Grandma put grandkids in kennels; why?
Make no mistake about it. What Leimome Cheeks did could have ended tragically.
This past Saturday, a day when temperatures reached 95 degrees, Cheeks, 62, loaded her grandchildren, ages 7 and 9, into dog kennels in the back of her Ford Explorer. She then drove 25 miles with them, from Whitehaven to Collierville.
A bystander saw her unload the children from the kennels and recorded it. The video went viral and on Sunday morning, Memphis police arrested Cheeks and charged her with two counts of child endangerment. The outrage over this is justified. At least 37 children die each year from in hot cars. Many times, it happens when parents or caregivers get too overwhelmed with other tasks and forget they left the child in the car, or they believe they can leave the child in the car for a short while as they run an errand.
While Cheeks’ grandchildren weren’t left alone, they still were susceptible to heatstroke or dehydration. No vents were in the back of the SUV, and the children complained that it was hot. But then, there’s this. Cheeks said she put the children in the kennels because there was no room for them in her SUV, and that she checked on them periodically. State law also mandates that children 9 and
Grandmother who drove grandkids around town in pet kennels appears in court, younger sit in the rear seats of vehicles, when possible. She ultimately moved them there.
Cheeks also doesn’t sound like a grandmother who intended to hurt or degrade her grandchildren. Her
neighbors, in fact, have said her actions seem out of character. So, what’s the deal here? Cheeks isn’t saying. She has declined interviews. That’s unfortunate, because questions abound as to why she would resort to putting her grandchildren in the same spaces that she would put her dogs.
Was there no one Cheeks could have left her grandchildren with as she traveled to Collierville?
If there wasn’t, that may mean that she’s part of that growing population of stressed, older adults who are raising grandchildren or taking on a huge role in raising them.
A study released in 2017 shows that grandparents in that predicament are less likely to get help with child care, and more likely to struggle with mental health problems. Hmmm. Or was this Cheeks’ bizarre way of multitasking? Did she believe she could compact her babysitting duties and errand duties by stowing the children in kennels?
And was there some reason she couldn’t have moved the kennels out of the car to make room for her grandchildren?
Or did she think riding in the kennels would be an adventure of sorts for the children? It’s bizarre. It’s good that Cheeks’ actions were caught on video. Among other things, it assures she won’t do this again. But it will also remind others caring for children that this is the season in which too many die in hot cars.
And that, when it comes to leaving children in them, an incompetent act or a convenient choice could wind up being a tragic one.