Have you seen this child?
Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron did what so many parents long to do and left his young daughter behind at the neighborhood pub. It was an accident, of course, and it happens to the best of us: Sometimes you forget your doggie bag, sometimes you forget your child. In this spirit, we’re spotlighting the most tawdry tales of kids who’ve had to fend for themselves while out on the town. Endless pizza parties, drunken parents, and children with way too many siblings, straight ahead!
In March, Maryland parents left their 3-year-old daughter at a pizza party and didn’t realize that she was missing until they saw her photo on the evening news. On the bright side, at least they were home watching the news instead of carousing.
Photo: Mark Schiefelbein
Meanwhile, the very same week, a 32-year-old Texas mother left one of her ten children (do the math) at Chuck E. Cheese’s after the child’s birthday party. Since she has ten children, we’ll try not to blame her for failing to notice the missing tot until the following day. At least the kid got a party?
In February, a Milwaukee woman left her grandson at McDonald’s, mistakenly thinking the boy’s father would pick him up per a custody agreement. When Dad never showed, a manager played Hamburglar, taking the boy home and waiting til the following day to call police.
Photo: BERTRAND LANGLOIS/2011 AFP
In December 2011, a mom
Photo: Scott Olson/2010 Getty Images
A drunk Louisiana man left three kids in a Burger King bathroom in February 2011, opting to go home for more booze. Eventually he returned to look for the brood and caused a “scene.” In the meantime, the kids were retrieved by their mother.
Photo: ROBYN BECK/2010 AFP
A California couple with nine kids left one of them behind at the Pizza Factory restaurant. They were located two hours later and made haste to the restaurant, embarrassed. The tot was entertained by deputies in the interim and given a teddy bear for his troubles.
Disney: where childhood wishes come true! In October 2011, a Wyoming couple ordered their 9-year-old to drive their minivan back to their hotel after dinner because they were too inebriated to get behind the wheel. Shockingly, the kid drove into a wall.
Red Lobster managers in Las Vegas called cops after fearing that a 5-month-old was being ignored by drunken parents who were slurring their words, swinging a car seat to and fro, and couldn’t keep their eyes open.
Photo: Bloomberg
Just a few weeks ago, a Florida couple was nabbed for abandoning their child inside a parked car while they ventured into a gentlemen’s club together. Aww.
Photo: Dan Zak/The Washington Post
An upstate New York couple, both in their mid-fifties, left their two infants in a parked car outside their local bar while they got trashed. Hey, kids are tiring!
Photo: Oli Scarff/2011 Getty Images
