A mother has shared an emotional post on Facebook revealing that she recently forgot her two-year-old inside her car, something she never thought would happen to her.
Britta Eberle of This is Motherhood shared her honest account of the horrifying accident earlier this month to warn other parents that it could easily happen to them.
"Do you see this little girl? Today I did the unthinkable and forgot about her in the car. Here's how it happened: our family arrived at a friend's house and in our excitement we all darted out, assuming that someone else had remembered to grab the youngest member of our clan," the post began.
She continued: "But no one remembered her. And she sat for about twenty minutes crying alone before one of us grabbed her. It was such a small mistake but it could have had devastating consequences."
Luckily, little Ada was completely unharmed. "Thank god we were we were parked in a safe place," Britta wrote. "Thank god it wasn't hot outside. Thank god she wasn't alone for long. Thank god she has already forgotten about it and forgiven us. But it will be a long time before I forgive myself."
The mum ended her emotional post describing how she had finished the traumatic day snuggling "her baby girl to bed". She also described how she read her a story, turned out the light and stayed beside her listening to her breath as she fell asleep.
"Hug your babies tight and practice forgiveness. Forgive those that make mistakes, even if the person who you need to forgive is yourself," she told her more than 22,000 followers.
Britta's honesty was praised by her fans. A fellow mum said: "Yes. It could happen to any of us. Scary. Thank you for sharing your story." Another one described how the same had happened to her: "I used to judge. I used to wonder how a parent could be so careless. Then one day 20 years ago I decided to go grocery shopping with one of my babies in tow. I NEVER went shopping with the babies, I ALWAYS went alone. I was one of the fortunate mom's who happened to catch a glimpse of pink out of the corner of my eye as I walked away from the car. I would have been gone for an hour on a hot summer day. THAT'S how easy it can happen. I have NEVER judged again."