"WHAT WOULD YOU DO?" is the series of real-life situations where we need your input on how to handle certain parenting instances we're all faced with.
I was at the grocery store the other day with Kayla. We were doing our usual shopping - getting ready for Thanksgiving. I was in a rush, so I couldn't remember whether Kayla brought along her cute little "baby bear". As I was checking off my grocery list, I saw a mom with 3 girls carting around with a blue baby bear - very much like Kayla's. I recognized it thinking, "Hmm...is that Kayla's? No. It couldn't be hers. Why would a mom be playing with a lost bear?" The mom and her toddler in the cart were petting the bear, buckling it in the cart seat, etc.
I followed her around for bit just to observe. The baby bear is not very unique. It's a pretty generic bear, but I told myself, "if I don't ask now, I'll never forgive myself for checking." After all, this was a bear that Kayla received when she was just born.
I finally walked up to the mom and asked, "Excuse me. Is that your bear?" She hesitated and then replied, "Uh...no. We found it on the floor." I told her, "Yea...I think it's my daughter's bear." The MOM pouted and the toddler looked so disappointed. I felt so guilty for taking the bear...but, it was Kayla's bear that she dropped! I then noticed a pen mark that was on the bear's ribbon that made me SURE that it was our bear.
Even WORSE was that another woman saw the whole situation take place. As I walked passed her, that woman said, "y'know where you dropped it? I saw you drop it near the bread aisle." I was shocked that she didn't take the time to tell me at that moment when she saw my toddler drop it. What happened to the "community"? People are minding their business so much that they don't even help others out sometimes.
So, my question to you is: What would YOU do if you were me? Would you have asked the mom if that was your child's bear or just assumed that it wasn't?
What would YOU do if you were that MOM who found a bear on the floor? Would you leave it on the floor; return it to customer service; or take it for your own child? (There is no right answer. Of course, it's obvious how I feel about the situation, but I'm curious to know what other parents would do.)