Wednesday

Foothills Mall in Tucson, Arizona

Received Wednesday, January 24, 2007
I was gathering my belongings from my car to head in to the Foothills Mall at approximately 415 PM in Tucson, Az. I observed a Hispanic women of approximately 50 years walking to her vehicle (Silver Late Model Jeep Cherokee 4x4). The woman was talking in a mean voice and told him to get his "ass" in the car. The boy was blonde, light eyes, wearing denim jeans and a long sleeved green pullover. The /woman/sitter/nanny was waiting for him to situate himself in the backseat, still holding bags from "Nike" and "Linens and Things". In a mean voice she said what sounded like "a-purro-tay, a-purro-tay". I could not hear the boy. The woman was reaching in to put her bags in the back compartment through the backseat door as I passed by. As I passed the next two cars in the lot, I heard a thud and I heard the little boy's voice say, 'you don't get to hit me'. Then the car door slammed. I cannot pretend to know what was going on here, but it did not seem quite right. The woman was wearing maroon slacks and a button up print shirt. Her hair was dark, short and curly.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

My only hope is that this little boy tell his parents how his nanny treats him and that them actually have the time for asking him how his day was.

Anonymous said...

If you didn't see what was going on, you really can't judge the nanny or the parents or the kid.

Anonymous said...

6.03 Thanks.
The OP did not pretend to know what was going on, but it made her/him uncomfortable enough to post it here. Nobody is judging.

Anonymous said...

1148..yes they were judging.. Why do you act like they were'nt? It is human nature and we all do it!

Anonymous said...

I'm 603.
Why is it that the first poster immediately judged the parents? The OP had no idea what the circumstances surrounding the incident were. I'm a teacher and have seen the worst in adults. I am also a mom and resist temptation to judge anyone because there is no way to know what a person goes through in any situation. If one called CPS and retold this story, they would be laughed off the phone. It's a fact.

There are variables that need to be considered and unless you see that child being abused, there is no reason to post.

Anonymous said...

2:26 sounds like she owns a pair of maroon slacks and a button up print shirt.

There is always reason to post!
JUST IN CASE!

Anonymous said...

232 you must be the same person that posted the birthday party post about the mean nanny...you saw what happenned there didn't you??? Withpout the whole story..you have no valid post!! Quit digging for a story and wait until something real comes along!!This site is for protecting kids not gueesing about something that might have happened!!!

Anonymous said...

2:56 has won the idiot of the day award. I doubt OP was in Tucson yesterday and Pleasantville this weekend. I think it would be very rare to make more than one submission. I don't know what happend here and neither did the OP. And she said so herself. The best case scenario is the child has already told the parent. Second best is the parent sees this and asks the child or the nanny.
"You cant hit me" doesn't sound like nothing. Nor would I ever tolerate anyone, even my husband SWEARING at my child!

Anonymous said...

Again with the jumping to conclusions... I am on the other side of the country and don't own anything near maroon pants. I am a teacher, not a nanny. I just thought I'd inject a little realism in the discussion. I apologize if that offends you.

Swearing? I have never done it to my children but allow for the fact that others slip up. You have no idea what happened during the moments leading up to what was actually heard.

The OP clearly stated that she had no idea what was going on but still judgements were made. I have seen it all up and down this board and it seems to be that posts should be made only when a child is truly in danger. Speculations have no place anywhere!

Anonymous said...

Hey I came throught this blog by mistake and I hope here somebody reads this as it's an old post. I speak spanish and what the lady told the kid -quote- "a-purro-tay, a-purro-tay" spelled correctly it's "apurate, apurate" which means "hurry up, hurry up" so technically the lady wasn't SWEARING at the kid as some of you may have thought.
I do think that this lady was treating the boy badly 'cause you can't hear a thump and then hear the boy cry and say "you don't get to hit me" and go like "oh, I won't judge, nothing happened"

Anonymous said...

Get your ass in the car is swearing, but thanks for clarifying that other part! And yes the comment sections on this blog get read, reread and then read again!

Anonymous said...

I make a considerable amount of money "speculating". Get over yourself. People who are so anti speculation just have no brain cells. The natural brain wonders. The dumbed down, idiot brain just takes whatever it is told and walks on by.

Anonymous said...

Funny. There are posts on this site about how some nannies are wonderful, yet no one is yelling at those posts for "speculating".

Some of the posters on here should know better. Being a teacher, you should know that you must comply with Federal Mandatory reporting. Which means even the suspicion of something "not quite right" must be reported. If you don't, you face prison time, fines and loss of your teaching certification.

I pray other teachers are not like you guys. The boy said "hit". That is all the cause you should need to report. Who cares what that woman was going through that day. Being in public, you would think she would be on her best behavior towards that child. If that's her best, I'd hate to see her worst.

Thank you to the OP for taking time out of your day to post this. Even if it turns out to be nothing and a slight inconvenience for a few people, it is worth it to go through stuff like this to save the ones that are really being hurt.

P.S. One of the nannies here in Tucson just backed up over the 4 yr old she was watching and killed her. Guess we don't know what kind of day she had either. We should be more understanding that people can have hard days, huh?

Anonymous said...

For the teacher who thinks that speculations as to an incident witnessed are not in order. I disagree and believe that many times people "logically" speculate but do not say anything with regard to the mistreatment or suspected mistreatment of children. Maybe if they had spoken, a few lives could have been saved or some traumatic incidents and injuries avoided. I do not believe in "turning a blind eye". If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, well.. you know the rest. As for calling CPS, that's for when you are certain a child is being neglected or abused, and in Arizona, they still don't pay much attention.

Anonymous said...

yes we speculate. more people should dare to speculate and ask themselves what is going on. how many people live next door to children that they know something is not quite right? and they do nothing. Not every one is burning their children with ciggarette butts but it doesn;t mean they're not kids everywhere just waiting for someone to recognize their pain and save them.

Anonymous said...

3:51 At least in NY, mandated reporters are only required to report within their function as a doctor, teacher, social worker, etc. If the teacher above saw something in a parking lot she isn't required to do anything. No way would she "do time" for not reporting. That said, everyone should be a mandated reporter when it comes to abuse. In the case of something this questionable, it's a hard call. But that's why we have this blog. There is a link under Perspective and Opinion on the sidebar to an October article "Jane Doe on Mandated Reporters". It has a state by state listing.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it's obvious and sometimes it isn't. I have called CPS when I have just cause. (Students are acting strangely, questionable marks, never come in with lunch and the like)

My point is that if you didn't see what the nanny did, you can't assume that he was abused. Maybe the nanny moved the kids leg so she could close the door. Who knows? I don't touch any students because there is always a chance that the kid could turn around and say that "the teacher hit me". All the teachers in our school are told not to touch kids for that reason.

No child should be cursed at... That goes without saying. I just think that there are too many judgements passed on people here. I read one where a nanny was having a medical emergency and the OP was rightfully concerned about the nanny and the child. Practically everyone who commented thought for sure that she was on drugs or going through DT's. You have no proof! How would you know?

Sorry if I offend with the realism again but there are variables in ALMOST every circumstance! Life isn't black and white... there are some grey areas too!

Anonymous said...

It is the grey areas that we of conscience must contemplate and make decisions that might offset a child's abuse or even, demise. If we err, let it because we care, and if we are found wrong, it can easily be explained. If we are right and say naught, what then?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
neva_eva_always said...

Just to point something out the child could HAVE been hers. We're mexican/hispanic and my sister has 4 children and all have different complexions. Oldest daughter is darker complected while the youngest daughter is really light complected. To the point of if she hadn't kept the baby in the room with her the whole time there would be suspicion of a baby switch. The youngest is a lot lighter than most of our family if not all.