Julie Garrick of Denver Wouldn’t Discipline Her Toddler

Julie Garrick of Denver let her toddler act bratty while living with her elderly in-laws. She had a shriek that could split a chainsaw in two.

Anyone with half a brain knows that it’s just not civil to allow a toddler to behave badly in the presence of an 89- and 93-year-old in frail health.

Julie and Lance Garrick moved from Las Vegas to Denver after he found a job with a jeweler.

They tricked my elderly parents into believing that they were financially needy and thus needed to live with them while saving up money for a house.

Unfortunately, my generous parents fell for the ruse and let this family of five move in.

Judging by the endless stream of boxes that took all day to cart into my parents’ home, it was clear that Lance and Julie planned on living there for as long as possible. My stomach churns when I think of what this actually means.

Holly the Hell Raiser

Julie and Lance’s youngest child was Holly, age 2 at the time of move-in. Right off the bat, the toddler was a nuisance, repeatedly emitting ear-splitting shrieks from her playpen in the first-floor living room.

The shrill squawks often came at intervals, like once every two minutes. Imagine how unnerving this could be to people age 89 and 93. Julie and Lance Garrick, Highlands Ranch, Denver

Now before you assume that people that old have bad hearing and thus, the shrieking shouldn’t have been a problem, I will vehemently point out that it WAS.

I witnessed this over and over and over, since I was frequently at my parents’ home, which included often sleeping over to help my parents out with various issues.

My father had mobility problems, back pain and knee pain. He wouldn’t let my mother drive. They had frequent doctor appointments and shopping trips (my mother enjoyed shopping).

Many times (and happily to do so) I was their chauffeur. There were also medical issues that I stayed over for.

As a result, I quickly learned of Lance and Julie’s parenting methods and just how undisciplined Holly and their other two kids were.

The Walker Issue

One day I noticed that my father was keeping his walker in his office whenever he ventured to the kitchen or living room. He was very unsteady on his feet, even with a cane.

I asked why he wasn’t using his walker. He said that Holly was getting into it.

This meant that the toddler had been digging her hands into the various pouches that hung from the walker. In those pouches were things like my father’s phone, iPad, a flashlight, scissors, a pocket knife, medications, all sorts of things.

He said that the only way to keep her hands out of his personal belongings was to keep the walker in his office.

I was alarmed. I said, “You’re at high risk for a fall, even with a cane! You should not let that pest stop you from using your walker!”

To those of you who believe a few slaps on Holly’s hand would have solved the problem, my father wouldn’t do this.

I don’t know if my mother was aware of the problem, but at age 93, my father didn’t have the mindset to slap his toddler granddaughter’s hand.

He also wouldn’t bring the issue up with the toddler’s parents. I actually don’t know how much they were aware of this issue, whether or not they’d connected the dots when my father started leaving his walker behind, and/or if they’d witnessed Holly rummaging around in the pouches.

All I know is that the problem was obviously bad enough for a 93-year-old with shot knees and atrophied thighs to believe that the only solution was to confine his walker to his office.

I urged him to bring it out anyways, and while he sat in the living room or kitchen, to have a small blanket draped over the walker. He replied that this wouldn’t stop Holly. Nevertheless, he took my advice.

Shame on Julie and Lance (but mostly Julie, since Lance was at work Monday-Friday) for allowing this to go on.

Fall Alert Button

My father eventually wore a fall alert wristband, so that if he ever fell he could push its button. When the button was activated it would send me a text message and audible signal on my phone.

One day I was driving and heard the distinct signal. Heart pounding, I pulled over and saw the automated text message from the alarm system. I called my father, heart fluttering.

He answered. I said, “I just got a signal your fall alarm went off! Are you okay?!”

He said he was and that Holly had pushed the button on the wrist alarm.

What the fuck. How does something like this happen? He explained that the toddler was seated beside him at the kitchen table and grabbed at the wristband.

Of ALL the tons of things that Holly could be curious about and grab at, why the boring-looking wristband? It wasn’t sparkly, glittery or colorful. What the fudge.

“Why did you let her touch it?” I asked.

“It happened so fast,” my father answered. It’s believable that a toddler’s hands got to the then 94-year-old’s wristband before he knew what was happening.

What pissed me off was that he said Julie was there. On one hand, it’s impossible for a mom to keep her eyes on her toddler at a table for literally every second. We all get that.

HOWEVER, it’s also not rocket science to prevent a toddler from messing around with an elderly person’s fall-alarm wristband, either!

There are parents who would have slapped their toddler’s hand for doing this. There are others, like Julie, who’d do nothing or maybe, at the most, smile and gently say, “Now Holly, don’t touch Grampa’s bracelet.” And then there’s everything in between.

There’s also “preventive medicine,” in that a smart, savvy mom will not allow such a situation to occur even for a first time – which included the alarm company calling to make sure everything was okay. Alarm companies DO NOT NEED FALSE ALARMS.

I told my father I’d nearly had a heart attack for nothing.

There are additional posts on this site describing Holly’s bad behavior, which, technically, wasn’t “bad” because her parents permitted it. Links to these posts are in the right margin. Lance and Julie Garrick, Highlands Ranch,