just to comment on leaving children in the car...i am a mother of twin boys that will be a year old next week. they were born 31/2 months early and when they finally came home from the NICU, one of my sons was on oxygen and a monitor. we had to get out of the house for doctor and physical therapy appointments multiple times a week, and there was no way i could carry them both to the car together by myself. I had no choice but to take one child out to the car, get him settled, and then go get the other. still today, they cannot walk yet, and i cannot carry two squirmy boys, so it is one and then the other.
my point is, there is no absolute, black and white to this issue. before people accuse and say under no circumstances should a child be left in the car by themselves, they need to take in the facts. unless someone wants to be at my beck and call for every appointment, every errand, then they need to look at all angles before accusing someone of abuse.
