Mom Kicks Kids Out of the Car, Gets arrested

A mom in White Plains, N.Y., was fed up with her daughters' bickering in the car. And so, in a fit of what was likely parental desperation, she kicked the girls, ages 10 and 12, out of the car 3 miles from home.

Is the act one of minor stupidity -- acting properly human -- or child endangerment?

"The 12-year-old chased the car and got back in," reports the New York Times. "The 10-year-old was left alone and was eventually comforted by a passer-by who bought her an ice cream and contacted the police. When Ms. Primoff came to pick up her daughter, she was arrested on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and held in jail overnight. Ms. Primoff, a partner specializing in international finance with the firm Kaye Scholer, is free on $1,500 bail and due back in court on May 21."

Primoff also has been barred from contact with her children, writes the New York Sun.

If it weren't for her arrest -- and even with it, it's likely that Primoff's daughters will believe her next time when she tells them to stop fighting or they can get out of the car. I certainly believed my mother when she said similar statements because I KNEW my mother meant it. And Primoff made that clear with her own children.

I know there are plenty of folks who are and will slam Primoff for endangering her children in what some call a seedy commercial district in White Plains. Others will -- and have -- said they deal with fighting kids in the car by giving them iPods or other electronic toys to turn on or by making them change seats. But none of us were in Primoff's driving shoes in that car. None of us knows the volume the bickering had gotten to or the amount of time the girls had been fighting or how many other times before the girls had fought in that same car. None of us were in her shoes.

What we do know is that some forms of discipline can land us in jail -- and that's a shame. Because, really, when it comes right down to it, the only way our kids will listen to us when we tell preschoolers to keep those seat belts buckled or to stop yelling in the car or any miriad of other annoying behavior, is to enforce our threats. And kicking the kids out of the car is a pretty common threat that comes to many minds.

While I can't say I've ever kicked the kids out of the car miles from home, I have sent them out the front door to run a few laps around the house. And I have pulled over, stopped the car and refused to drive until everyone is acting right.

What troubles me most about this is NOT the fact that Primoff kicked the kids out. It's that she didn't quickly double back to pick up the 10-year-old.