By Julia Arnold of Frantic Mama

“I…I didn’t think so much could happen in 10 minutes,” distraught mother, Donna Martin, informed police at her home at 10 am Friday. “All I wanted was a shower where people weren’t turning lights on and off and flushing the toilet. That’s all I wanted…” she trailed off, sobbing into her hands.

The mother of two got much more than a quiet shower that morning. Much more.

Once her young children realized that the bathroom door was locked, they began banging with all their might. Astoundingly, according to the children, their mother simply ignored their wild protests. The 3-year-old told police, “Mama locked the door! She locked it!”

Local psychologist, Brenda Walsh, fears both children are suffering from severe post-traumatic stress syndrome from the ordeal. She explains, “When young children are cruelly separated from their primary caregiver and their immediate needs aren’t met, they suffer lifelong consequences. Those two innocent children will need years of therapy to overcome this morning’s emotional turmoil.”

But it didn’t end there. Once the children realized their knocking wouldn’t unlock the door, the 6-year-old, Dylan McCay, decided it was snack time. The children rushed downstairs only to find that they were out of strawberry frosted Pop Tarts (the only kind he will eat). “I was so mad,” whispered a red-faced Dylan. “So, so ANGRY!”

The two minors then worked together to reach their family’s candy stash, usually reserved for successful bathroom achievements or, as John Doe snickers, “rewards.” They pulled a chair over to the tall cabinet and yanked a full box of candy bars down from the top shelf. “I really, really wanted a Twix, but all we had were Kit-Kats!” cried the inconsolable 3-year-old.

Walsh adds, “How can we possibly expect our children to grow into happy, healthy adults if their parents can’t even keep their favorite treats on hand at all times? It’s devastating. The time for change is now.”

After gobbling a few candy bars, the children found their mother’s phone. That’s when the police were alerted to the trouble. “We got a call from what appeared to be two distraught minors. They were crying, laughing, and yelling– clearly panicked,” the police chief, David Silver, recalls. “We heard something about their mother locking the bathroom door, and that’s when I heard the yelling,” Silver shook his head. “That god-awful yelling.”

“When I turned off the water, the house felt almost too quiet. I rushed out of the shower, only a towel wrapped around me, to find my children playing with my phone, chocolate smeared across their faces,” their mother defended herself. “My daughter had peed in her pants, and my son was prying the phone from his sister’s hands while she hit him repeatedly on the back,” she remembered. “Is a quiet shower too much to ask?” she pleaded to a group of wide-eyed reporters.

Apparently so. The next thing the mother knew, someone was knocking forcefully on the front door. The police were concerned for the safety of the two youths. “It’s times like this that our country needs to take a serious look at what is happening behind closed doors. What does it mean to live in a country where mothers feel they deserve to be alone in the bathroom? I ask all of you this: what does it mean?”

Only time will tell, it seems. Since the occurrence, the mother and children are receiving intensive family counseling to help the children overcome what Walsh calls their “abandonment issues,” and to help their mother understand the root cause of her careless actions.

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About the Author

Julia Arnold writes about life, love, motherhood and more. You can find her at Frantic Mama and on Facebook.