Father Loses 2-Year-Old Daughter At Supermarket, His Response Sparks Collective Outrage

A father’s parenting skills were heavily questioned due to his reaction (or lack thereof) when his 2-year-old child got lost in a supermarket.

MJ Sparkles, who goes by @broomstick88 online, recounted the exasperating situation she witnessed while grocery shopping.

Her sense of alarm was triggered when she heard another woman ask, “Where’s the baby?”

The shopper recalled: “In the store, I’m near the checkout, I have my toddler with me. Big kid’s at home. And I hear, ‘Where’s the baby?’ Which, every woman stops immediately.”

A woman shared the contrasting reactions of a mother and a father after they lost sight of their 2-year-old at the supermarket

Woman with purple hair in a park, highlighting a dad losing baby at store story.

Image credits: broomstick88

“And she, we look over to the woman with her husband and two other little girls. And she goes, ‘The baby’s missing. Where’s the baby?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t know. What do you want me to do about it?'”

Sparkles said all the women looked at each other and immediately ran to locate the toddler, showing more interest than the child’s actual father.

“Every woman in that store stopped what they were doing and started looking for a small child before we ever had a description of this little girl. Meanwhile, mom takes off running, looking for the baby yelling, yelling a description for us.

“Everybody is looking for this child. Meanwhile, dad sees his other two small children go running after mom, doesn’t attempt to stop them.

“Never lets go of the cart, doesn’t leave the cart, doesn’t move the cart, and just turns in a slow circle. And that was it. That was his reaction,” the mom said, mimicking the father looking over his shoulders calmly.

Woman in car discussing dad losing baby at store, expressing shock with wide eyes and raised hand gesture.

Image credits: www.tiktok.com

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the group to find the missing child.

“We had that baby back in that mom’s arms in less than two minutes, OK? She went to go look at some snacks, got lost, couldn’t find her way back, she was like 2 years old. Cute as could be.

“Mom walked past, I was like, ‘Are you OK?’ and she’s like, ‘Yep, yep, I’m OK.’ Every woman looks at this man, and we just make eye contact with each other.”

Without uttering a word, the women collectively judged the father’s lack of initiative in searching for his little girl.

MJ Sparkles was at the store when she heard a woman ask, “Where’s the baby?”

Baby in a shopping cart outside, smiling and wearing a striped shirt.

Image credits: Dragana Gordic/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)

So much so that they silently decided they wouldn’t shed a tear if the man were run over by a car outside the supermarket.

“I just watched every woman in a store telepathically agree that if we saw this other woman’s husband get hit by a car in the parking lot, we saw nothing. Knew nothing,” Sparkles joked.

“Officer, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was looking at my phone. I think he laid down in front of that car.”

Woman in car looking surprised, reacting to dad loses baby at store, text overlay shows puzzled response.

Image credits: broomstick88

In the comments, many netizens echoed Sparkle’s disbelief at the father’s failure to take action in searching for his 2-year-old daughter.

“I don’t have kids or a maternal bone in my body but if you hear those words in THAT voice, you drop everything and find the f**king baby. Men…” one user wrote.

“‘What do you want me to do about it?’- I’m sorry, WHAT?!!! 🤬” another person said,  to which the content creator replied, “That’s when we collectively rolled our eyes so hard we saw our ancestors.”

“If my husband heard any woman yelling ‘Where is the baby,’ he would become the most productive, panicked man you have ever seen. And then when the baby was found, he would probably cry from relief,” shared another mom.

Her husband responded, “I don’t know. What do you want me to do about it?”

Woman discusses a dad losing his baby in a car, looking surprised, with a quote below her.

Image credits: broomstick88

A separate user penned: “His own kid??? I don’t like or want kids, but if someone loses a toddler, I’m gonna help them find them! It’s called humanity jeez.”

Someone else referred to the woman as a “married single mom.”

Others debated whether it’s possible to spot “red flags” in parenting before actually having children with someone.

One person said: “I don’t want to blame the woman, but she needs a better red flag detector. Men like that should NEVER become fathers. Women, raise your standards. Men, be better.”

“You can’t predict how utterly useless or great a man is gonna be until you have the baby,” countered another netizen.

Woman in car discussing a dad who lost a baby at store, highlighting his unexpected reaction.

Image credits: broomstick88

@broomstick88#useless#parentingfail#dadfail#marriedsinglemom#rage#womensupportingwomen#parenting#sahm#toddler#toddlersoftiktok#toddlermom♬ original sound – MJ sparkles

According to a 2023 Pew Research survey, mothers worry more than fathers about various issues. For instance, nearly half of mothers (46%) say they are extremely or very worried that their children will struggle with anxiety or depression at some point, compared with 32% of fathers.

Moms are also more likely than dads to say they are extremely or very worried about their children being bullied, being kidnapped or abducted, or having problems with alcohol or other substances.

In line with these findings, mothers are more likely than fathers to say that being a parent is tiring (47% vs. 34%) and stressful (33% vs. 24%) all or most of the time.

Regarding childcare responsibilities, moms tend to say they do more than their spouse or partner, while dads tend to say they share responsibilities equally.

Upon hearing the father’s question, Sparkles said she and the other women “collectively rolled [their] eyes so hard, [they] saw [their] ancestors”

Toddler in a pink outfit exploring toy store shelves, illustrating a dad's unexpected response.

Image credits: Nomad_Soul/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)

@broomstick88 Replying to @Kenna Hodgeman #childsafety#safeparent#crowdsafety#loatchild#missingchild#parenting#toddlers♬ original sound – MJ sparkles

Though both feel judged for how they parent their children, fathers are more likely than mothers to say they feel judged by their spouse or partner at least sometimes for their parenting skills (56% vs. 49%).

In contrast, mothers are more likely than fathers to feel judged by their own parents, their partner’s parents, or other parents in their community.

According to a Pew Research survey, moms are more likely than dads to say that being a parent is stressful and tiring

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