I can understand the mother and I would have done the same thing !! Maybe a 3 mile long walk would have calm these spoil brats, down.

I don't know how people can deal with fighting kids who do not listen ! Dicipline is needed in this country !

I disagree - it's about time that someone disciplined their children. Do you honestly think they're going to continue to argue when their mother asks them to stop next time? No, because they've BEEN TAUGHT a lesson. Everyone is too worried about "emotional damage" to actually teach their children how they should behave. Good for her. Shame on MSNBC for having nothing else to report other than a story about a parent disciplining their children.

I disagree - it's about time that someone disciplined their children. Do you honestly think they're going to continue to argue when their mother asks them to stop next time? No, because they've BEEN TAUGHT a lesson. Everyone is too worried about "emotional damage" to actually teach their children how they should behave. Good for her. Shame on MSNBC for having nothing else to report other than a story about a parent disciplining their children.

Emily-1044228

I dare you to do it! You don't have the balls.

Rev G-812396

I don't understand your comment - it's okay to give children a "good ass kickin" but to drop them off 3 miles from their house, so that they have to walk home, is not a good idea? The way I see it is the children aren't hit (which leaves more permanent damage than dropping them off a ways from their house to walk home).

Part of my problem with your comments (I've looked at a few more of your discussion comments to other topics) is the fact that you do not seem to offer any valid argument other than dropping expletives, calling people names and vulgar statements such as the one above.

A 12you and a 10yo. They should be perfectly capable to walk 3 miles. Just strolling home would have taken them less than an hour. I'm sure they knew how to get home. Sounds like one sister just left the other to pout. Kids are coddled too much and need some life lessons taught to them. Now, every time their mother makes a threat they know she wont do it because she will be arrested.

Though, just to be safe I would have circled the block and watched them from a distance.

TraceyG

This is the difference between a good parent and a bad parent.

What if someone came by and took your child and you could not stop it from happening. A good parent does not take that chance. How would you be able to live with that?

Children are taken from your own frontyard.

Maybe a long time ago that would work but, just reading some of these headline stories like that poor 8 year old girl just kills me.

Its not worth it. There are plenty of ways to discipline your child. PLENTY

This is a great example of a parent not smart enough to know how to discipline a child. They definitely needed discipline but this was the wrong way to go about it, no doubt about that. What a moron.

Give her a break...she snapped and kicked the little snots out of the car. It's totally understandable. This notion that they could have been abducted is ridiculous. Stranger abductions don't happen that often and these 2 weren't kicked out of the vehicle in a bad neighborhood. My brother and I were kicked out of the car a few miles from our house once for fighting. Did we stand on the side of the road and cry? NO, we walked home. Did we do it again? NO, we learned our lesson.

Joellen, it sounds like you have great common sense. I see nothing wrong with letting two kids this age find their way home after refusing to do their mother's bidding. Driving is difficult enough without the distraction of two kids fighting while you attempt to navigate the busy streets in safety.

The precious little snowflakes were at very little serious risk, as you pointed out, and could have easily found their way home, I'm sure.

There's a piece of the story missing for me: WHAT TIME in the "evening" was it? The story doesn't say "afternoon", it says "Sunday evening" which I feel may be too late for two pre-teens to walk three miles.

I have to girls who used to argue in the car, too, when they were young. Many times I wanted to get out of the car and walk home my damn self! Mom may have 'had it up to here' with them but with all the crazy people out there it may not have been the best way to deal with it. I understand the frustration, though.

Our parents did that to us once to....we were arguing 10,12,14 and my mother stopped the car about a mile from our house and said since you cannot behave walk home and go to your rooms because if your not there when I get home, you will be in even bigger trouble....we were scared out of our pants....and did exactly what she told us to do. Never did that again.

Funny when my ex-husband did this to my then 7 year old in a busy restuarant parking lot the GAL(childs lawyer), ex's lawyer, and family court judge involved all thought it was a perfectly acceptable way to deal with my son's "whining" response to a question from his father. For him to say to a crying and shocked 7 year old boy to get out of the car and pull away for a few minutes, and then back up and let him back in if he promised not to whine anymore. I guess things are different in the great state of Maine.

JD,

but with all the crazy people out there

I understand what you're saying, and I know we hear and read about this on the news every night, but when you consider that we have 300 million citizens, the crazies are few and far between, in reality.

Were you there, in the car? Do you know the circumstances?

I'm always amazed by how easy it is for people to know, with absolutely no doubts, all the facts based on one news report. It's especially amazing when, most of the time, they've barely read more than the headline.

I sure which I had psychic abilities like that.

bravo Mom, it is about time parents take back the home and car. Personally I would of not drove all the way home and left them alone but making them walk is great. If they want to fight and giving mom a headache fine do it outside the car. Just drive around the block and follow them all the way home. Then straight up to their room for the night. Piece n Quiet for mom, she could just sit back in the car and listen to classical music and watch them little brats walk home. I have made this threat to my boys even stopped the car and made them get out and drove down the block and made them walk to me. Amazing what a walk will do and that was when they were smaller but teenager girls 3 miles GREAT EXERCISES!!

I have three children so I know how kids can test you sometimes. I have had my daughters 9 and 11 fight in my car and have threatened to let them out but I never actually have. Three miles during the daytime is not a big deal, as long as it is not in the dark. Having them walk maybe would have calmed them down. My kids sometimes walk home from school which is 2 miles so it is not big deal. It is not like she kicked them out on a highway 20 miles from home. Nowadays you are told what you can and cannot do with your own children. I do not see how this was a crime, it was 3 miles!

well i do understand peoples flustrations with kids but making two young kids walk home 3 miles that is not exceptible maybe if she had followed but thats a big maybe i hope she gets tosed in jail where she belongs their is better way to punish kids yes a good spanking would be a good start.

My mom did that to my sister and myself...it was pretty shocking and upsetting watching that car drive away! We were 12 and 10, and I cried when she didn't come back, and cried as soon as that long walk was over. But I'll tell you what, whenever she said quiet down after that we LISTENED and obeyed! Did it hurt or scar me? Absolutely not. I learned a valuable lesson about obedience and respect from it. I'd like to think it was one of those things that gave me good character later in life.

I'm with those who support what this mother did. 10 and 12 are not that young. They were 3 miles from home and more likely in an area they knew well. Boo hoo they got what they probably deserved.

Parents need to take back control. We were disciplined as kids - even spanked! *gasp!* - We survived and thrived. What I'd like to know is why parents today cannot seem to get their act together!

I say good for the Mom! Now maybe when she asks for some quiet the brats will shut up and leave her alone. Moms have alot on their plates. The kids are probably brats-spoiled like most kids these days-who if disciplined properly would have been quiet the first time. GO MOM!!!!!!

My mom did it to me and my little brother. I was 10 and he was 9. She drove up just past the rail road tracks. (maybe 300 feet). We couldn't see. My brother cried for a second. I said be quite were two blocks from home. Turns out he was just mad cause he had to walk. Anyway, we walked up a few feet. and saw her parked on the side of the road. Lesson learned. We didn't act like monkeys in the car anymore because we knew she was serious. NO Trauma or anything. We are just fine. (Well my brothers always been weird LOL).

I don't think the mother should have went home. But giving the kids the boot and making them walk a little. Won't hurt them a bit.

If you've ever had two kids that start to fight the minute the car doors close, you'd understand that it is nerve racking not to mention dangerous to have to keep pulling your attention off the road to try to make them behave. Isn't it a crime to cause an accident too? Is it abuse to paddle kids too? Just how, these days, is it legal to do any type of behavior control with these stupid laws.

I stopped the car in a rainstorm along the side of the road and told both to shut, sit still, and behave or they could walk the 5 miles home. Rude awakening for both of them because I was not joking and they were a hair's breath from walking. I know exactly what she was feeling. Heck, she can plead temporary insanity because they can sure drive you nuts in no time with this type of thing.

Almost as irritating as one or the other being totally silent until someone calls you on the phone and then it's 50 questions or they start getting into stuff.

I sympathize with the mother. You can have two of the best behaved kids in the world but they become little hellions in a car.

We had a friend who had a kid who constantly missed the bus and she had to drive them to school and be late for work. Well, she got tired of that too and made him walk to school while she drove behind him all the way. He was never late again!

There are appropriate ways to discipline your children, and then there's this. Driving away from your kids does not discipline them. It teaches them that their parents can and will abandon them. A parent has the responsibility to be a model of good behaviour for their children, and this woman failed in that respect spectacularly.

I don't think she should be charged with child endangerment, but as a mother, I wouldn't be trusting my kids to go over to play at her house under her supervision. In fact, I wouldn't trust her with a ball of string after reading about this incident.

Kids are coddled way too much these days. Serves those kids right. I am just sorry the poor mom got arrested.

3 miles?! Come on!! The exercise did them good and if the ten year old sat there pouting while her older sister walked home, that is her own fault. I am a mother of two girs and believe me I've been tempted. However, I think I would have pulled the car over, turned off the engine, taken the keys, got out, and enjoyed the quiet walk myself leaving the children in the car to continue their arguing.

Some individuals posting thoughts commenting on 'spanking'. Now a days you think that won't get you in trouble? There is a huge lack of discipline in today's society and it is sad. Back in the day, this type of discipline would even be blinked at and believe me lessons were learned. Sadly, this will turn into another situation where the children now know they can get away with just about anything.

Finally, it doesn't matter the profession of this woman. Lawyer or not - she doesn't need to be referred to as a hag. I am not a laywer myself, but I can honestly and factually say not ALL lawyers are scum bags.

She looks like a crackhead. I was surprised to find out that she was an attorney partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and also that she lived in a $2 million dollar house.

Oh brother, three miles isn't that far. We mollycoddle children and they never grow up. Then when they get upset, instead of learning to handle it, they shoot up a school. I don't think the emotional damage is done by letting them walk home. The emotional damage is done when they are never held accountable for their actions.

Let me get this straight....my mother could have been arrested for doing the same thing to my brother and me 35 years ago?! It became so common for us to be put out on the street a few miles from home that we actually started looking forward to it. Eventually, we started jogging home and later won ribbons in school for running. I still run but my brother has since passed on. One person's arrest is another's fond memory. Maybe foster care will take care of the sibling discord.

The sociologists, psychiatrists, psychologists in conjunction with the nutso handwringing apologists have succeeded in OVERCIVILIZING us to the point where nothing deserves punishment; and any attempt to exercise one's authority with their children risks tangling with the law. A swat on the child's behind in public may get you reported by some sanctimonious busybody. "Reported"--sounds like a dictatorship. The idiot legislators cave in to any pressure group, especially the safety and welfare freaks, and create a myriad of nonsensical feel-good laws. We have moved so far from a country of common sense to one of political correctness and nanny state dictums re our personal lives that it is nauseating!

Good for the mom. It's about time someone actually made an effort to parent their children. And I am willing to bet they will never disobey their mother while in the car (at least) AGAIN.

This Country is turning their children into a bunch of worthless and whining brats. (Which will then grow up to be useless adults breeding more uselessness.)

ok we can sit and point the finger all day long and say that she is wrong and its karma and you hope she gets what she deserves because she is a lawyer. but really lets think about this they are 3 miles away from they could have walked home im sure they knew the area very well and she probably was going to make the block just to scare them. why did the 10 year old walk away from her sister and how did she get lost if they were together in the first place. one question you have to ask is when they got dropped off did she continue to argue with her sister and walk off. and then get lost. as an adult you have to learn how to allow your children to know that you are the adult and there will be no bickering and it seems that they are very disrespectful to the mother to continue to argue after she told them repeatedly to stop. they may need to be on supper nanny because to take them away from their mother will only make it worse i mean nobody wants to raise spoil brats and as far as thinking that it is going to affect them in the long run i dont think that her dropping them off will have a psycological effect on them they will remember that their mother is not playing with them and they need to be a little more respectful the only problem they will have in adult hood is realizing that everyone doesnt live in 2million dollar homes and the world on a silver platter that you do have to work hard to get what you want.

P.S. its time for parents to start raising their children and fire the nanny's because i am quite sure that she has a nanny and to spend a full day with your children they dont respect nor pay attention to you because to tell them to stop arguing constantly and they dont listen to you. then thats a problem. maybe its time to call SUPPER NANNY

THREE MILES?!? These girls were three miles from home and this makes headlines? Guess kids in double-digits aren't allowed to walk any further than the front door to the Mercedes anymore, eh?

This is just laughable. The media needs to be shot for making this a story and the kids need a good ass-kicking for not behaving in the car. It would be a story if the mother were in another state and forced them out, or if they were in a bad section of town at 11:21 pm. Otherwise, this is a non-issue.

Hey, I'm all for discipline. The kids should be able to walk home and survive for a few hours. If they're unable to know where they are or ask a shop owner for help at that age, this is the time to learn. But letting the kids out for a walk in the business district doesn't seem like much of a punishment. A few swats on the rear should be sufficient for a little humiliation. Though, the mother would probably be jailed for child abuse.

Wait a minute.... is that...... yes it is.... its Gene Wilder!!! Well I'll be a son of a gun!!!!

alkimija - "There are appropriate ways to discipline your children, and then there's this. Driving away from your kids does not discipline them. It teaches them that their parents can and will abandon them. "
What does a "time out" teach children? All problems in life can be solved by a larger person picking up a smaller person and forcing them to stay in the same place for a few minutes with the amount of time increasing with the age or size of the disciplinee . If one forceful displacement doesn't provide the expected result, repeat until the disciplinee is physically fatigued from battling the displacement.
From another perspective, the lawyer mom's method teaches the children that comfort will be removed from their lives if they are unable to socialize with each other properly or if they are interfering with the driver.

Kate in Greensboro,

Were you there, in the car? Do you know the circumstances?

Not sure you were responding to my statement directly above yours, but if you were, I would have to say no, I wasn't there. Based on the information provided in the article though, you could also find a map of the area and take a look at where the incident occurred: in the 'burbs of rich town, right by the mall in Scarsdale/White Plains. Not exactly scary territory.

I suppose we could all live our lives in fear of a weirdo hurting those we love, if we chose to. Personally, I don't want to live that way. I think it's pretty far-fetched, based on statistics and logic.

With all of the violence toward children in the news. I don't really care about this...it's not like she killed her kids. Good for her for not doing a mass suicide or locking the kids in the car and driving them in a lake.

A time out normally happens in the child's home where the child doesn't have any apprehension that they're going to be left alone in a place with which they're unfamiliar. A supervised time out is appropriate discipline.

But dumping her children by the roadside, and driving off - then later actually having the nerve to call the police when she realised her ten year-old was unlocatable - well, that's poor parenting to the extreme.

There is nothing wrong with this woman....not an idiot. I would say YAY! Maybe these girls will learn some lesson from this! My girls get into spats all the time. I have threatened many, many times to leave them on the side of the road....I haven't...yet. Kids these days lead such spoiled lives compared to when I grew up. My parents would not have put up with bickering in the car. I remember my mom stopping a few times and telling us that if we wanted to WALK we could keep it up....we stopped. The point here is....WE KNEW WHEN TO STOP!!! And....as for that STUPID psychiatrist who says she needs help....I think its the kids who need the help!!! Time outs don't work....get over yourselves!!!!!

I think this Woman didn't really do anything that wrong. She was only 3 miles from home. If your kids are smart they know their way home. When I was 10 years old my friends and I traveled twice that distance everyday, And if mom dropped us off somewhere we knew how to get home. Those kids must be really stupid. The media and the police dept must not have alot to do these day's. What a waste of taxpayer's money.

I so agree with what this lady has done, its not like they were toddlers, I would have done the same thing, and that is whats wrong with this country...no discipline and kids who think they are entitled to all.

The police getting involved in this is frightening, and an unacceptable intrusion into this family. IT is not a crime to make a 10 and 12 year old walk home. This is disgraceful.

We used to have a stationwagon (Vista Cruiser) with 8 kids in the back and the parents in the front.

My father used to say: "I can still reach you from here"!

We would snicker a little as if to say: "Sure you can pops lol", but just in case........we'd shut up anyway! (At least for a few minutes) You know why we'd shut up?

Because we had the luxury of picking our own switch when we got home if we didn't!!!

Kids these days, for the most part, are pussified, whining, spoiled rotten terrors!

Now I am sure that what I am about to say will strick some chordes in the wrong way with people, but you know what, I don't care. First of all, who is anyone here to judge what this woman did? You were not there, they are not your kids, it is not your problem. Second, since you all think it is proper to critique this situation, keep one thing in mind, if you have no kids, you should keep your opion to yourself because you have no idea what it is to raise kids, let alone two girls.

What is it with parents and the doctors who think they know our children better than we do, that a little harsh reality will emotionally hurt the child? BS. It's about respect and responsibility for your own actions. A 3 mile walk home would not have hurt the kids in any way shape or form. If anything, they should have learned something, like mom means business when she tells you to knock it off and when you don't do as your told, you suffer the consequences. What a concept, there is a consequence for the child who does not do as he/she is told. Boo hoo. Please. Get over the fact the girls had been dropped off. The shock that mom did that to them should have been enough to get their attention and make them think about their actions.

I can say yes, I would have done the same thing, however; with one exception. I would have drove around the corner where they could not see me, park my car and watch them to see what they did. My kids know I do not play. If they threw a hissy fit in the store, I did not leave, I went to the next isle and told them when they were done, I'd be in what ever isle I'd be in. Funny when the parent is out of sight the child stops having the hissy fit because they realize they did not get thier way. It is unfortunate that we live in a society where too many parents spoon feed their kids rather than teach them lessons that will no doubt serve them well later in life. I say this last comment because when my daughter was 3 we were at the grocery store and she had her fit, the usual screaming, crying, yada yada and when I went through the checkout, the cashier handed my daughter a lollypop. Now I found that to be crass and disrespectful to me. Maybe she thought she was helping, but do you think maybe that cashier should have asked me first if I shove candy down my daughters throat to shut her up or appease her or give her what she wants just so she will stop her hissy fit? I, in no uncertain terms, told the cashier she should learn to ask to do something like that because this is not the first kid to come through here screaming and she certainly won't be the last.

If we continue to give into our children and let them get or give them what ever they want to make them happy or make them not be mad at us, then as parents we are useless and are not teaching the core values, respect, responsibility and a way to get over the need for instant gratification. We are parents first and foremost, not their friends.

The fact that she is a lawyer really has nothing to do with it because she is being treated just as any lay person would be. The same steps are being followed by the state in what they think is protecting the kids. Personally there are times when the state should just back off and let the parents be parents because WE do know what is best for our kids and WE know our kids better than any state agency or doctor could.

I agree, especially when I read this piece in the article - "The girl gave police her mother's name and their address in well-to-do Scarsdale, and they asked Scarsdale police to check Primoff's $2 million house. Shortly afterward, Primoff called Scarsdale police from home to say the 10-year-old was missing, said Scarsdale Detective Lt. Bryant Clark." - IT FIGURES THAT SHE GOT OFF!!!!

If she can't discipline her own kids, then she doesn't need to have them - Try Nanny 911 you idiot!!!
There has been mothers locked up in jail right now who has left their kids in cars for a minute while they ran in the store, in the house for a few minutes, forgot to pick a kid up from practice, etc. SO THIS MORON GET NO FREE RIDE!

And for you who agree with her - I can bet you wouldn't say that if the kids were hit by cars, or if some sexual predator picked them up and asaulted them! Anything could have happened to these girls, anything!! Some of you say kids today are out of control, but these modern "technology-passioned" parents today need to spend time with their kids! Funny thing, she is a LAWYER, doesn't her job require her to "argue" her points back-and-forth?? And you tell me, she can't take her kids arguing?? WOW, MONEY TALKS FOR THESE PEOPLE!

AMEN Clint!!

I am glad she kicked them out of the car. At least she didn't beat them. Maybe they will end up in a lovely foster home that I am sure will be not what they are used to. If she gets them back she wont be able to discipline them because they will threaten to call the cops!

OK, for everyone who feels the "cheel-dren" have been traumatized - get together and donate one-fifth of your incomes to a Bail and Defense Fund each and every year for the rest of your lives. Then, when these poor, misunderstood little hellions fulfill their destinies of making the world a miserable place for the rest of us, you can once again be parent-on-the-spot (and I use the term 'parent' loosely) so that the "cheel-dren" once again won't have to be the responsible ones.

As far as I can tell, humans are the only species that actively refuse to teach their progeny the lessons needed to survive!

" It would be a story if the mother were in another state and forced them out, or if they were in a bad section of town at 11:21 pm."

Why, youhavegottobekidding? Isn't it mollycoddling to worry about those things??

I'll bet the 10 year old is a P-I-T-A. I had a sister like that but my father would have beat me to death if I left her somewhere.

Yup, Mum drops them off, 12 year old is ticked at whiney 10 year old and loses her on the way home.

Whiney 10 year old fixes both of them by finding someone to help instead of making her way home.

Lots of stuff going on here. Miserable household.

Too bad for all involved. I say leave the 10 year old home from now on. I'm not speaking as an adult or the mother of a grown child but as a child whose life was miserable because of a younger sister.

Arrrrrrgh!

As much as the brats needed to be punished and as stupid as the mother was just driving off I dont think it was nessaccary for the reporter to include the ladys subdivision/neiborhood or the cost of her home. That information is not needed for this report.

WOW, now I realize why our society is in such a mess! What ever happened to parenting skills? This mother needs some serious parenting skills! If you cannot control your two daughters at ages 10 and 12, you have not practiced good parenting skills for YEARS. I know, a lot of you will disagree, but I can tell you that you CAN raise nice, well-behaved kids who don't give you any trouble. AND you can do it without spanking them! It takes a lot of your time and ATTENTION when they are young, but it pays off. I know because I did it. Others have, too. But in today's world, parents would rather pawn off their kids to day care, babysitters or a host of other places than spend the hours that it takes to raise well adjusted, well behaved kids. Then when the kids get older and don't behave, they resort to stupidity like this woman.

Some of you need to make up your minds, first you say CPS is doing their jobs when parents put their kinds in harms way, then you say hang the kids for being bad!! Well, I can bet you this, if a sexual pedophile so happen to pick them up from the streets, rape and kill them, then who will be the ones in real trouble?!!! Its enough that the state of Florida has so many kidnappings of young girls already!

How many of you have had sibling rivalries when you were young? Probably half of this board, but parents back in the day, spent MORE time with kids, and disciplined them IN the house, not on the ROAD where harm could have happened to them in a split second! And most of you know this!!!

I can bet, if it was ANYONE else, you all would be asking for her head!!!

-

Parenting was and is really easy for me or I was just lucky. I spend quality time because quantity time wasn't an option with working, school, etc. My solution was to stop the car, but I was the one who got out, telling them to figure out how to get along or resolve the issue themselves and waited outside the car until they resolved their differences. It only took a few times in their childhood to go through this and I am happy to say, it taught them to resolve differences post haste!! I was in charge as the parent, the children were not in charge but were always treated fairly. Honestly, the book 123 Magic, was the best teacher of parenting I ever had!

lol writer is wondering what emotional stress this might add to the poor dear...A 3 mile walk !!!! yikes!!!! or was it the stress of seeing first time repercussionsof her obviously spoiled actions. we wonder why crime is going up in this country, when a parent cannot disciplinetheir kid for fear of legal action, but is responsible for any laws that their little darlings commit , then the future looks dim. lets give out more trophies for showing up. lets push more under-educated kids thru school. let's no discipline at all anymore and see what narcissistic ungrateful, lazy humans we can raise.

She is also rich so you should hate her even more!

"their address in well-to-do Scarsdale, and they asked Scarsdale police to check Primoff's $2 million house."

Funny how you never hear about a criminals $50.oo a week Trailer.

This is why msnbc nbc CNN and the rest are failing There propaganda machines who cant report a simple story as this with out inserting class warfare will be glad when the AP bankrupts them. but wait Obama or Bush will bail them out.

Nice safe place to drop your kids.

1697 offenders

238 non-mappable offenders

into search

Post Road

Manhattan, NY

http://www.familywatchdog.us/ShowMap.asp?frm=0

I don't understand how child protective services focuses on punishing so harshly minor offenses while Letting real child abusers like Woody Allen marry the poor kid he and his wife adopted. He's still out there getting richer, the bastartd. Who knows what went on with that poor girl when she was just a kid!!! Where was child protective services to carry out an investigation and provide counseling for that girl.

Maybe this mother just wasn't rich enough to buy her way out. Parents have to be careful with their kids, because of there are plenty of pervs out there. Still, I understand how desperate she must have been to have done that. Many parents don't know how to handle their kids before it gets to this point

Nice 3 mile hike would've done these 2 little ladies some good. That distance would provide plenty of time for them to mull over their ignorance for not listening to mom. I also would have put the hurt on the 12 year old for leaving her little sister behind. My older brother wouldn't have and I wouldn't have done it to my younger brother for that exact reason. There is nothing my brothers and I wouldn't do for each other now.

Did you just say she was a lawyer because she was an idiot? Gee, I wonder why you need to go to law school to be one then. Lawyers are actually quite smart, you know. They may be shifty, but they're smart. Respect them.

I agree with you 1110%!!!!!

To : Rev G

I can totally relate to her. I raised 3 boys and the 2 youngest sometimes dualed in the car. And like so many parents, threatened them. "Don't make me stop this car, cause if I do, you will get out and walk"!! Years later (yeah, my fault) I had enough. They were 13 and 16, lived in South Carolina in the middle of nowhere, 25 miles from home, in the pouring rain, I stopped, made them get out of the car and walk home. No hitchhiking, no cell phones (not then), no accepting offers for a ride. Drove about 5 miles, parked behind some trees, and waited. That was the last time they argued while I was driving. They now have families of their own, and they still don't argue if I am in the car, no matter whose car and who is driving.

I have done the exact same thing dropped my kids off and told them to get out of the car and walk the rest of the way home. People are being to quick to judge; we do not know what kind of neighboorhood it was, was it dark out, did the kids know the way home? My son walks to his bus stop 2 miles everyday. Give people the benefit of the doubt...

I couldn't agree MORE....Stupid, IGNORANT woman. I would never scare the crap out of my child to that degree...it does raise issues of abandonment and that will scar. That lady needs help psychologically.... if she can't or doesn't know how to discipline her children the right way!!!!!! Without emotional abuse! Maybe she should call on the NANNY to embarrass her idiotic butt! Frustrating to know there are such disgusting dumb parents! I'm not the perfect parent but come on.......especially for the 10 year old... I feel horrible for her...and then whats up with her calling the police to say her child was missing...OMG! I am outraged by stupid people! I hope she gets what she deserves!!!

Good for her. Parents should not bargain with children or give ultimatums they don't plan on keeping. Kids know an idle threat when they hear one. I bet this got the girls attention. Maybe she doesn't deserve "mother of the year" but at least she didn't "Susan Smith" them.

Take your Lawyer comment and stuff it!

I think the mom was an idiot to do it for all the reasons many already have mentioned (kids hurt, kids taken, etc.).  I think the kids will only resent her and not really learn a lesson. Problem in this country is you can't discipline your kids anymore. Time out is a joke, counseling even more so. Corporal punishment (done right, not abuse) is about the most effective. And yet parents aren't given all the options to discipline them. I would bet the mom has tried other discipline techniques and nothing worked and she felt not only at wits in but last straw.

teaching children a lesson NEVER involves leaving them on the side of the xxxxxxx road!! the stranger that picked up that crying ten year old could have been anyone, thank god he was not a psycho. how would that scumbag, lawyer mom feel had they found her disiplined daughter dead in a field!!!??? whats next retards . . having a molester babysit ur kids on purpose to teach them a LESSON?

@#1.2 Rev G -812396

Who knows how many times that hag defended and or prosectuted innocent people.

Well, we certainly wouldn't want to defend innocent people, now would we?

Lawyers are scumbags...

Good luck on your own, if you ever happen to need one.

I would have stopped, taken out the paddle from under the car seat and paddled their butts.

of course, I did that in 1972, now I would go to jail for "beating" my kids.

Kids today are spoiled rotten, have no respect for their elders and actually threaten their parents with child abuse. Sheesh!

I understand the mother's frustration. I also don't think she should have left them alone. There are too many child molesters out there and instead of her teaching them a lesson, it may have been her that learned a lesson if one was hurt.

Thank GOD these girls are OK. The mother needs to spend less time at the office and more time learning how to be a mother.

What is the problem here? We're appalled at the number of Columbine copy cat incidents. We are in an epidemic state re: teen pregnancy, gangs, drugs, and drop outs. That's where no discipline has led.

But when you try to discipline, you get arrested. Let me see now...cant spank (physical abuse), cant make them walk (endangerment), cant yell at them (verbal abuse), must give them cell phone (bare necessity these days), can't send them to bed without dinner (malnutrition) etc. etc. etc. So how do you expect kids to learn discipline and respect. I agree with the psychologist who said kids need less self esteem and more self discipline.

Consider the alternatives to this mom's situation:She has a car accident while trying to break up argument;She goes home and screams at them; they fight at school because its allowed at home; they become experts in hostility and join a gang. Is it still okay to gag and handcuff them???

Get a life. These two girls need more, not less, discipline. Thank heaven that some mom is at least trying to teach her girls some reasonable lessons in behavior. All the parents who think this is abuse ought to quit saying what she shouldn't do and provide REAL solutions on what she could have done instead. I'll bet their mealy-mouth ideas do little to teach the girls manners. Perhaps a few months in foster care "to keep them safe" would help.

I'm still raising my last 2 teens out of 5 children. The older 3 are now responsible adults with college educations, jobs, families, no illegitimate children, no drug habits, no criminal records, and plenty of decent moral values. They didn't get there by being allowed to throw tantrums and walk over their mom. There are no promises of guaranteed success for the best of parents, but we now have a government and millions of public butt-in-skis trying to guarantee failure by telling us not to discipline at all. Is all this prissy, self indulgent self esteem garbage working? I DON'T THINK SO!!!

". I also would have put the hurt on the 12 year old for leaving her little sister behind. My older brother wouldn't have and I wouldn't have done it to my younger brother for that exact reason."

Um, if the mother's not wrong for abandoning the kids, neither is the 12 year old.

I've done this. Didn't drive off too far, came back and picked them up. Worked wonders!! All it took was putting them out just that once, they readjusted their attitudes after that!

We still dont have the whole story maybe the mother told the girls to walk home and the one just didnt listen. I don't think she would of made them get on the freeway or in a shady neighbour hood.

AS a mother of a 13year old. She has mine support. If more parents would be parents and not their childrens' friend, maybe we would not have heathens running amock. The issue of they are 10/12 years old children, Your little darlings at that age are into drugs, sex and whatever else they get into. After what she did to those girls, she will not have any problems with their attitudes. For your fyi, being lawyer has nothing to do with being a parent.

Kids today are too spoiled. If my sister and I were arguing, all my parents would have to do was clear their throats and my sister and I would immediately shut up, and my parents never so much as hit either one of us. Kids today just walk all over their parents and disrespect them.

I don't have a problem with anything this mom did. The kids were never in danger. And maybe they should worry that they ticked off their mom too much--their feelings of abandonment might make them realize their mom is a person who deserves respect! The DA who brought up the mom on charges is the idiot in this story.

One problem seems to be that we are all trying to judge without all the information. Would the 3 mile walk have been in a safe area? Was the mother trying to give herself some time out so SHE didn't whack them? Was she driving around the block looking for them, or did she just give up? Just how bad were the girls fighting? Hitting them, as some have suggested, certainly isn't going to teach them to resolve differences peacefully! As parents, we have to consider what discipline method we'll use ahead of time. Kids have to have boundries- and respect for their parents. I have stopped the car, and let my sons walk home the last few blocks. Yes, I watched in the rearview mirror. And 20 years later, these boys are wonderful, well adapted husbands and fathers. The worse situation I can imagine is one in which the government has the ultimate authority over families. Anyone ever read Pearl Buck's "The Silver Butterfly?"

Children are a product of their environment......................Mom (and Dad) should have put their foot(s) down a lot sooner than 10 and 12 years old. Too bad the government has taken away parents inalienable right to discipline their children properly..............................the kids have hot lines to call in case Mom and Dad are getting in their face, but who do Mom and Dad call?

I, personally, (first and foremost having raised 4 kids mine never got spoiled like this..they had to earn what they got out of life...paper routes and jobs and chores and NO attitude....there was always respect, and now they are all teachers and parents and they still love and respect me as I do them) would taken these two brats home and brought their spoiled existence to a halt by throwing out everything but the bed and the desk in their rooms..............no cable, no internet, no ipod, no books but school books, no music, no tv, no computer accept an unconnected notebook for school (or better yet, make them learn to write with pen and paper like we had to...developing calluses is character building)............no friends coming over, no going to friends, no phone...to get these "priviledges" back they would have to earn them....

and if none of this worked then they would either go to juvenile detention or boot camp (their spoiled brat choice, one of the few they would allowed to make) to learn from those better trained in the art of forging young minds and bodies.

Spoiled brats need a wake up call....and so do their parents.

I doubt even now that these two girls have learned anything more than they are calling the shots and the police with take care of Mom and Dad...............................all that money and clout and no brains, what a waste. If the Judge was smart he would bridge the gap for this commonly dysfunctional family and lay down rules for the girls that the parents already should have and then make sure the whole clan got counseling.......................a family boot camp would seem in order.

Classes on "how to a parent..........boundaries, discipline, respect and love".....spoiling a child is a total disservice to the kid...................parents need to be parents so kids can be kids who learn to be good contributing members of society and maybe good parents someday.

Raising your kids with boundaries and teaching them self discipline is not mean............spoiling a child to the point you want to walk away because they are so rude and useless as humans is one of the most irresponsible things a parent can do their child.......being a parent is one of the hardest jobs out there but also one of the most rewarding.

On a cold, blustery, snowy, slushy night, my 9 year old son would not behave properly in our car, on the way home. We were on a very rural road, about five miles from home. He had his winter coat, but only sneakers on his feet.

After a couple of warnings, and with no notice, I swerved to the shoulder, and said, "I'm done. Get out. You're walking."

My wife almost had a stroke, and my son found it within himself to exert some control over his urges. He wound up riding home very quietly, and in the year and a half since, we have not had any significant trouble while in the car.

Would I have made him walk if he hadn't taken me seriously? Absolutely. But I would have followed him about 20 feet back, with flashers on until I thought he would have had enough and learned his lesson. I assume that would have occurred after he walked about 1/4 mile.

Upon our arrival home, my wife said that I shouldn't threaten a punishment I can't follow through on. I agree. I have always believed that parents cannot bluff their kids over the long term. I see parents who are never taken seriously by their children, and those same kids don't demonstrate any level of respect for teachers, people in public, or even themselves. Where, after all, would they learn it if their parents never respect THEM enough to follow through on anything they say?

Lessons? Always make sure you act in such a way that your kids can respect what you say. Follow-through and consistency are the most important hallmarks of good parenting, next to love and a desire to see your kids grow to be decent, useful and productive adults.

Emily-1044228 ........ I agree with you there.

MY daughters are close in age like in the story. When they started bickering in the car we pulled over and the ADULTS got out. We would not get back in the car until they were quiet. They were of course seatbelted in. I would never drop them off and then drive off! Especially in NYC!

i totally agree that these brats needed some disclipine but i feel she went about it the wrong way, my one and only concern is their safety, could they have been abducted, or hit by a car etc?

100 bucks says her daughters will never act up in the car again.

This is crazy that we are making a story out of this. If this had happened when I was 10 or 12 nothing would have been done. You know why? Because people let parents be parents. Noses stayed out of other people's business. These girls were not harmed except maybe hurt feelings. I would love to say they won't act up again, but because the mother is being persecuted in public for her actions the girls won't learn a thing except that if they act up and are disciplined they just have to cry fowl and mom will get blamed. Yay! More entitled children growing up into entitled adults. I applaud this mother for attempting to raise children who realize they are responsible for their actions.

I disagree that they won't do it again, they seem spoiled, and as for all the publicity, they'll do it again for the attention.

I don't understand how child protective services focuses on punishing so harshly minor offenses while Letting real child abusers like Woody Allen marry the poor kid he and his wife adopted. He's still out there getting richer, the bastartd. Who knows what went on with that poor girl when she was just a kid!!! Where was child protective services to carry out an investigation and provide counseling for that girl. Maybe this mother just wasn't rich enough to buy her way out.

I agree. They will do it again but I'd lay a "C" note down that if mom pulls over they'll quit. At least til they get to their $2,000,000.00 home.

The youngest one, in particular, now knows that if she receives any threat from their mother (parents) she can now threat back with going to the police. Very bad...

IMHO, police should have never arrested the mom. They have probably ruined future attempts at disciplining her daughters.

I agree. Parents these days are almost scared to punish their children. If they spank their child, it's beating them. If they put them in time out or try another creative punishment, it's psychological abuse. I thought I would be the only one to come on here and say I agree with what that woman did. I'm glad to see other agree as well. I have a 6 year old, a 4 year old, and a 19 month old. Often times I will say, "If you don't stop fighting, I'm going to leave you on the side of the road!!" Of course, they are too young for me to even think about doing that. But a 12 and 10 year old, only three miles from home, should be able to take a hint and just go home.

These girls knew they could get their mother in trouble by notifying police, and did so to get revenge on her!

Wow. You have got to be kidding.... Coal in your stocking as you were growing up? I can understand at 40 as a jpke, but as a kid???? Yes. it is weird the imprint parents make on kids with a previous very bad decision on the parents part, even if it is a flash decision. These bad decisions can stay and impact a child for the rest of their lives. Everyone needs to stop and think before they move. That being said I don't think the mother meant any harm at all. It does not mean harm was inflicted.

Both of my children got rocks for Christmas. Of course, their presents were hidden and brought out after we sat with them and explained consequences, but today at 17 and 21 they still remember it and both agree they are the better for it.

My 21 year old still talks about the time I made her rake the leaves when she got in trouble at school for talking (she was 6 years old). Never happened again.

We have joked about it for years and still do. It gave them a sense of responsibility as well as a sense of humor.

Sometimes you have to actually DO things to get kids to understand consequences. Today kids do not understand what that is because no one wants them to lose a game or fail a grade. We want to protect them from life and the consequences of their choices. If we don't teach them early, they may never learn or learn too late.

Hell. When I was five, I threatened to run away from home. I don't know why, now, but I sure must have been angry. My mother helped me pack my suitcase- I took my bikini, strap on roller skates, a shirt, and my beloved, ragged bear. The only problem for me was that I was not allowed to cross the street. So, I left home with my suitcase, and walked ALL the way around the block (it was quite a large area and was split in the middle by RR tracks). Eventually, I came home and sat on the stoop, dejected. I thought I'd make it to Florida to join the circus. Had my mother not let me go, I'm sure I would have tried something else. Mom had the neighbors looking out for me (Oh, there she is, hitch-hiking to Sarasota!). That was 35 years ago, when a Mother COULD discipline her child as she saw fit and had no worry about pedophiles or nutcases. And everyone wonders why this generation of kids are spoiled degenerates. Wake up! It's because we're afraid of disciplining our children. If the Police had found me, they would have known where I lived because we were a part of the community and the cops both walked and drove their own beat. The shopkeepers knew me too. I could not have gone anywhere that I would have been unsafe. And, as that same 5 year old, I played all over our neighborhood with my peers and only occasionally checked in (usually for food, or water, or to bandage something). ALL the parents and adults on the block did the same things, and all the adults in the community looked out for us. If this mother had done the same thing then, everyone would have said "Great job! That'll teach those brats to behave in the car!" and when they got home, they'd have been spanked, sent to bed without dinner, and probably grown up in to reasonable adults who don't need iPods and video games to entertain their children. We've empowered our children to the point that we can not discipline them and neither can teachers. And I do NOT mean by physically punishing them. I got my butt spanked aplenty and it didn't scar me. My husband grew up on a farm and got a strap. It didn't kill him or scar him. KNow what did? Seeing his parents die from smoking related illnesses. THAT hurt. We've also become a nation of "All for ME!" and we don't give a crap about anyone but ourselves. THAT is why what this mother did is wrong. Having a minivan and an iPod doesn't make you a good parent, it makes you a lazy one that kow-tows to your kids instead of actually teaching them to behave. And in this case I don't think dropping those kids off makes her a bad mother either. I don't think it's unreasonable for her to think her kids could walk home at their ages and she should not have to even BE concerned that the kids would be harmed by a stranger. If anything, the 12 year old should be grounded for leaving her younger sister. Mom will get slapped on the wrist for this and it will just teach her kids that if Mom does something you don't like, she gets punished.

Those kids needed a lesson in discipline and apparently this was what their mother felt was appropriate at the time. Her choice of where to leave them was not the best or the safest, though. These people live in a 2 million dollar house. The kids are probably spoiled little brats that have never been disciplined in their lives prior to this.

I don't think the mother should have been arrested. Since the 12 year old "caught up with her", chances are she was just circling the block. The 10 year old most likely wandered off and she was then unable to find her, so she returned home and called the police at that point. The cops in this nation are so busy with this petty bs that they can't take the time to find the real criminals and do their jobs properly. Instead of punishing a mother for attempting to teach her children a lesson, they want to toss her in jail. Instead, they should be out there dealing with the real criminals.

As for the lady dropped at a gas station as a 5 year old... get over it. It sounds like you are way too self absorbed and easily scarred. Some people are way too sensitive and need to stop making such a big production over every little thing in life.

s-621550

You must have been dropped on your head when you where a kid . comon leaving a 5 year old??? who wouldn't be scared!!!

S-621550, things that wouldn't scare an adult scare the heck out of little kids and can leave scars that don't ever heal. A small child's entire world revolves around their parents and the security their parents provide them. Instead of telling others to be more insensitive, you could do well with developing a sense of empathy for others.

S-621550, I hope you don't have kids.

Grow up get over it already. The kids today have no respect for the parents or anyone else. We have no idea what the girl told the police. You have problems.

My daughter (at the time was 4) wanted stickers from the store as was told "NO". We got into the car and she start fumbling around. I looked over at her asked what is in your pockets? She told me nothing. I pull the car over, made her empty her pockets and she had stolen the stickers. We turned around when back to the store. I took her in and made her tell the lady what she had done and tell her she was sorry. I was not sure that scared her to never steal again. I was sitting at the red light and there was the police station and I drove right in. I was going to take her inside so the police could talk to her about stealing. It just so happened a officier was walking in and he asked me if I need help. You know I told him the story. He talked to her told her what would happen if she very stole anything again. He was even going to take her inside the police station. She was really crying and now I think she really knew never to steal again. She to this day remembers it and she will tell you it scared her......

Sometimes as a parent we have to put the fear in the children so they know we are the boss, they will have respect for me and everyone else, and make the punshment stick. If you say your going to do something them do it!!! Your the adult!

Blue in Utah.

Being abandoned for a few minutes or hours isn't a big deal compared to the trama that is inflicted on children all over the world. War, prostitution, religious intolerance, hunger, homelessness, child labor, drugs, etc.

My 10 yr old "valley girl" grandaughter was complaining about filling up the diswasher. I asked if she wanted to be a child bride to a 70 year old in Afganistan. I got a quiet grandaughter after a hugh -GROSS.

Get real people, you were lucky and quite blaming everyone else for your self centered miopic view of the world. Do the christian thing and count your blessings and quit dwelling on what are at best only minute inconveniences.

Don't forget the trauma of the police arresting their mom and locking her up. This mother left her kids to walk home which was a loss of a parent for the evening. Police arresting their mom for trying to teach a lesson; a loss of a parent for months. I think the latter is going to cause more emotional damage.

Besides what is 3 miles to a 10 year old? Kids walk farther than that on Holloween unsupervised.

Maybe this mother just wasn't rich enough to buy her way out.

I don't understand how child protective services focuses on punishing so harshly minor offenses while Letting real child abusers like Woody Allen marry the poor kid he and his wife adopted. He's still out there getting richer, the bastartd. Who knows what went on with that poor girl when she was just a kid!!! Where was child protective services to carry out an investigation and provide counseling for that girl.

Frighteningly enough, this woman bears a resemblance to Tobin Bell (The Jigsaw Killer from the movie "Saw" and it's sequels). If she were my mom I'd be terrified of her day and night!

Fear is often an effective way of teaching a child a lesson. No one said that the girl left behind at the age of 5 should not have been afraid. Of course she was and that fear she experiences while her parent drove around the block before returning to get her should have taught her a lesson of some sort. I'm not saying that this is the best or only way to teach a child a lesson, but I'm sure that it would be memorable and a preventative to further disobeying the parent(s) in whatever way that had led up the the very temporary abandonment. A five minute lesson should not leave a child perminently scarred. Believe me when I tell you that if that had been the worst thing that happened to me as a child, I would consider myself lucky.

What I am saying is that now that the woman is no longer a child she needs to grow up and get over it. Instead she acts like it was the worst thing that could ever have happened to a child. People, especially our pampered children of today are far too sensitive and self absorbed. Everything is about "me, me, me" these days.

It's time to go back to some good old fashioned discipline and common sense. When parents were still permitted to punish their children and teach them the lessons of life, we did not see children acting out in public, we didn't have smart mouthed brats trying to control their parents' lives or being physically or mentally abusive like we see now.

BTW, I do have children. They were raised with love and discipline, two things that go hand in hand. They are grown now and are respectful, useful members of society.

no kidding, constitution. I say good for her. We need to let parents be parents.

Thom,

And I imagine you look like Zack Efron. Focus on the story. I"m a lawyer and having a strong face makes us more effective. I'd find her more intimidating that facing a pretty little thing of a lawyer, and maybe even a parent. My kids don't listen much to me when I act like an easy dad.

@3.12

I agree with Ron55 that your comment is off topic, but in fairness to you...

She really does look like Tobin Bell. I knew she looked kind of familiar, but couldn't place it.

Hasn't anyone heard... You can't punish your children anymore. You can't spank them, ground them, scare them into thinking you abandoned them, etc...

I don't agree with what she did but a lot of parents have done similar things with no ill effects. Parenting is not easy. Maybe these children will listen to their mother from now on when she tells them to settle down. If our justice system will do the right think and let her have her kids back. Everyone has a bad day once in a while.

I wonder why our children are so spoiled and unruly.

When I was 5ish or so, my mom took me to the store with her. And I had one of those *moments* and decided I didn't want to leave. I clearly remember my mom leaning down and saying, "Well if you don't want to leave I guess you'll just have to stay here." And she turned around and walked out the door. I stood there for a few minutes thinking I was calling her bluff and then the "Oh my god, mommy left me" thing set in and I rushed for the doors where she was waiting for me. I got one of those mother lectures (the kind that stay with you for weeks). But let me tell you, after that when my mom said "Let's go" I knew darn good and well not to try to sass her about it.

And yes, I'm now a well adjusted adult with kids of my own, no lasting psychological trauma, and my mom and I are very close.

Loved your story, I just wish they all ended with that conclusion.

Tim, you are so right.

Parents are not even allowed to say the word punishment. It is now "behavior re-direction."

I feel sorry for today's adolescents and teens, they can't do anything without having it psycho-babbled to death and, "oh, how does that make you feel" blahbity blah blah blah.

While I knowthe mother's actions were rash and not well thought out, I would like to start a defense fund for this woman (yes I know she is an attorney).

As for the person who says to make sure the kids have their i-pods and their games, that's part of the problem right there, kids are never expected to just sit, be quiet and think.

It's always a game or a toy or a movie. Kids are more resilent than we think they are, they can -gasp- Walk ! and they can - be quiet ! Give me a break, kids are not the buch of namby-pambies that the so-called experts think they are.

There were the slaps and the phone number of DYFS on the fridge (My mom would say, "Go ahead and call them. Remember, they take you out of the house, not me.") My mom is not the person to mess with. My brother, unfortunately, has still not learned this.

As for walking home 3 miles, give me a break. I had to do the same thing when my stepfather forgot to pick me up at school. Raining or not, I walked home, through busy intersections and bad neighborhoods. I didn't speak to anyone I didn't know, didn't ask for rides, etc. I was taught that in school and by my parents. This all started when I was 11. What did I learn from the experience: People are not going to be there for you forever. Start doing stuff on your own.

I see nothing wrong with letting them walk home. But I disagree with people saying that "scaring them into thinking you abandoned them" is a good discipline technique.

I hated brushing my teeth as a kid (I was 3 or 4 years old). My mom would tell me I had to brush them or else she would "run away." I kept testing her until she actually got in her car and left. I ran outside after her practically naked and slipped and fell on the ice. I was pretty traumatized by that and remember it in vivid detail to this day.

Let me be very specific about this. There's a big difference about a kid realizing that their mom meant business forcing them to walk home and a kid that got ditched by their parent and doesn't know if they'll ever come back.

I'm pretty sure the article said that the mom told them to get out and walk home... so she was not abandoning them. If the stupid kids interpretted as abanondment because they were too lazy to walk the 3 miles home, that's their mistake.

s-621550...your comment is funny but so true

to the others..

I have been reading the comments posted here and one person mentioned that parents these days are scared to discipline their children for fear of reprocusions (sp) and I agree and I see it everyday.

What bothers me are the parents who are completely defending these girls or the parents who say they have threatened their kids with the same actions...hello..did you not figure out that empty threats get you know where and eventually there is no respect from your kids because they know that you are basically a wuss for not following through? I comment the one parent who gave her kids rocks for Christmas and made her daughter rake leaves..she took actions and you know what?, they are better for it and they appreciate their mother more.

No emotional harm came to these kids. No physical harm came to these kids and it really makes no difference what time of day they were dropped off, they knew where they lived, they should have done what they were told..walk home, instead of sulking like teenagers do who don't get what they want or didn't win the fight.

I am so sick of reading comments from people who think they are the only ones in this world to have ever gone through the same strife but would never in a million years do something so drastic..unfortunately, it is those parents who are not teaching the respect and responsibility and consequences for thier actions and it is those kids who grow up to think the world owes them something or they are entitled to things. Disciplining our children will never be an easy decision yet it should not ever be something we regret or have to think about.

For those of you who think it is child abuse, please, get a grip. Making your child think about what just happened and why is not child abuse, it is a choice made by the parent to force them to think of someone other than themselves. Child abuse, emotionally is considered the deteriorating of the childs spirit and will, it is demoralizing, demeaning and disrespecting them. Physical abuse is just what it says, physical. I had my ass beat with a leather belt, my knuckles hit with a butter knife and cold cocked in the face by my mother growing up and guess what, I am not worse for it, I am better for it. Yes, I made the choice not to use a belt or butter knife or fist with my kids but I have and will slap them in the face or spank them or get right in their face when they think they have the power.

Stop being afraid to teach your kids a lesson. You are the one who is ultimately responsible for how they turn out as an adult, whether or not they can cope in life and how they handle situations.

For those of you who think the worst could happen, like abduction or sexual abuse, grow up and stop thinking in such negative terms. No wonder our kids are the controlling ones because they know that the parent is a chicken @!$%# and afraid something will happen so they won't do anything except yell and makes threats. You can be the best parent in the world and no amount of teaching can stop a bad thing if it is going to happen..YOU CAN NOT CONTROL THE ACTIONS OF ANOTHER PERSON!

parents have lost sight that they are the ones who need to be in control, they need to know where their kids are, what they are doing, who they are with and if that means putting the foot down, so be it. If you don't take control and teach them they can not behave in unruly ways, then what have we come too?

It is pretty sad to read some of these comments. If you can not take control of your kids, you never should have had them. By the way, control is not a bad thing so don't take it out of context and assume I mean that you rule your children into submission or mold them to morph into an exact replica of you...it means get up off your lazy asses and teach your children the core values they need to survive and the core values that have been lost in this society..the biggest one being family and treating your family with love and respect and being there for them. Respect by the way is a two way street. When they become teenagers, they should have already learned what respect is and clearly these two girls did not because had they listened to their mother when she told them to knock it off, they would have a nice comfy ride home.

Hear, Hear! I don't think a single poster here could say it better than you have!

Good Point rich... I guess everyone only expects things like this from us working class parents.....you can keep your 2 million dollar house in your upper crust neighborhood... my kids are respectful of each other and our family and I don't leave them on street corners. I can empathize with this mom, we all can, but in this day and age, bad judgement.

I noticed the mention of the $2 mil house. My first thought was what does it have to do with the story? How much money they have or their profession has nothing to do with what happened.

One expects a parent to make better choices when she is a lawyer, lives in an upscale area and owns a $2 mil house. Probably shows she has no more idea how to be a parent than one who has lost a job, worrying about their home being repossessed and where the next meal is coming from.

She didn't abandon them anyway, she dropped them off to take a walk. BFD. Are we really such pansies that a mother making her kids walk a few miles is front page news?

ive always thought punishments like that would work and are a good idea as are occasional smacked bottoms but in this day and age where the government and cps basically control everything to do with your kid you cant do anything, we are still lucky we are allowed to give kids chores to do etc without it being child abuse

knitty, I agree with you. They have probably walked further than that to a mall or a friends house. Besides if she would have touched them in any way to discipline them she would have went to jail anyway. And this emotional scar crap is really over the top for this situation.

Maybe this mother just wasn't rich enough to buy her way out.

I don't understand how child protective services focuses on punishing so harshly minor offenses while Letting real child abusers like Woody Allen marry the poor kid he and his wife adopted. He's still out there getting richer, the bastartd. Who knows what went on with that poor girl when she was just a kid!!! Where was child protective services to carry out an investigation and provide counseling for that girl. Maybe this mother just wasn't rich enough to buy her way out.

This woman was just desperate and out of ideas. She didn't abandon or abuse her children. She just has to be more careful next time because there's enough perverts out there like the one mentioned above, who prey on children even their own.

She did not abandon them! She left them three miles away from their home. They knew their address, and their phone number. And, although it is not clear from the articles, seems she went back for them.

I totally agree here with this writer.

First of all, this woman is a lawyer. Nobody knows better than she about the circumstances of what would happen if this was "for real" and not just a test. She's a smart, well-educated, wealthy woman. A partner in a law firm? Hello! She didn't get there by just being an average lawyer. Anyway, they were so close to their home, one of the girls actually caught up with her mother, so this indicates that she was teaching them a lesson but was not very far from them. She probably thought she would pull around the corner, drive back, pick them up, and then they would behave from there forward. I see nothing wrong with what she did, only because I just find it hard to believe that she was dropping them off to leave them abandoned. I honestly think this was an unfortunate circumstance where before she could get back around to pick them up (after say waiting five minutes for them to learn their lesson) that a bystander found them first. Now it's a big deal because somebody found one of the girls. Now it's a felony charge. The "teaching them a lesson" plan didn't work, and now she's plastered on the front page of all the news. Kids are spoiled these days and think they have to have everything. All kids fight. I mean all of them. They fight with each other, they fight with their parents, they fight period. If this was an admirable law firm, they would stand behind her, say "We deeply regret the circumstances of what was involved, and will do everything we can to try to get some help for her." If they fire her, they're cold and calculated and she doesn't need them anyway. This woman was obviously stressed to the max or she wouldn't have done what she did. Who knows. Maybe she was getting her pink slip the next day and she snapped. We all snap. We just handle it in different ways. But think about it people, the fact that the older girl was able to catch up with her says something here. It says mom was just around the corner and was teaching them a lesson. I'll bet my next paycheck they learned that lesson too. They live two miles from where she was. She didn't go home, she was close by. People are making something out of this that they shouldn't. It's just a very unfortunate circumstance in that she was trying to teach them a lesson. Please do not write me personally. I do not accept emails commenting on posts that I write.

I agree 3 miles from home at that age and in the city was not a good idea. However, child endangerment seems a bit extreme. The story does not really explain what the mother did after dropping them off. The 12 yo met up with her--was the mother parked a block or two away waiting and the two did not stay together? I think there is some vital information missing.

I've walked away from temper tantrums in stores on the sidewalk, etc. However, I was never actually very far away and would usually go around a corner where I could watch them without being seen by them. We also lived in a rural area, so my children were always pretty safe, especially in some of the small towns we lived in, where everyone knew whose brat was pitching the fit.

Well, when deciding how to discipline, the parent might also want to think through the consequences of their own actions as well. We don't live in a safe world and the Good Samaritan that picked up the one child could have just as easily been a sociopath and it could have ended far worse. Where I left my kids was only a block away and I watched them start walking home, it was in the early afternoon and they were together and older than these girls. I also told them exactly what I expected from them and where I was going and when I'd be back, so they did not have "abandonment issues." They did learn their lesson and have turned out just fine.

In days gone by 3 miles just meant walking to school. But this is now and 3 miles is called abandonment or child endangerment. Of course if they sneak out of the house and walk 3 miles it is called "How To Get On Restriction". Sometimes you want to drop the kids off on the moon so we have all been at the stress level this woman reached. It wasn't smart or a real solution but I am pretty sure the next time that stress hits she will have a good backup plan. If anyone wonders how stressful it is for mom's this story shows it.

Sounds like you were bad LOL just kidding

my mom did this to us all the time

Wow. Either your mom had issues or you were an exceptionally hard-headed child!

If my children ever reported me for spanking them (not abuse IMO) they would learn what abuse really is... they don't even threaten it, and I NEVER spank them.

That reminded me of Tyler Perry's Madea:

"My daughter tried that [calling 911]...I hit her so hard she dialed 919".

My mom had the DYFS phone number on the fridge. She dared us to call when we were bad and said "They take you out of the house, not me."

No one ever called that number.

Reminds me of a comedian, I forget the name, who said that he was bad as a kid and one time he threated to call child services on his father. Loose quoting:

"Ever had your parents call your bluff. My father said, 'Go ahead. Here's the phone. Do you want me to dial? Call them, but I know for a fact that it will take them 14 minutes to get here. And by then, somebody gonna get hurt REAL bad."

Oh please - how many kids call protective services over nothing. Not many - you can still hit your child if you want to; there is NO law that you cannot. You just can't beat them to a pulp like some of your "good parents" used to.

It seems that some of you parents are afraid of your own children. They won't call - they have it too good.

Checkmate,

That's a funny story. When my son was six or seven he tried this, so I looked the number up, had him call and stood there while he talked to a woman from CPS. See, I was having him clean the dog poop up in the back yard so I could mow. Well, he didn't want to so I told him that if he didn't, all he would get for dinner was english peas and toast. That's when he wanted to call CPS. So he did and stated his case. A few minutes went by and he said yes and handed the phone to me. The lady was laughing when I said hello and told me that her kids wouldn't pick their dogs poop up either so she was going to feed them english peas and toast too if they didn't do the deed. My son is 30 and to this day he comes over Saturday morning and picks up dog poop so I can mow.

On that threatening to call CPS thing, I once had a VERY heated argument with my son (now 23) where he threatened to call the Sheriff / CPS on us. I THREW the phone at him and said go ahead I could use the vacation! His mother chimed in and said it would take them at least 20 min to get here and when they arrived, he would NOT have to TELL them he'd been beat! He never tried THAT one again!

@Checkmate: You're thinking of Russell Peters, I believe.
And I thought he said, "somebody gonna get a hurt in here."

Alphones: I think that is him. I remember him saying "Somebody gonna get hurt real bad." He may have said "in here" as well. Still, funny guy. XD

you can't mess around with border patrol.. they don't have a sense of humor.

Should have left that brat in foster care. Maybe she'd have learned how good she really had it with her father after a couple of years of that.

We cared for foster children for awhile so my son was well acquainted with their social worker. Anytime, he gave me lip about what an awful parents we were; I'd just say, there's the phone, go call Kim. I'm sure Social Services can find you someplace better. That usually shut him up pretty quickly. Because to my shame, he was a spoiled rotten little brat and now that he's grown, he admits he was.

I'm 13 (and my parents are Canadian) and I would never pull that crap with my dad. What a spoiled bastard, no offense to your friend. That's gonna be on his record for life.

The Pedophilia of today is kids that did not get there a$$ beat when they where young.

"I wish that all fathers of households stand forth and practice their role. They will use the rod and not permit their children to go astray. Firmness is needed in your world that is filled with laxity, permissiveness, and degradation.
"Your children have been misled by many who shall answer to the Father. As teachers they have failed in their role. Therefore, as parents you must succeed in yours." - St. Joseph, March 18, 1973

As the Bible tells us: "He who spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes" (Proverbs 13:24) and "Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell." (Proverbs 23:13-14)

Bass 364340, Thank you for the true cause and answer to this case. As a young child my siblings and I never gave our parents cause to want to walk away from us - abandon us. This woman truly was at her wits end and her daughters were not observant of her state of mind. We adults are very busy and have alot on our plates to juggle. I am sure this mother asked her girls several times to "STOP!", and they didn't listen. She had had it and her only other recourse was - GET OUT!!! Being that she could turn around and slap the *hit out of them because they were beyond listening to her, she did the next best thing. I feel its a waste of time to lock this woman up or keep her from her daughters, the daughters need to learn to listen to their mother and learn to get along with each other. In plan simple language the daughters need to learn to RESPECT their elders! Don't waste my tax dollars on this case, go out and get some of the real criminals (drug dealers) and spend my tax dollars on cleaning up our state. This woman is not a criminal, she was avoiding becoming one - but not in our society. These two girls are BRATS and this is what we as a country are raising. God please Bless America.

Oh yay I was wondering when the Bible and the rod would be brought up. I didn't have to scroll very far.

The Pedophilia of today is kids that did not get there a$$ beat when they where young

And THAT makes NO sense. None. I'm shocked to see how many parents would dump their adolescent children off miles from home and leave. Then there's winners like you Bass, who think ass beatings should be standard. You don't have to beat a childs ass to teach them a lesson.

That's the point I tried to make earlier. The crazies may be few and far between, but I wouldn't want to have inadvertently put my kids in a vulnerable place at the wrong time.

Anne Marie-992804 - "Pedophilia is rampant--you cannot leave your children like this to make a point! "
The perception of mass pedophilia is rampant.

TOR-744926 Dr. Richard Gersh, director of psychiatric services at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in Manhattan, said Primoff's behavior was not appropriate. It's true what you said, Children should be seen and not heard and Dr. Richard Gersh and people like him is what's wrong with raising kids today, they know how to raise our kids better that us.

Damn Dr. Spock for ruining young parents and children to this day.

I agree it was a 3 mile walk home. If that was a daily walk from school there would be nothing said. My kids have walked 2 miles home from school ages 9 and 11, I do have them call at least twice on the cell to make sure they are okay. These kids were a bit older. There are kids younger than that that walk home and then stay at home for hours alone while their parents are at work. My city does not have a minimum age law that kids can be left alone. I have a neighbor who has her 12 and 7 year old walk 2 miles then stay at home alone for hours. I never leave my kids alone but the point is exactly what is abandonment then?

i agree, nothing wrong with smacking a child across the butt or smacking the back of the hand, its not child abuse, cps need to go after those kids with the many 'accidental' falls and unexplained bruises and burn marks not the kids who claim they got a smacked butt for being naughty, ive been smacked, never did what i was doing again, my husband got the belt from his dad, didnt do him any harm, cps needs to back off and only get involved if there is actual abuse going on, i dont feel what this mother did was abuse, they are not psychologically damaged, my only fear is the amount of crazies and what if a psycho had found the 10 year old but arrest is to far

Nope- the youngest wasn't too stupid. She was smart. She's teaching her mother "See what happens when I don't listen and all other attempts short of swatting my ass have failed?! YOU go to Jail!"

I didn't think of that, but you're right. Odds are, we'll be seeing the little one on Jerry Springer soon!

The youngest was too stupid to figure out how to get home. wow.

you are stupid for being ten? never having walked home, can't even look out the window well to see the way from the car.. a CHILD. Thinking about seasame street or whatever.. and an adult calls you names like stupid, for being abandoned by the roadside, in anger, and lost.

I got lost in the same neighborhood of my grandparents up through 16 years old!!

if you have never walked it, you just cant know it, period.

but a grown adult is on here calling a child names for being a child..

see how sick people are? any excuse to namecall, any excuse to ridicule, any excuse to be mean.

Has anyone focussed upon the reality that a LAWYER called in a "missing child " report, after she herself was the reason the child was missing?

She did not go back in her car and look for the child??

This was a sick example of a bitch demanding police cope with the danger she herself created. HER bad parenting could have caused a childs death, and she sat around at home calling cops..after abandoning themh

First of all the kids just sound like kids to me. Lets not toss out words like spoiled or brats etc because two children are doing what two sibling children do, argue in a vehicle. Save us from sibling rivalry please but lets not mix that up with "spoiled" since it is in their genes and jeans to drive parents up a wall now and then.

I am pretty sure this mom will make different decisions in the future just as we all do when we find better solutions when we look back. The "How To Raise A Child" manual does not have all the solutions for the "joys" of parenting. I am not too worried about this family. They all learned something. Maybe they'll write a book one day and title it "Things You Never Expected from Your Innocent Little Angels."

LOL No kidding!

Raised in such a way ? Look, you can't spank them, or you go to jail. You try to drag them out of a store during a tantrum, they call the law. The state/Social Services has kindegarten 5 yr olds threatening to call the law on ya if you dicipline them in a way they don't like! It's not the parents fault the dang law won't let them do their job! Grant ya she went a little to far. She should have followed them in the car for safety, sense it was a city. But dang folks, what is it parents are suppose to do when the state/social service/courts/cops won't let ya decipline your own children. But they sure are good at blameing the parents. A good spanken never hurt my rump!