The Long Road

02/06/2006 Archived Entry: "Robin"

So there’s this boy. He comes in every Sunday to visit me at the Laundromat. He’s 8 years old. A couple of months ago, his mom was there regularly to do her laundry so I chatted with him a few times. Then his mom stopped coming because she got some machines. The first time he came by himself to visit was quaint, he stayed for a while, talked about this and that. But then he started doing it every week and his visits kept getting longer and longer. This week, he came in soon after I opened the doors at 7am. My immediate reaction was “WTF?”, he ended up staying there until 5pm when I left, having gone home for maybe 30 minutes in the early afternoon.

Aside from spending all day at the happiest place on earth, there’re a few other strange behaviours in all this.

1. This week he fully expected me to drive him to McDonald’s for lunch. He had gift certificates (or something) and kept asking me what time my lunch was so that we could go to McD’s. I told him to walk it (30 ish mins) but he refused. He had no alternative plans for lunch and was sitting around until 1-2 o’clock, and obviously hungry, when I asked one of the regulars if he could get the kid some food.

2. He takes a walk around the place to look for “fallen quarters” and frequently comes back with a few bucks. He’ll come up to me and say “the snack machine ate my 3$” which it sometimes does; he’s done this more than once now and I question the veracity of his statement but I don’t really want to call this kid a liar and make a scene in front of all the other customers.

3. When I leave, I say goodbye and he does the same except that he’ll go out the front and make his way to the back to where my car is and waits there. He watches me load up my laundry and hangs around the driver door until I ask him if he wants a drive home (he lives like 6 doors down). When I get to his place, he avoids getting out of the car for as long as possible until I make it absolutely clear that I would like to get home as soon as possible.

So what the hell is going on here? Am I just that cool to a 8 year old boy? Is he super-clingy? Are there problems at home? Is he there to steal money? Am I a friggen babysitter!? He said that his mom was going somewhere on Sunday (with his other siblings) and told him to “go to the Laundromat”. Which is quite possible, yet very irresponsible.

I cannot deal with having to spend like 10 hours entertaining and keeping an eye out on this boy every week. I want nothing more than to read my book and drink my coffee at 7am on Sunday mornings, yet there he is. The added responsibility of having this kid around all day is ridiculous; he’s EVERYWHERE and asks hundreds of questions.

I need to make it very clear that he can’t be there all day, any suggestions on what’s going on and how to handle it? I’ve made suggestions that he goes home, I’ve asked why he’s up so early or if he has anything better to do but none of this works. Help!

Replies: 9 comments

Sounds like there may possibly be problems at home. On a similar note, we had a young girl that would spend the entire day at the pool because her parents left her there. The only swim she could participate in lasted only 1.5 hours. In accordance with protocol, we had to file a child abuse report against the parents. The authorities took care of the rest. This appears to be another case of child abuse...negligence on the part of the parents in taking care of the child's daily necessities. Contact the police about it.

Posted by dAN @ 02/06/2006 09:16 PM EST

I agree with dAN that contacting the police seems like the best/only thing to do in that case.

Posted by Étienne @ 02/07/2006 02:20 AM EST

Although there could be a number of different this going on and reasons for this behaviour (I get it all the time at work, but people think we're an arcade full of babysitters.... ugh), it is still true that a parent should not leave a child unattended like that *anywhere*. You could go talk to the mother yourself, but given the current situation, I don't know how much good that will do. You can contact the police the next time he comes in (after half an hour is deemed child abandonment for children under 12, and the police can figure out if a crime has been committed), but you could also contact FACS... you could do so when the child is not there (ie, before next weekend), and it might be a little less traumatizing for a child who obviously trusts you. If there's room to press charges, they will, and they'll go talk to the mother and ensure the child is safe regularly. Contact info is:

Ministry of Community and Social Services
Eastern Region
10 Rideau Street, 7th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9J1
Tel.: (613) 234-1188
Toll Free: 1-800-267-5111

As a side note, I'm afraid you've become responsible in a situation without intending to. If there are problems at home, be aware that the mother (or father/stepfather/boyfriend)could easily figure out that it was you or anyone else in the staff that reported them and... well... "respond" to that. Also, if charges are laid, you will be expected to be a witness. Fun! (but seemingly necessary).

Posted by Kathleen @ 02/07/2006 11:29 AM EST

You think the kid knows you're Batman and is just filling out his role as Robin?!

Posted by dAN @ 02/07/2006 01:16 PM EST

Are you serious? LOL wtf??

Dood you even drove him home?? Man this is SUCH a setup, be careful... who knows they might claim like you sexually abused him and then try to sue you -- ppl are fucked up like that!

Posted by Dave @ 02/07/2006 02:29 PM EST

Yes, I will have to train him in my Batman ways...

Posted by Rayne @ 02/08/2006 02:46 PM EST

Duder...I heard you want to go "talk" to the mom...:O!!! BIG NO NO!!! She'll just send her kid off elsewhere if there is a problem (which we have yet to determine). Stop fearing the cops...:P...they're here to help.

Posted by dAN @ 02/10/2006 12:04 AM EST

She may also BEAT the kid if she feels he "spilled the beans"...

Posted by dAN @ 02/10/2006 12:04 AM EST

Slip the kid a sedative in his happy meal.

Posted by Dog @ 02/13/2006 03:56 PM EST