White car rides, running on the roof, open windows

In the name of fun, Joe would put the kids in situations that put them in danger. It was so unnecessary and mind boggling that he did these things that any rational person would recognize as being not a good idea.

White Car Rides

Joe would repeatedly, for years, put the back seats down in our small SUV and let the kids bounce around the back without seatbelts while he took them for a drive. First, it was just down the road and right back. Then he increasingly started driving further. I begged for it to stop. I refused to allow the bigger kids to be in the car when he was doing this. I was terrified that something terrible was going to happen.

I finally got him to stop one day when I was about six miles away from our house at a small grocery store and I saw Joe there with the kids. Completely by coincidence. The kids were bouncing around the back of the car, no buckles, in a full parking lot at a busy store. I removed the kids from the car and told him I would call the police the next time he did it.

There were also incidences of him traveling to Michigan and relatives commenting on him not buckling the kids into their car seats.

Running on the Roof

Joe thought it would be fun for the small kids ( 3-4 years old ) to run on the roof of the house. He took them up on a ladder and let them go. I was absolutely terrified and shaking when I saw them and I cried until he brought them down.

Throwing stuffed animals out of the window

Joe thought it would be fun if the kids (2 & 3 years old), would stand in our 2nd story bedroom, in front of a nearly floor to ceiling open window ( no screen), and throw their stuffed animals down to him. My heart stopped when I saw that they were unsupervised in front of open windows like that. I had to be the “bad guy” and shut the game down.