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Toddler Samples Mouse In Her Mouth, Nation Gets Queasy
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 21, 2012
Modified Jan 21, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 21, 2012
Modified Jan 21, 2012
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While we remember fighting over the ambulance in day care (you know who you are, ambulance hoggers), we don't recall interacting with rodents until our first apartment. Eight-month-old Alanah Barba was recently found playing with a mouse in her mouth at a Newark day care center. "Lately, she's been vomiting. Everything she's eaten, she's throwing it back up," Alanah's mother Brittany tells ABC. On the other hand, it's never too early to read your children Stuart Little.
The child suffered no bites, and her family believes the mouse was dead when she placed it in her mouth. Kiburi Tucker, a father of five and executive director of the day care center, says this sort of thing never happens. "This was an isolated incident, I was really hurt by this, it could have been my child."
Tucker insists that it happened due to a "split second of a turned head," and was not an indication of poor supervision. Exterminators now come twice a month. Still, there is a school of thought among today's modern parents that playing with dead rodents is good for a child's development, and for racking up major hits on their YouTube channels.
Tagged
children
day care
gross
mice
new jersey
rodents
stuart little
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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