Tragedy

So I was reading in the news today, the story of this woman who's five month old infant died because it was left in the van all day.
Apparently she thought that she had dropped the child off at daycare, but she had forgotten to do so, and instead it was in her car all day long.
Sorry for calling the baby "it." Frankly it feels callous and horrible, but the news article didn't tell me whether it was a boy or a girl.

So, of course I was appalled when I read this story, and my first reaction was to think "What kind of moron leaves their child in the car all day long without realizing it?"
Now that I have been thinking about it, I have to concede that I have heard some pretty crazy stories from lots of great parents, about having left their kids somewhere, or who knows what.
It has occurred to me, that the real tragedy here, is that our society is so damn busy, and parents have to work so damn hard just to make all the ends meet, that often more important things get neglected.
When you live in a constant state of rush, rush, rush, something like this is bound to happen.
Family values are definitely not the rule of the day anymore.
Even for moms who stay home, friends and playpals often live way across town, and the doctors visits, grocery store runs, and grandma, are usually spread out too. By the time you've reached your last stop, you've spent most of the day running in and out of places with a diaper bag. All I am saying is, parents nerves are already frazzled sometimes. Add to that both parents working full time, and the stress of getting the kids to daycare in the morning without being late....
I don't know.
I know people do it all the time without leaving their infants trapped in the car, all I am saying is, can you really be surprised that it happens?
Maybe I shouldn't be ready to crucify that young mother just yet. Besides, I can't imagine how I'd live with myself if it had been me. She is going to have enough to deal with without my flinging mud at her.