario I would have done the same thing. The car was in your sight, and only feet away. I can't imagine unbuckling two small children to drop a couple library books in a slot.

[neetling]

When I have to do something like that, I open windows if it's hot and remove the keys. I'm not unbuckling 3 kids to return a redbox movie or drop library books off in the outside return.

[DeerMother]

For me, it is a case by case decision. When we had an attached garage, I left them regularly to run in and grab xyz. Now we have a carport and I don't do it without locking the doors, making sure they are strapped in and leaving house door open. In your situation, I prob would have locked them n the car. It took, what, one minute to return the books? The car would have stayed cool enough.

There was a child kidnapped in my town a few mnths ago. Her dad left her sleeping in car while he ran into gas station to get a drink. Meanwhile, a car thief steals his car, unaware child was in the backseat. She was returned a few hours later, but still.

[2xy]

There have been many threads on MDC about this topic, and there ARE people who will remove their kids from the car in the pouring rain in order to put books in a return slot. I'm not one of them.

I would not have been comfortable leaving the car on or the keys in it. I would have opened the windows and taken the keys with me.

[Tamsin]

I think what you did was fine, and I regularly do similar. SOmetimes I even leave them in the car while I run into the grocery store to grab something quick, if I can park right out the front. In that case I take the keys and tell them to lock their doors. But mine are 8 and 4 now. I wouldnt leave my kids in a hot car to run into the grocery store though.
But again I think what you did was fine, even leaving the keys in, in that situation is fine I think. I think it all comes down to what kind of a neighbourhood you live in.

[mamakaikai]

I did exactly this a few weeks ago, only my 7 week old was with her 27 month old sister. I think the drop slot was about 15 feet away. The only real difference is that I took the keys with me and I had the windows down. I have a thing about keeping the windows a bit open if I need to leave a kid in a car in a situation like this.

and I would never leave a kid in a car with the car keys. Too many things can go wrong.

I think it depends on how far away from your car you need to go as well as how busy the street is. Our library is on a very quiet street and no one was around. I would not have been as comfortable if the library was on a busy downtown street.

[Honey693]

I do what you did except I open the windows and take the keys. I'm not worried about anyone stealing my car w/DD in it, I'm worried about the car locking and her being locked in the car. I'm oddly fearful of that considering my car doors don't automatically lock.

[karika]

To drop off books or movies in a slot, leaving them in car is what I do, as long as I have eye contact with the car. I used to have (I don't drive much anymore so it is not an issue) two keys on me. I would leave the car running if it is hot (or cold), and lock the doors, using my key in my back pocket to get back in.

I do not and would not leave them in car if I had to go inside a place. The only exception would be when I check the PO box, as the front is glassed and I can maintain a line of sight the whole time as long as i have a front up park. If I parked the other way, I would take them in. However, mine are 7 yo and 20 mo... if they were as close in age as yours, I would run errands like the grocery store when daddy was home with them... I actually do that now. It is my only time away from the girls, an hour a week while I grocery shop... oh but I waited until dd2 was 8 mo to leave her for that hour, and I only did it while she was asleep... I am rambling. no i dont think what you did was wrong, but to be really safe, just get an extra key and lock them, but still only do things like library drop off... not going in stores, etc....

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by 2xy

I would not have been comfortable leaving the car on or the keys in it. I would have opened the windows and taken the keys with me.

This is actually me, too. I should have said it when I replied. I'm more comfy with 30 seconds in a hot car - windows down - than I am with leaving the keys in the ignition just to have the A/C on.

[just_lily]

I think this really depends on the area you live. We are fortunate enough to be in a town that is very safe, and I wouldn't think twice about leaving my kid in the car to drop library books in an outside slot. I actually do it fairly frequently. I also check the mail with her in the car (an outside community box). And I will take a shopping cart to a corral after strapping her in. As long as I am not going into any buildings and I can see the car, I am ok with that.

I will run back in the house to grab something with her strapped in as well. I am more comfortable with her in the driveway than in a public place. There is no way someone can even walk up our driveway without my dogs alerting me.

But at the same time, I won't run into a store, or even go inside to pay for gas. If she is with me by myself I will only go to pay at the pump stations. Rationally I am sure she would be fine, but it makes me nervous anyways, so I don't.

[WifeMomChiro]

Luckily, our library has a drive-thru. I have left my dd in the car in the garage, but I've never been in the situation to need to leave her out in public. I don't think what you did is horrible by any means. I agree with pp's that I probably would have taken the keys with me.

[fairymom]

Originally Posted by neetling

When I have to do something like that, I open windows if it's hot and remove the keys. I'm not unbuckling 3 kids to return a redbox movie or drop library books off in the outside return.

This is me!

[Mackenzie]

I would have not had an issue with leaving them in the car but I would have taken the keys out. However, that is more from living in WA where it is illegal to leave your keys in the car...

[Iucounu]

If your kids are within eyesight, safe, and within your control, I think you're doing fine. In general I would tend to agree with others, though, that you should remove the keys in such a situation; leaving them in the car makes it more likely that you can lose control of the situation. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it, though.

[Friday13th]

I've done it, the first time with great apprehension, but I would have rolled the windows down and taken the keys with me. I do leave them in a turned off car in the driveway while I run in to the house to get something I forgot or to shuttle a load of groceries in. I would not leave them in the car to pay for gas or run into a store.

[pigpokey]

I don't see how any possible scenario would be a problem unless I had children who would not follow my rules, such as don't mess with the car controls, don't get out [and walk into traffic]. I don't have a neighborhood where there are cars getting jacked at the library.

When my children were young like the OPs I would think, how could they possibly be safer navigating a parking lot with me than sitting in the car for under a minute?

I don't believe that the car is a horrible pit of danger, but some people's definition of danger overlaps my field of plenty-safe.

I personally spent a great deal of time sitting in the car as a kid.

One of my friends, a first generation American said that when school was not in session, she and her brother spent the day in the car outside her mom's workplace.

[mamazee]

I would generally take out the keys, but yeah otherwise I keep them in the car, and I don't run or worry about it.

[MaerynPearl]

In my old town I would have just done the run the way you did. But it was a town of 2500 people, and the whole area around the library is wide open, so if I was the only one around I would have known it... and malicious people don't tend to wander around tiny towns out in the open in daylight looking for a car running in the parking lot of the closed library.

Plus, if my older child had somehow gotten out of their seat they couldn't actually do much damage to car or themself/sibling/myself/anything around due to how that parking lot is arranged (at worse, a dent in the trunk of the car from the pole)

Here in the city where I live now? No. I would have turned the car off, taken the keys, with the windows down at least a bit, ran quickly and got back in ASAP. And I don't live in a bad city at all! I'm just not comfortable with all the what-ifs

[SubliminalDarkness]

I wouldn't have left keys in the car or the car running. That's way too scary for me.