Mom Makes Horrible Discovery When 3-year-old Asks One Question In The Car
By
Jamie Vos in
Heartbreaking
On 21st January 2016
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A young mother who accidentally left her 1-year-old child in a mall parking lot was charged with misdemeanor child endangerment.
Mother of four Cherish Peterson, 28, was shopping in August 2015 with three of her kids. Her youngest was in the basket of her shopping cart, she explained in a tearful confession recorded a few days after the incident, when she finished buckling the first two children into the car. Because she was in a rush, Peterson says she forgot her youngest was still in the shopping cart. She drove off.
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Shortly after she arrived at her next destination, one of her children asked Peterson where the baby was. That's when she says she first realized what she had done. "It is the worst feeling in the world," she said about the moment, "and nothing ... could make me feel worse than I did when I turned around and saw my car seat missing."
According to CBS 5, Peterson soon learned that some folks at a hair salon spotted the baby almost immediately after she left. They called the police, who helped care for the baby until Peterson returned. When she did return, police say Peterson was hysterical, and so they had to drive her to the hospital to see her baby. The baby was fine.
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After the incident, Peterson came under fire from some people who questioned her parenting skills. "You know there's nothing that I love more in this world than being a mom," she said in response, "and there's no one in this world that could love my kids more than me. So to have people accuse me of being a drug addict, or someone doesn't care ... is a really crappy feeling." Others felt compassion for the young mother, and some of them started a Facebook page called I Stand With Cherish. Peterson says that despite the charges, she feels lucky about the way things turned out. And she's grateful for the people who have supported her. "I count my blessings because my baby is OK. And I count my blessings for those moms that pulled together as a community and loved me because they know there's no greater fear in this world than losing your child," she said.
