Julie Garrick of Highlands Ranch, Denver allowed her entitled toddler Holly to throw toys all over, creating a tripping hazard for my very elderly parents.
My sister-in-law Julie Garrick and her husband Lance moved to Denver from Las Vegas into my very elderly parents’ house after a job transfer.
With them were three kids including toddler Holly.
As they were moving in, Holly was outside in her playpen which was full of toys, stuffed animals, books, etc. She was wildly tossing one item at a time onto the walkway that ran amid the different homes in the complex.
Her brother, 3-year-old Talon would then fetch and put them back into the playpen – after which Holly would retrieve and repeat. Julie Garrick, Denver
I had a foreboding, as I observed this ongoing “game,” that Holly was going to be a compulsive thrower once inside the house, littering the floor.
My mother and father were 89 and 93, respectively, at the time.
My mother had had a total hip replacement a year prior after falling and fracturing her hip. Though she walked fine without assistance, she was STILL 89 and did not exercise.
My father alternated between a cane and a walker. His back was bad, legs weak, and his knees frequently gave him pain.
My Prediction Rang True Highlands Ranch
Almost immediately after being set up in her playpen in the living room, Holly began throwing whatever was in it on the floor, creating an obstacle course.
I’ve always been athletic and agile, but even I had to watch where I stepped! Julie and Lance Garrick, Denver
The toddler’s parents did NOTHING to correct her from throwing things out of her cluttered playpen and littering the floor where two elderly people frequently walked.
This had a simple solution that escaped Julie’s simple mind. Just think about this for a moment. . .
She allows the toddler to throw things all over the floor, directly in the path of walking, when there are elderly people present – the very people who are so generously giving their house to them for only $300/month.
Holly repeatedly tossed anything that was in the playpen onto the floor.
NO, she didn’t drop things straight down alongside the side of the playpen. She literally THREW – which meant that items ended up scattered all about the floor. Julie Garrick of Denver
- She’d do this while my sister-in-law was present, only feet away.
- This woman was very well-aware of what her daughter was doing.
I am NOT exaggerating or fabricating when I say my sister-in-law NEVER DID ANYTHING to stop this behavior.
In fact, I myself would put a stop to it – in Julie’s presence – by completely clearing out the playpen. This simple solution escaped my sister-in-law.
WAIT A MINUTE…Highlands Ranch
I’m having a tough time wrapping my head around the idea that this woman was too dense to figure out this simple solution – especially (yes, this is true) since Holly NEVER cried out for her confiscated toys. Julie Garrick
The only other explanation for why my sister-in-law allowed her toddler to litter the living room floor was to purposely create a stumbling hazard for my elderly parents.
Though this may sound like a reach, you have to remind yourself that there’s only ONE OTHER explanation: that Julie had a mental defect that prevented her from figuring out a solution that a 5-year-old could figure out.
And I won’t buy the mental defect theory. I’m sticking to the “I don’t give a shit what happens to my elderly in-laws” theory.
This theory becomes more plausible when you consider just WHAT some of the things in Holly’s playpen were: things that a 2-year-old would have no interest in, such as books, including some belonging to my 12-year-old niece!
There were other items in there that I can’t recollect, but at the time, I wondered why they were in there, because they were not appropriate playthings for a toddler.
The only interest Holly had with them was picking them up and throwing (not dropping straight down) as far as she could.
Every time I was there (which was often, being that I was always looking after my 89- and 93-year-old parents), that playpen was cluttered. Julie Garrick
The toddler would sometimes bite on a book – that was her only interest in books. She might play for a brief period with the items that were appropriate for her age, such as a stuffed animal. But no matter what the item was, she’d ultimately throw it onto the floor.
Why wasn’t the playpen situated in an area where the toddler couldn’t throw into a location where people walked?
Good question! Let’s ask Julie Einstein. I don’t know why I never questioned her about this. I guess it’s because I thought that if I created any waves or tension, this would circulate back to my mother – who got upset easily. My mother would tell me with a very worried voice, “DON’T say anything to her!”
Only after she passed did I begin wondering why my mother seemed to be scared of Julie to the extent that she couldn’t feel safe requesting that I aggressively intervene.
I certainly wasn’t afraid of my sister-in-law OR brother. My parents knew that.
But for reasons I can only speculate on with a sick feeling in my stomach, my beloved elderly parents were afraid to put their foot down.
This was a big battle to pick (tripping hazard!!), not a little one to ignore.
It’s by sheer luck neither of them tripped and broke a hip or fractured their skull. Pure luck.
The playpen was placed near an area that was heavily trafficked. For example, my father — WITH a cane or walker! — had to get past the litter field to get to his office.
More than once I had witnessed him angrily use his cane to sweep toys out of his path. My mother had her sewing machine in the office, so she, too, had to frequently step around or over the litter.
Fuck, NOT ONCE did Julie make ANY attempt to teach Holly to behave. So many, many times I witnessed the same pattern:
1 Cluttered playpen Highlands Ranch
2 Holly throws everything out onto the floor – in her mama’s presence.
3 Mama says nothing and doesn’t even promptly pick up the items.
4 I place the items in a pile outside the playpen, and remove remaining items from the playpen.
In Julie’s Defense Highlands Ranch
You might argue that she was too busy to act. However, when this occurred, she was NEVER doing anything that she couldn’t have left momentarily to pick up the mess and clear out the playpen.
Next, even if she was in the middle of rinsing dirty dishes or preparing food, this was no excuse for permitting her toddler to think it was acceptable to behave like a brat. What Mama with half her wits does this?
A PhD in child psychology is NOT required to have a little common sense and know that it’s just plain wrong to allow a toddler to repeatedly, every day, throw toys, etc., out of her playpen onto a heavily-trafficked area of a house. Duhhhh, this is Common Sense 101.
But Sis-in-law did. Just shameful. In her presence I’d also TELL Holly, “Do NOT throw your toys on the floor.” And even then, Julie Garrick said and did nothing.
It were as though Julie’s complete apathy was part of some experiment she was conducting.
Though my parents (at least in my presence) never stumbled over the items, this in NO way validates Julie’s lack of basic decency and respect for two elderly people who were charging her husband only $300 a month rent.
Even if both my parents had been younger and fitter, there is STILL no reasonable excuse for allowing a toddler to behave this way.
Nobody – no matter how agile and physically fit – should have to navigate their OWN HOME’S floor to avoid tripping on toys, books, etc., thrown there by an undisciplined toddler.
Lance Also Guilty of Creating Tripping Hazard
My ungracious brother repeatedly left his huge loafer-slippers either on the laundry room floor in the path of walking between the garage and kitchen (which were adjoined by the laundry room), or on the garage steps (in the path of anyone using those steps) that led up to the laundry room door — despite being repeatedly told to stop doing this.
Again, here’s a situation that comes with only two explanations:
1. Mental defect that prevents reasoning beyond the capacity of a 5-year-old
2. Total disregard for creating a trip-and-fall hazard for everyone else.
I’m going with #2.
After my mother passed and Lance again pulled this selfish stunt, I threw both loafers across the garage where they landed in difficult-to-spot locations. I wonder how long it took him to find them, because eventually, they were missing from the spot they had landed in, and also were no longer in the laundry room or on the steps.
What kind of minds think nothing of creating a tripping hazard for elderly people – especially the very people who had given them use of a spacious, beautiful home?
JUST REPREHENSIBLE. Julie Garrick in Denver – Highlands Ranch
Links to Julie Garrick’s Additional Atrocious Deeds
Overall crappy treatment of my parents shortened their lifespan
Refuses to clean up tons of crumbs under kitchen table made by her kids
Left other disgusting messes in the kitchen; gave outrageous excuses for not cleaning them up
Uses up elderly mother-in-law’s good silverware, telling her use the plastic kiddie utensils
Let the children ruin mother-in-law’s good furniture
Let toddlers frequently scream and shriek in elderly in-laws living quarters