In the News

[ailbhe]

A woman has been arrested after her baby was rescued from a smoke-filled house.

There were three children alone in the house, aged about 1, about 2, and about 3 (the one-year-old is the "baby" of the headline). Clearly she was wrong to leave them alone in the house.

But oh, by all the gods, I can think of so many ways to talk myself into thinking it might be ok. One year, two years, and three years. Gods.

I wonder have they any other parent, and will that other parent also be charged.

Comments

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

I hope that the mother feels relief that the children are okay and horror at what might have happened and not anger at being arrested.

[ailbhe]

Why not anger? Anger at herself, at the people arresting her, at the people who didn't help her care for three very young children, at the system which leaves women alone with small children for days and days because childcare is so expensive and generally expected to be paid for *entirely* from the "second" salary, not half from each of two salaries... Anger at the health visitor system which didn't recognise her desperation, anger at a *thousand* things.

Relief and horror too, yeah.

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

I hear where you are coming from but surely the time for anger was earlier and not upon returning home to discover that society has finally 'worked' and saved the lives of your children.

[ailbhe]

Well yes, and the time for my cousin's husband to realise that postnatal depression and psychosis is a real illness should have been *before* his wife and child died of it. People fuck up, and it's not usually because they are evil people who wanted to harm their children.

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

Point taken. I didn't mean to cause offence. I just can't imagine doing that but I also can't imagine what happened to your cousin. I think I need to learn to count my blessings for that.

[ailbhe]

Most of the mothers I've spoken to about it have said "I've never actually done it, but..." or "Of course you don't really do it, but..."

It's pretty easy to imagine from here.

[the0lady.livejournal.com]

Oh well, thank you very much society for not being there for all the days, weeks, months and years that I needed your support caring for my children. Your five minutes of heroism are clearly enough for me to curtail my totally rational and elective decision to be angry.

The time to be angry is when you're angry. Also, notice that once "society worked", as you put it, the outcome for the woman is arrest, not free childcare. So, er, yeah. I'd be angry too.

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

Point taken.