FRESNO, CA – A nosey
neighbor called 9-1-1 after witnessing a 42-month-old toddler without adult
supervision watching Dora the Explorer and eating a bowl of
Cheerios while the mother, Janet Doe, was receiving a mani-pedi.
The neighbor called 9-1-1 when she witnessed through window her 42-month
old toddler neighbor, Bambi Doe, watching Dora the Explorer and eating a bowl
of Cheerios without adult supervision. The neighbor advised police and reporters that
she caught sight of the toddler when spying through the curtain-less window,
trying to see if Janet Doe had been swiping her newspapers. That’s when the
neighbor spied the child on the sofa. Being a Good Samaritan, and also catching
up on a few missed episodes of Dora herself, after forty-five minutes had
passed the neighbor realized that no adults were in the room supervising Bambi.
In fact, no adults were at home at all.
“I smashed in the window at the back of the house, a good thirty feet
away from where the 42-month old toddler was sitting, went inside, and after
making sure that Bambi was ok, I then checked the subscription address on the
newspapers sitting on the coffee table by the sofa, and called 9-1-1,” the
neighbor, who requested her name be withheld, advised. “The newspapers were in
fact mine.”
According to the police report, Bambi Doe was left home alone by her mother,
Janet Doe, because Janet couldn’t miss her mani-pedi appointment. Fed up with
accompanying her mother to the spa, Bambi told police she was safe being left
at home. “It’s not hot in the house like at the spa. I have Cheerios, the
couch, my blankie, and Dora to watch me. I’m ok,” Bambi told police. “I told
Mama to go and I will watch TV at home by myself.”
Upon returning home, nails still tacky from the gel application, Janet
Doe was taken immediately into police custody. “What kind of mother would I be
if I’d have left her in a hot car instead? I didn’t see a problem with it,” Janet
Doe was quoted as saying to the police when shamelessly talking about how she
was comfortable leaving her daughter to babysit herself. “At home, I have child
safety locks on everything and there are safety gates at the bottom of the
stairs. Pour some cereal in a bowl, pop on the Family Channel, put on the alarm
system, and it’s basically like she’s being babysat. What harm can really
happen when I’m not there for an hour?”
Janet Doe was charged with petty theft of the
neighbor’s newspapers and child abandonment. The neighbor was hailed as a hero.
Police commended Bambi’s neighbor from saving her from
her mother, too many carbs, and more than two hours of the daily recommended
limit on screen time. The neighbor also
got her newspapers back.
At the time of this report, we were told
that Janet Doe made bail and saw the error of her ways. Janet still goes for her
weekly mani-pedis and the neighbor is making $25/hour babysitting Bambi while
reading her newspapers.
© 2014. Naomi Elana Zener. All Rights
Reserved.
