It's easy to forget stuff. You can't remember where you put your car keys. You forget your friend's birthday. Fair enough. But forgetting the baby? That's a special kind of absent mindedness.
Last week a woman in Chicago left her 10-month-old baby on a train. By accident. Whoops.
She phoned up the police. Now that must have taken bravery. Imagine steeling yourself for that conversation.
Police lieutenant Ed Fitzgerald told the Chicago Sun-Times: "She apparently got off the train and then realized she had forgotten her baby.
"She called North Chicago police and they contacted us. We met the train and recovered the baby, who was unhurt."
Now you might think this is an uncommon event. But I bet if you talk to mums you'll find they confess to forgetting about their baby at least once.
My mother once left me at the library. She had my two older brothers with her and claims she just forgot she had a baby too. Fortunately she did remember and go back...
A friend of hers once left his baby in the bath to answer the phone and then got absorbed in the conversation and completely forgot about him, before returning in a panic to find that luckily he hadn't drowned.
The lack of sleep for parents of new babies must be a factor. When you're so tired you can barely remember your own name, it's not easy to remember even the most crucial of details. Like your child.
Often it's just luck that prevents something worse than a red face.
I thought stories about parents putting their child in the car seat on top of the car and driving away were just urban myths, but a quick search of the internet shows it has actually happened. Here's report of the incident, which miraculously left the baby unhurt.
Have you ever forgotten your baby -- and will you admit to it?
For more examples of shocking parenting, click here.
Source: The Chicago Sun-Times