Could you ever forgive yourself??

Oh the poor girl, she must be devastated. It would be hard and take time, but forgiveness is the key to healing, I hope she does realize that..

OH NO!!! that poor girl!! She must be just devastated and so guilt ridden....Could I fogive myself...eventually I'm sure I could ASSUMING HOWEVER that the parents didnt blame me forever..I would need to know from them that they realize it was an accident etc ya know..Even so, it would take a LONG LONG time...

I am with you. I would never be able to forgive myself. I would feel so guilty. Poor girl.

If this is the story I'm thinking of, the babysitter was 45-50 years old, not a girl. I didn't read where she said she reached for a towel or that he banged his head, just that she'd left him unattended for a moment. Honestly, my feeling is that a 45 year old woman should know better than to leave a child alone in a bath tub. My son is 6 and he still gets supervised while bathing. And I'm not sure I could live with the grief and self-blame if it were me.

Accidents happen when we least expect them. I am pretty sure that for those who had experienced one, the traumatic event will always be in their thoughts, especially for those who felt a little responsible for the said accident. Pain and hurt heals, but it takes time and forgiveness. You need to forgive yourself and you also need to seek forgiveness for others who you have hurt. If i was the girl baby sitting, I would feel really uncomfortable and guilty but she must never put the blame on her since it was an accident. It would be best to heal the wounds and start all over again, and of course learn from the mistakes that has been committed.

i cant even forgive myself for my miscarraige i dont know how i would feel if that happened to me. damn

Gosh, thats horrible. I couldnt forgive myself at all, even though it was just an accident, I would never be able to forgive myself. What a terrible and unfortunate situation. :(

No, it wasn't her fault but I would think that moment will stay in the poor girl's mind forever. Yes, I would feel terribly guilty. You can't even explain to the child that it was an accident, when they've gone, so therefore, it preys on your mind. Brightest Blessings.

no i would not be able to forgive myself on that. I would always be like if i wouldve had the towel right beside me before i put him in the tub then this wouldnt of happened. I would probably have to see a counsler i would be so depressed all the time

I probably would feel the same way you do. We all know it was clearly an accident, but it would really be difficult to accept that it ever happened. I can just imagine how the girl felt. Much, much more the parents who lost their child. I really hope they could forgive her for this. And I wish things like this didn't have to happen.

That would be a hard thing to get over...a child is so precious but accidents happen in just seconds that can change so many people's lives. It would take alot to forgive yourself but eventually you would get over it to some extent. I don't know if I could personally get over it or not....

I would never forgive myself. Ever. The thought of it makes me cry.

That's horriable. I know I could never forgive myself. I was 12 years old when I started babysitting for this family of 3 children. 4,3 and 8months. The middle child was a boy who was 3 and the mother always told us to rough house outside so we did and he broke his wrist because he landed the wrong way. The mother understood because accidents happen and he'll be just fine. But I would feel horriable if something like that happened to me. I hope it doesnt haunt her forever. Accidents usually happen when we least expect it. That's the bad part we can't predict them.

what the heck did the baby hit in the tub to kill themself, that is crazy, i could not live with myself if anything happened to any of my kids accident or not

i think i cannot forgive my self, even do it is not my fault. accident actually happen all the time, but we cannot even till that it will be our fault or not.but i think we will forgive our self because what we will do if we cannot forgive our on self.life must go on.

It could happen to anyone and no I would never be able to forgive myself if something like that would happen. I am an over protective mother. I have trouble trusting people with my kids. With all the stories on the news about what people do and what happens to kids. Its really hard for me to trust my kids with anyone. Guess what someone else wouldn't watch your child as much as you would. My 2 year old was being watched by my mother and she just walked away at a fair. Thank goodness my uncle seen her b/c I would of lost her if anyone else would of seen her first. Everytime I think about it I get a sick feeling in my stomach. So how do you tell your mom that she does do a good enough job watching your daughter and she can't watch her. Even at a grocery store. I never take my hand off my buggy with my child being in. People now a days are crazy and would do anything. God gives us children to protect them and I may be over protective but I have no choice.

Hi Sissygrl, This is very sad, and as you say could happen to anyone. I think most people would have nightmares about it for a long time. Blessings.

Hi sissygirl, for me, i guess i would never forgive myself for what i have done. Be it my own child or someone else's. It will haunt me forever but in the long run, when you start asking yourself when will you be able to forgive yourself, you'll realize that sometimes, accidents happens. No one can foresee accidents unless he/she can see the future! i guess you'll have a phobia in handling babies in the future. Unless you have learned how to forgive yourself for what had happened unintentionally, one would be less likely to have issues/phobias on how to handle their own child next time.So what we can do is to learn from our mistakes and start turn a new leaf, which i know, sounds very Easy to say but hardest thing is to put it into action. Takes time for all this to heal and never to let it happen anymore. May the baby rest in peace in heaven and may the babysitter go through life ahead courageously . GOd Bless

I don't think I could ever forgive myself if this happened to me. As the babysitter or the parents. Being in the parents position I'd feel guilty having left the responsibility of bathing the baby on the babysitter. And I agree with alot of the previous responses that the baby should of been in a baby tub. I have a sling in my baby tub for when their younger and my daughter is 5 months old and I still use the sling. She is still too wobbly to sit up, but even then mine has a seat that holds them in. This is such a sad story. My heart pours out to all affected by this...the babysitter (she has to be having a hard time) and the family of the baby.

I honestly don't know how I'd react in those circumstances. The fact it the baby should have been in a baby bath or a baby bath seat that suckers on to your own bath to keep them upright. Babies normally only sit unaided around 6-8months so i'd have been very surprised if this 5 month old could sit on in own. Unfortunately she didn't have the experience to take on the task of bathing a small baby but still had the sense to call emergency services. It is such a shame for this story to end on a tragic note, but it is something all parents can learn from. When leaving your child in the care of others, don't be frightened about being very specific about what you want your babysitter to and not to do. And always ask if they've done these things before. If you have any uncertainty about whether to leave the child or not - postpone until you are certain. Things can only go tragically wrong once. I'm sure the parents of the baby feel more guilt than anyone. x