Voices
family—even with a stay-at-home
mom who does all of the day-today care herself—who will never
pay someone to watch their children. Honest parents know—and
fear—that disaster can strike their
kids, no matter who is in charge.
That’s one reason this case has
resonated with so many people.
A trusted nanny having a sudden
mental breakdown—as appears to
be the case with Ms. Ortega—is as
random and uncontrollable as a
freak accident.
Child care is a universal need—
and concern—for all families.
That makes the Krim case not
just another example of rich people problems. Indeed, if any parents should be worried about the
possibility that “this could happen to me,” it is not well-heeled
women who can afford to pay a
premium for nannies who come
through agencies that provide
extensive background screening. Lower-income families are
at even greater risk, often having little choice but to leave their
children with shady caregivers,
sometimes with devastating results. Last year, a worker left
seven children alone in her home
daycare facility in Houston to go
shopping; a fire broke out while
CAROLYN
EDGAR
HUFFINGTON
11.11.12
she was gone, killing four of the
children. If the Krim case is going to start a conversation about
nannies and childcare, the focus
should be on providing greater
controls, for the benefit of both
families and nannies
alike, to what is now
a shadowy, underHonest
regulated market.
parents
In any event, the
know—and
focus on Ms. Krim’s
fear—that
parenting choices is
disaster can
misplaced. Whethstrike their
er Ms. Krim was
kids, no
a model mom or a
matter who is
neglectful one is irin charge.”
relevant. By all accounts, Ms. Krim
was a wonderful mother—but
even if she was awful, her kids
didn’t deserve to die.
When senseless violence takes
the lives of young children, judging another family’s parenting
choices allows us to delude ourselves into believing that random evil can be avoided. That, of
course, is a fallacy. Lulu and Leo
Krim are not dead because they
had a bad mother. If anything,
this case shows that wealth and
privilege have no power to protect our children from
unpredictable harm.