the child gets a gold star (seriously) for doing exactly what a 3yo should be doing at that age: manipulating everything it can to see what it does. Sounds like the child may be smarter than the momma.

What happened is very sad and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Unfortunately, name-calling is taking it a bit too far. If you must point out the foolishness of others, make sure your post is grammatically sound. In the end, it might be you who looks less smart. :)

She is not the only parent who has done this. Watch the parents who are rushing in the morning on their way to work with their children in the car.

This happened in my neighborhood a few years ago. Of course, nobody called the police and it never got on the news. But the car missed me by about 20 feet. I was driving down the street and the car came down a steeeeeeeep driveway and crashed into a tree across the street from the driveway. The parents and other adults were standing around, so I slammed on the brakes and then drove on. As I drove past the car, I could see an 8 year old (or thereabouts) sitting in the driver's seat with his hands on the steering wheel. His eyes were about as big as the moon!

The mother should have been charged more. The child taken away because she was not looking out for his safety at all. The child could have been killed.