So much for maternal Instinct

[jeny]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/1965759/detail.html

Woman Accused Of Keeping Toddler In Closet
Maintenance Worker Finds 18-Month-Old In Dark Closet

POSTED: 3:58 p.m. EST February 8, 2003

St. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A woman in Florida is accused of repeatedly leaving her 18-month-old son in a dark closet while she worked.

Police say she left the boy there, without food or human contact.

They say a maintenance worker finally discovered the boy this week after hearing him crying.

Police have charged Natasha Woollams with aggravated child abuse and child neglect.

Investigators say she's not showing any remorse. They say she told them she often put her child in the closet while she was gone so that he wouldn't hurt himself.

Authorities say the boy has developmental problems. He's now in medical foster care.

A police detective says Woollams appeared to be more concerned with "going to work and buying nice things" than she was with caring for her baby.

I find it very disturbing that anyone could treat a child like this, least of all their own child. I wonder where her maternal instinct went? I wonder how she could be so nonchalant about her child.

[wendy]

I find it very disturbing that anyone could treat a child like this, least of all their own child. I wonder where her maternal instinct went? I wonder how she could be so nonchalant about her child.


We had a case here a couple of years ago where a mother left her young daughter (with developmental problems) in the car strapped into her car seat in the dead of summer on the top deck of a parking garage and went into work. Someone just happened to walk by the car (with heavily tinted windows and no doubt...shiny wheels) and noticed the kid inside. Of course by that time, she was pretty much cooked. >:( The mom was crying and blubbering at her court appearance about not having "any other choice". Let's see....can't find a sitter? Option one: Call in and tell your employer you can't come in. Option two: Leave your daugher locked up in the car in Atlanta in July. It really doesn't take a genius to figure out the correct course of action. ::)

[jeny]

Those car stories always make me so sad. Becasue the death is incredibly slow and painful for the baby... It just takes my breath away.

Some people have their priorities really screwed up.. But the thing is, we're sort of hardwired to protect our offspring, especially woman, and somehow it's all misfired in some people, I just don't get that. I would boil myself to protect my baby, let alone intentionally cause her harm, and I am utterly confused when I hear these stories.

Because some people don't have kids out of any kind of desire to actually be a responsible mother. They have kids as a status symbol. If that's why you want kids get a damn dog or cat.

[jeny]

Because some people don't have kids out of any kind of desire to actually be a responsible mother. They have kids as a status symbol. If that's why you want kids get a damn dog or cat.


True...

[arod]

I find it very disturbing that anyone could treat a child like this, least of all their own child. I wonder where her maternal instinct went? I wonder how she could be so nonchalant about her child.

You are a rarer bird than you think, jeny. Scary, but true, unfortunately.

[jeny]

I find it very disturbing that anyone could treat a child like this, least of all their own child. I wonder where her maternal instinct went? I wonder how she could be so nonchalant about her child.

You are a rarer bird than you think, jeny. Scary, but true, unfortunately.


I don't think so, I know so many mommys and it's more common to fear leaving your baby with any sitter than it is to lock your babies in the closet.

[arod]

I don't think so, I know so many mommys and it's more common to fear leaving your baby with any sitter than it is to lock your babies in the closet.

I know, but you naturally gravitate towards people who have the same qualities that you do. Somebody got Clinton into office for 8 years, and by and large, it wasn't people like you. Many that's only 25% of the population, but to me, that's a scary number of people who are dead from the neck up - and I'm not talking IQ here.

[jeny]

That's a really depressing thought...

SOmething I thought of last night, about what Lizie said about people not wantitng to have children... Well, I guess that's ok in theory... But not aalways true. There's a mom in my Gymboree class, she's 19, and she got pregnant by accident (I don't know why she felt the need to open up so much) but anyway, she absolutely adores her baby. I think it's more of some kind of disconnect because the maternal instinct is very strong, overpowering, and I can't fathom this kind of behavior.

[arod]

That's a really depressing thought...

SOmething I thought of last night, about what Lizie said about people not wantitng to have children... Well, I guess that's ok in theory... But not aalways true. There's a mom in my Gymboree class, she's 19, and she got pregnant by accident (I don't know why she felt the need to open up so much) but anyway, she absolutely adores her baby. I think it's more of some kind of disconnect because the maternal instinct is very strong, overpowering, and I can't fathom this kind of behavior.

If the mom hates the dad for good reason or otherwise, it's not such a giant leap to project that hate onto his child, is it? Horribly unjust, to be sure, but understandable nonetheless.