We’ve all been there in one way or another.
As kids we were on the receiving end of it, and as parents with unruly children, who are prone to throw punches and barbs at each other in the backseat of a moving vehicle, many of us have doled out the empty threat ourselves: “If you kids don’t stop fighting, I’m going to stop this car right now and you can walk home!”
Only, for an affluent New York mother the threat was far from empty.
According to reports, Madlyn Primoff, who just happens to be a partner in a Manhattan law firm, made good on the age-old ”stop-it-or-I’m-going-to-pull-this-car-over-and-you-can-just walk-home” threat… and now she’s the one suffering the consequences.
Police reports claim that the affluent soccer mom snapped during a recent car ride with her battling 10- and 12-year-old daughters. Beyond fed up with her kids’ behavior she ordered the girls out of her car in a White Plains business district and drove off.
The 45-year-old mom was arrested and charged with endangering a child. She pleaded not guilty in court a few days ago, but a judge still issued a temporary order of protection, which essentially bars her from having contact with her daughters.
Primoff’s lawyer insists the order was “uncalled for,” especially since the girls were physically unharmed, but some parents disagree.
One mom, who witnessed the incident last Sunday told reporters that she sympathized with Primoff’s actions, up to the point where she pulled away.
“I used to pull over and make the kids change seats,” Iris Gorodess, a mom of four noted. “Also, I make sure the kids have their iPods and their games. And I have a minivan, so they’re not up my neck all the time. But I can’t see pulling away. That has to be too scary for the children.”
Turns out Primoff’s daughters were distraught after their mom drove off without them. According to police, the tween girls were left at an area lined with shops and offices roughly three miles from their $2 million home.
Police would not reveal if Primoff ever returned to look for the girls, but they did confirm that the 12-year-old eventually caught up with her mom, while the 10-year-old was found on the street by a stranger, who later contacted law enforcement.
Childcare experts weighing in on Primoff’s behavior say the mother acted “inappropriately.” They also note that it is a “traumatic situation for a child to be abandoned by a parent like that.”
Almost as traumatic as being arrested for doing so, I would image.
What do you make of Primoff’s actions? Would you have followed through on the threat? If not, what’s the biggest threat you have followed through on?
Related Articles:
Be Glad You Aren’t These Parents
“Slumdog” Star’s Crazy Father Beats Him
What Happens When Your Own Mother Thinks You’re an Abomination
What NOT to do with Your Newborn Twins
What Kind of Parents Take Their Kids Shopping on Black Friday?