Mom Accused of Cancer Hoax Used 4-Year-Old to Get Cash Out of Strangers

vrijdag 13 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota

Another day. Another cancer hoax from an Ohio mom who allegedly claimed her 4-year-old was dying just to bilk people out of their hard-earned dollars. Wasn't it bad enough the first dozen times this happened in America? Do we really need yet another child being victimized by his mother, yet another mother being dragged into the courts to answer for a despicable lie?

Of course, Emily Creno King should answer for her alleged cancer scam. But what do these crimes do to society, to the people out there who are truly struggling?

Isn't it hard enough fundraising without scammers?

For years I shaved my head annually for St. Baldrick's, a legitimate charity that raises money for children with cancer. Year after year, I'd solicit donations, and year after year, it got harder to reach my goal. People just don't have extra money lying around, not in this economy.

And yet, when bad things happen to good people, they try. They open their wallets up and pull out a $20 for that little kid with cancer, for that father of four undergoing radiation. Despite the horror stories we read daily in the news, there are a lot of good people out there who would give you the shirts off their backs.

But then there are moms like this.

There are people who know that people are inherently good and who look for ways to work that to their advantage.

The result is a cancer scam that hurts a little boy -- 4-year-old JJ thought he was going to die because of the things his mother had allegedly done to him including forced medications, frequent visits to hospitals, and shaving his head -- and hurts a community as a whole.

There is a domino effect when people are burned by fundraising hoaxes like this. They stop donating out of fear that it will happen again.

Who can blame them? I don't want to give my hard earned cash to someone who is abusing my trust.

The trouble is, this leaves the people who truly need it with nowhere to turn. They are struggling in a bad economy with the typical health insurance issues, and they need help that won't come because someone else abused the system and used their innocent child to do it.

Emily Creno King is facing a third-degree felony charge for child endangerment, and cops are investigating claims that she took money and gifts from people across the country.

Could the punishment include some sort of community service to the very people screwed by scams like this?

Do you donate to private people in need? What stops you?

Image via Utica Police

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Helping a Mom in Public: Dos and Dont's for Strangers

woensdag 21 augustus 2013

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Sometimes parents of toddlers are totally overwhelmed and need help. And sometimes parents of toddlers just seem overwhelmed, but really we'd love it if you could just mind your own business. It can be hard for a well-meaning stranger to tell the difference. When should you step in to help, and why are parents of toddlers so pissy and defensive all the time, anyway?

Relax. I've got all the answers right here. This is a list of the ways parents of toddlers would love your help -- and when we don't want your help.

Please open the door for me when I'm struggling with the stroller. You're not obligated, but I do appreciate it.

Please don't tell me children don't belong here, wherever we are.

Please don't give me a lecture on disciplining children while my toddler is in the middle of a meltdown. I can't hear you.

Please just give me a sympathetic smile and move along when you see my toddler back-bending and caterwauling mid-tantrum in the middle of the cereal aisle in the grocery store.

Please don't offer him candy, either.

Please don't offer my kid any food of any kind, ever, come to think of it.

Please keep your dog the hell away from my toddler while he's strapped down, helpless, in his stroller.

Please tell me if something disgusting is leaking from my toddler's pants. I don't want to know, but I need to know.

Please tell me if you just saw my toddler put something in his mouth. Especially if that something is still alive.

Please hand me a tissue if you happen to notice my toddler's face is coated in mucus like a glazed donut.

Please don't tell me I'm "doing it wrong" -- whatever "it" is.

Please offer to help me juggle my bags if you see my struggling, but don't just start grabbing things because I have no idea if you're about to rob me.

Please body-block my toddler if you see him running directly into the street.

Please don't clutch your pearls and offer to call the paramedics if my toddler falls and scrapes his knee. He'll be fine, really.

Please don't tell me my toddler is too big to still be breastfeeding.

Please don't make that scary face at my toddler. We are not amused.

Please don't tell me it's too dangerous for my toddler to jump/slide/run. I know his limits, and so does he, for that matter.

Please tell me if my toddler has kicked off his shoe and thrown it out of his stroller. Bonus points to those of you who pick it up and hand it to me.

Please direct your sneezes and coughs and belches away from my toddler's face.

Please offer my toddler a seat on the bus. Actually, give me the seat because I'm more tired -- the kid can sit on my lap.

Please tell me this time passes quickly because, honestly, I only hear that 100 times a day and I need to hear it again.

Thank you.

What kind of help from strangers do you appreciate?

Image via Richard Stephenson/Flickr

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When Strangers 'Parent' Your Kids in Public: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

dinsdag 20 augustus 2013

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When do you step in to help another parent? The question can be tricky even when that parent is your best friend. But what if it's a perfect stranger? I'm faced with this question virtually every day as I navigate the streets of my Brooklyn neighborhood, which is packed to the rafters with children. I swear there are more children in my neighborhood than adults. Every single day I see hoards of children with their parents -- on their way to school, the subway, or one of the local playgrounds. That means I see a lot of different parenting dynamics. Yeah, I see parents yelling at their kids ... but this is Brooklyn. These kids are pretty coddled. The yelling is rare, and when it happens, it's deserved. Like the mom I just saw admonishing her kid who didn't look before he crossed the street on his bike. But then there are other times ... I wonder if I should step in. And help?

As a city person, I've helped loads of parents with their kids in the subway. I've held doors, offered my seat, and carried the backs of strollers up stairs. But there is something about offering your help in the middle of the street that strikes a different chord. Is it even wanted? Sometimes, it's necessary.

There was the time I saw a little kid, probably about 3, suddenly take off from what looked like his grandfather. The kid began hoofing it down the street like a monster was on his tail. The grandfather (or, this being Brooklyn, it could have been a very old father) tried to run after him, but his stamina sputtered out and he ground to a halt. He just stood there yelling for the kid, who kept running.

I saw that the kid, within a minute or so, was going to hit the end of the sidewalk. We are surrounded by very busy streets. He was in danger of being hit by a car.

So I took off. He had quite a headstart on me, but I took off like there was a jet propeller on my back. I finally caught up to him and blocked him with my body as he was about to dash across the street. But I also thought, "I'm confronting a strange child right now. Will the grandfather appreciate it? Will this be misinterpreted somehow?"

The grandfather caught up to us soon after and took the kid away. To be honest, I don't even remember a thank you.

Then there was the time I spotted a mom with two kids. One kid was about 5 years old, and there was a smaller child in a stroller. The older kid was having one hell of a meltdown. First, he screamed and kicked his mother, who remained admirably calm. Then he sat in the middle of the sidewalk.

And he refused ... to ... move.

Her threats did not work. Her cajoling did not work. He was too big and ornery to pick up, and besides that, she was also pushing a stroller.

She tried walking away, thinking that would scare him into coming after her. But it didn't.

I was walking by, but caught the entire scene, and kept thinking, "Do I offer to help?"

But what would I do exactly? Surely the kid wouldn't listen to me either. I thought maybe I could push the kid in the stroller while she wrangled the little demon.

Would she want a stranger pushing her stroller? (This is the city, remember, even if crime rates are at an all-time low.)

Would this be insinuating she couldn't handle her own children?

I finally went to the store and the whole time I thought, "If she is still there when I come back, I will offer to help."

But when I came out, she was gone. She'd obviously managed to get the kid to walk.

I still feel guilty I didn't help.

Frankly, I think we should all offer to help each other. We don't have to. But wouldn't it be nice?

Do you want strangers helping with your kids?

Image via MicahSittig/Flickr

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