My question is rather trivial given that so many IM's bare their soul on this forum, I take my hat off to you all.
I have an unsettled infant and a full on 2 year old. I used to wait till daycare day to fill my car with fuel, or wait till the hubby was with me so he could do it. However the other day I was running on fumes and got an earful from the hubby for not stopping for petrol. There was no way I was going to wake the kids to get them out for the two minutes it took to pay and I know I couldn't stand the criticism and judgement if someone saw me leave them in the car (I think this might actually be illegal, although I am guilty of doing it in the past). What do you guys do?
Kids in Cars - Petrol not Pokies
Kids in Cars - Petrol not Pokies
Posted in:
Parenthood Guilt
7 Replies
Yes technically it is illegal to leave your kids unattended however I it is commonly over looked if your just doing it while topping up petrol. Don't feel bad either way. There Is No Right Or Wrong Answer. It's whatever you feel comfortable with. You can make an argument for either option. I make the effort not to get petrol while kids are in car or if I'm by myself. If I do I usually bring my child with me that's because I'm extreme over paranoid about child abductions or accidently locking her in the car.i certainly don't judge mums for leaving kids in the car. If they are sleeping or your worried about fumes then that's fine
I have 3 kids and take them all in with me. Reasons why - they would be way to stressed about being left alone, they are all sensible at a service station, and my sons would probably unbuckle themselves high jack a bulldozer and knock the place down. Either way you can argue why you do what you do but at the end of it all you do what's best. If you are going to be running after a toddler with a baby in arms while cars are pulling in and out keep them in, if they are asleep fine again, there are pleantly more reasons to get them out or keep them in its just what is best for you.
I try and find a petrol station with pay at the pump. No unloading of children required.
I pay at the pump
Oh this may be a firestorm on facebook unfortunately :/
Look I do it , I only have a twenty month old , but sometimes it can take me 5 minutes to get her in her seat, she bends twists and planks better than Olympic gymnasts. It's just not worth it most servos you can keep your car in view and I just watch the car the whole time as well as locking the car it's whatever you feel comfortable with I think
I go to one particular petrol station in my town that is exactly 10 steps away from pump to pay (yes I have counted) so I leave my 3 kids in the car! It's illegal to be a certain distance away and in my case only being a couple of meters away isn't illegal. I figure your car can be stolen while you're fueling up, it can blow up while you are fueling up so none of those arguments really made sense to me!
Yes it would be the people out there that haven't ever had children to judge a mother for leaving her kids in the car for literally 1 minute to pay for fuel, I'm a mother of 3 and it is bloody hard work taking all kids in and especially when 1 or 2 may be asleep as well! the stress on you and the stress on the screaming kids cause you have woken them up or they just don't want to get back in there chairs already is unnecessary in my view for 1minute of ducking in yourself peacefully! I definitely don't agree with leaving your child in the car upset and fretting by themselves but if they are sleeping of watching a DVD and occupied why not? I usually find a servo that allows me to park my car right beside the door to pay