Mom Seeks Advice After Her Neighbor's Child Continues Showing Up At Her Doorstep Before School Every Morning To Be Dropped Off
She does not know where the child lives nor does she have his parents' contact information.
Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock / Mumsnet A mother has found herself in a perplexing situation after her daughter’s classmate continues arriving at her doorstep before school each morning expecting her to bring him to school.
The mother claims that she has never interacted with the child’s parents and that they have never asked her if she could drop off their son at school. Now, she is asking others how she should approach the unusual predicament.
Each morning before the woman drops her daughter off at school, her neighbor’s child arrives at her doorstep so she can bring him to school.
Sharing her story to the U.K.-based parenting forum, Mumsnet, the mother revealed that one of her neighbors has a child who is in the same class as her daughter. Every morning for the past week, the child has been showing up at her doorstep so that she could take him to school.
The woman claims that the child always turns up “unaccompanied” by a parent or guardian and that it makes her morning routine of getting her own children ready for school even more stressful.
“This would be fine but my child has ADHD and mornings are chaotic and difficult,” she wrote.
The woman has never met the child's parents, nor have they attempted to contact her.
The woman does not have the child’s parents’ phone numbers and has no way of contacting them, nor does she know where they live.
One morning, she wound up spotting one of the child’s parents as she was getting the children ready for school. “I just saw the parent in their car driving away as I was trying to bundle all three children across the car park,” she wrote.
Photo: LeManna / Shutterstock
The woman is unsure how to approach the boy’s parents or if they are even aware of their son’s whereabouts before school in the mornings.
“This child is very young and so I don't feel comfortable sending them home alone and clearly the parent isn't waiting for them to get home before leaving themselves!” she admitted. “I don't have any contact with these parents so if something were to happen I wouldn't be able to let them know.”
She adds that she and her family will be out of town soon and she will be unable to take the child to school and asked other forum users if it was reasonable to assume the boy’s parents as “cheeky” for failing to contact her and simply just assuming that she would bring their son to school just because their children were in the same class.
Many other users agreed with the woman’s concerns and encouraged her to report the situation to the school.
“You absolutely have to tell the school. If the child shows up at your door again, you should be straight on the phone to social services. Poor child,” one user commented.
“Tell the school what is happening. Ask to speak to the Safeguarding lead. At least they can contact the parent and tell them you are not doing the school run for them again, and at best this could be a flag for greater concerns that they can act on,” another user suggested.
“If the child is still dumped on your doorstep then you deliver the poor thing to the Safeguarding lead and write an email ( paper proof) asking that they contact Social Services.”
Other users believed that the woman should ask the child for their parent's contact information and clear it with them that they knew where he was. “You can also tell the child themselves that you need to speak to their parent and give them a note with your phone number,” one user recommended.
Many people were concerned about the safety and well-being of the child since he appeared to have no one looking after him at home, which would explain why he continued to show up at his neighbor’s doorstep each morning. Although it was not the woman’s responsibility to drop him off at school, other users praised her for taking care of him even if his parents were not.
It is essential that if you suspect that a child is being neglected at home to contact Child Protective Services or your local police to ensure that they receive necessary care.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.