Dad Pretends To Steal Son Out Of Unlocked Car To Teach His Wife A ‘Lesson’

May 27, 2022

There are several dangers that come with leaving a child alone in a car, especially if they are left alone for an extended period of time. Children could get stuck in other areas of the car, such as the trunk, or could accidentally move the gear shift, taking the car out of park mode and unintentionally allowing it to move. 

According to the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, the biggest danger that children face when they're left alone in cars is heatstroke. The temperature inside a vehicle can increase by 20 degrees Fahrenheit in only 10 minutes. On top of that, kids’ bodies heat up faster than adult bodies, making this increase in temperature even more dangerous and potentially detrimental.

For one father, he feared that something horrible could happen to his son when he found out that his wife left their baby alone in the car on several occasions. He worried about someone potentially kidnapping the baby or another tragedy occurring.

The man’s wife agreed that she would no longer leave their son unattended in a car, but that turned out to be a lie. The father wanted to do something to teach the mother of his child a lesson, but after acting impulsively, he now feels like he may have crossed a line. He wanted to teach his wife a lesson but may have scared her too much by making her think their baby was missing. Because of this, he turned to Reddit in Feb. 2022 and asked users if his method was impactful in the right or wrong way.

Starting off his Reddit post, the original poster (OP) said that he learned about his wife’s “horrible habit” of leaving their son alone in a car back in Dec. 2021. “I told her I was not comfortable with her leaving him in the car alone even for a minute and she told me she’s been doing it since he was born and it’s always been fine,” he explained. “We don’t live in a horrible area but it’s also not super safe either. I told her to not ever do this again.”

OP’s wife agreed that she would stop doing it, but that turned out to be a lie. As OP was driving home one day, he noticed his wife’s car parked in a front spot at a gas station. He thought it would be nice to go in and say hello, so he parked next to her. “However when I got there I was furious to find our son in his car seat,” OP said. “The car wasn’t even locked.”

Clearly upset with the situation, OP decided to take his son out of his wife’s car and put him into his own car, which also had a car seat. He then drove to the other side of the gas station and waited six whole minutes for his wife to finally come out of the gas station.

“When she saw that he was gone she looked stunned for a second and then started to frantically look around and cry,” OP said. He then decided to drive his car over and park next to hers, showing that their son was with him and safe.

OP continued: “She looked extremely relieved but that quickly turned to anger with her asking me why I took him and did that to her. I told her she needed to learn her lesson and she promised to stop leaving him in the car, and that she was extremely irresponsible.”

They each drove their cars back home and didn’t speak for the rest of the day. The next day, OP’s wife asked for an apology, but he refused since it was her fault for leaving their son alone in an unlocked car. “She’s been guilt tripping me the rest of the day saying no mother should experience the fear I put her through,” OP said.

However, many Reddit users were on OP’s side. One user commented: “Your wife is right. No mother should have to experience that fear, and she opens herself up to it constantly. She deserves what she got.”

Another user said: “Normally I’m fully against game-playing, but this is your child’s life. I support your actions. Your wife is being hugely neglectful. Not to mention it’ll be warm soon and being left in a hot car even for a few minutes can be deadly … I wouldn’t let her take him anywhere until she apologizes.”

OP has since added an update explaining that he apologized for his actions but not for caring about his child’s safety. “She apologized for lying and continuing to do this unsafe practice,” he added. Thinking that postpartum depression could be at play here, OP helped his wife seek counseling. 

He concluded: “...Until there is a major change/improvement I will be running all errands with my son or we will be doing them together, but I told her I cannot trust her anymore to take him places by herself.”

Do you think this dad went too far teaching his wife a lesson? Or did she need a wake-up call? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to send this to your family and friends.