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Accidents can happen in an instant.
By Francesca Duarte
Written on Mar 23, 2024
After a toddler had to come to the rescue as her baby brother’s stroller careened toward a busy street, her dad, chatting with a neighbor nearby, was oblivious to it all.
A toddler helped save her baby brother while her dad distractedly chatted with the neighbors.
In the r/offmychest post, which was reposted to r/OhNoConsequences, a 25-year-old mom explained how her husband has always had trouble paying attention, as he deals with ADHD, but she was appalled by how much he was able to tune out on a day that almost cost his son’s life.
One day, her husband and kids were outside and she was inside folding clothes when she heard her daughter frightfully cry for help from outside.
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The mom rushed outside, immediately knowing something was wrong.
“What I saw made my blood run cold — our newborn in his stroller, careening toward the busy street. I screamed and ran to him, barely stopping the stroller in time,” she said. “My baby girl’s hands and knees were scratched up because she tripped trying to run after the stroller.”
She picked up her son as her heart pounded in her chest, full of adrenaline and anxiety over what almost happened.
Still recovering from a C-section, she realized she had torn her stitches while running to save her son.
She searched for where her husband was and found him chatting with some neighbors, clueless to the events that almost unfolded under his watch. “The anger I felt was unlike anything I ever experienced,” she wrote.
The woman reprimanded her husband for his inattentiveness, and once he realized what almost happened, he was shocked and emotional.
“The apologies and tears came pouring out, but it was too late,” she said. “I couldn’t wrap my head around how he could be so careless, so blind to our toddler’s screams and the stroller rolling away.”
The woman decided she needed some space to calm down, so she took her kids to stay at her parents’ house.
Photo: Malysh Falko / Shutterstock
Despite leaving, her husband hasn’t stopped texting her, profusely apologizing and begging to be forgiven, claiming it was an “honest mistake.” Yet, if the roles had been reversed, would he be so willing to forgive her?
“What if I was just one second late, would I have been planning a funeral?” the woman expressed.
Reddit users pointed out how ADHD should not be an excuse for parents failing to watch their kids.
If anything, a parent dealing with ADHD should be hyper-aware of their additional struggles.
“If someone knows they have ADHD, it is their responsibility to figure out a way (on their own or with professionals) to work with themselves,” one person shared in the comments. “As another comment stated: they are taught in therapy to hold themselves fully and entirely accountable.”
“As a parent with ADHD, I’m more attentive to my kids than most parents without ADHD because I’m so terrified and paranoid I am going to [mess] something up that I radically overcompensate,” another parent added.
“You become (or should become) hyper-aware of your symptoms and take steps to prevent safety issues like these from occurring when stuff like kids' safety is at stake,” another parent with ADHD noted in the comments.
Many other Reddit users addressed the husband’s lack of attention as less of an ADHD symptom and more of a negligence issue.
“Calling it an honest mistake is grossly understating the severity of what could have happened. Would that have been his excuse had the baby been injured or worse?” one person stated.
The mom additionally shared her intolerance for his excuses.
“I don't care if it was his ADHD, the court wouldn’t care either,” the mom stated, bluntly. “If he killed my child, he would’ve went to prison either way.”
Other Reddit users acknowledged the emotional toll this experience could’ve had on the daughter.
The dad is failing to realize just how traumatic this experience could have been, not only for his wife but for his daughter.
The fact that a 3-year-old had to step in to save her brother before her dad or even the neighbors noticed is astounding. Had things taken a turn for the worse, the experience could have psychologically traumatized her.
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Especially as the eldest daughter who is probably already feeling responsible for everyone’s well-being at the young age of three, the girl likely would have blamed herself and built up resentment for her father if the worst-case scenario had occurred.
“If her brother had died right there in front of her at 3 years old, even if she didn't remember the physical impact, she would have definitely remembered the psychological impact for the rest of her life because of her dad's carelessness,” one person said in the comments.
The mom will likely never fully trust her husband with their children again.
While this experience served as a wake-up call for the dad to always pay attention to his children above anything or anyone else, he may not get the chance to redeem himself.
Seeing as she cannot forgive him, and it will take her some time before she can even consider forgiveness, there's a distinct probability the mom will want to temporarily move in with her parents and avoid her husband until she cools down.
Other Reddit users addressed how the woman is now stuck, either eventually having to give her husband another chance against her judgment, or choosing to separate and then having to undergo a custody battle, which could put her kids in even more danger when under the sole supervision of their dad.
Whatever the woman decides, she has every right to protect her children at all costs, even if it means temporarily keeping them from their dad until he recognizes the severity of his mindless actions and seeks proper guidance for his attention issues.
Francesca Duarte is a writer on idatingyou's news and entertainment team based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, adventure, and spirituality topics.
