Because I understand what happens when you do this to a newborn - this can be chalked up to inadaquate birth control options, including abortion. You're scared, you're upset, you don't know what to do, so you do this.
By the time you've got a kid 1-2 years old, I don't understand it anymore. I can't just say "look, here's the solution".
My guess (not as unfounded as this sounds) is that either the parent was mentally ill, or the kid was AS/ADHD/etc. It's pretty common... The parent reaches a breaking point from stress/exhaustion where they're no longer thinking clearly, and does something otherwise unthinkable. It happened with my parents when they were caring for me at about the same age, except they caught it and dropped me off with my great-grandparents for my own safety. If somebody had no family to help out in that manner, I can certainly see something truly awful resulting.
It happened here with a probably-autistic (mute) kid of around the same age just a month or two ago, too. :-/
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-02-07 05:49 pm (UTC)By the time you've got a kid 1-2 years old, I don't understand it anymore. I can't just say "look, here's the solution".
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Date: 2005-02-07 06:08 pm (UTC)My guess (not as unfounded as this sounds) is that either the parent was mentally ill, or the kid was AS/ADHD/etc. It's pretty common... The parent reaches a breaking point from stress/exhaustion where they're no longer thinking clearly, and does something otherwise unthinkable. It happened with my parents when they were caring for me at about the same age, except they caught it and dropped me off with my great-grandparents for my own safety. If somebody had no family to help out in that manner, I can certainly see something truly awful resulting.
It happened here with a probably-autistic (mute) kid of around the same age just a month or two ago, too. :-/
no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 06:19 pm (UTC)I know, I saw the post in your journal.