If a 4 year old showed up at your door with a suitcase and a note saying please take care of me...?

thats how i got my kid

I would first take them in and ask why they would want to live with me. Then I would call the proper authorities because I'm sure the parents would be franticaly looking for their child and I'd hate to be mixed up with a child abuse / abduction case.

But if the child has valid reason, like they are getting beaten or the parents are drug addicts, then I would consider fostering this child to see if we are a match. I love children and It would be a great challenge.

WHAT?!?! Animal control? interesting analogy.

As for raising him on your own, you can't. You HAVE to go through the court proceedings to determine next of kin, or even whether the kids wrote the note himself. If there is no next of kin he would be placed in foster care until someone adopts him.

So the very first thing anyone should do is call the police (or parents if you happen to know who the child is). Else you will be arrested for kidnapping.

I would take him in, comfort him, make him feel welcome (like he was at Grandma's) and then call the authorities. If I was in a position to care for a child and wanted a child I would petition the court for custody and maybe even adoption. As for who the parents are it's obvious SOMEONE didn't want him but the authorities would surely find out WHO the parents are and what the situation is. Perhaps the parents don't even know the situation. Maybe he was left with a caregiver. You just don't know.

Ha! I did this when I was 5. I told my mom I was going to "run away" so I packed my suitcase (my mom even helped!) walked down the street three houses down (I thought it was a long way at the time) and asked if they wanted a new kid. Of course, my mom was watching me the whole time, I just didn't know it. The poor people were very confused (they didn't know mom was watching either) and told me I should probably go home and try to work things out with my mom. And I did! (I was a very obedient kid lol) My mom still teases me about that to this day.

In our society, you probably have no right to this kid. By law, you'd have to call the police and social services. They would take the child from you as your home is not approved to take temporary care of a child.

Your other choice is not to go to the authorities, but this would cause a huge problem as you have no idea who left the child at your doorstep. It could have been a child molester who was tired of the child. You can get into big trouble for not reporting this and you would have trouble registering this child for school. Maybe one parent had the kid and the other parent wants the kid and has rights to the kid.

I once saw a wandering dog and took it in and called the owners and left four messages over the morning. I'm allergic to dogs, but I didn't want them to have to pay a fee to the pound and I didn't want the dog to get injured. This dog's two owners came across as crazy. I knew them. When they came home, I ran out to tell them that I had their dog, so they wouldn't be fearful when they couldn't find their dog. The woman entered my home and called for her dog. She said that I probably took the dog. She then called the police and reported that someone had let the dog out of his gated back yard (the dog probably jumped the fence). The police questioned me. I don't know what was going on with these people other than they couldn't accept responsibility for abandoning their pet for an overnight and that their dog got loose. The police told me next time to call animal control and to tie the dog up outside and so that is what I did. These people ended up paying a fine and their dog got stuck in a cage, and I preserved my innocence.

I would call the proper authorities. If the parents cannot be found or contacted, and there is no family to be found that would want the child, I would begin the process of adopting the child into our home.

take him/her in for some food and drink. then call the cops. offer to keep the child during an investigation if possible. let the cops do their job. in the end you may have the option to foster or adopt the child.

I would call someone that I know that works in DCF see if that can find the parents and thew all that I would see if I have time and money to take care of a 4year old because they still have the ress of ther life

I would call the police and tell them what happened. The biological parents should be punished. I would also tell them that I would keep the child and raise it as my own. You would of course have to go through the whole legal process of it, so the parents couldn't come back and take the child.

This would be a very hard place to be in. I love children and hate to see all of the horrible things that happen to them. I would welcome them in. Meanwhile offer them something to eat or drink and wait for the police to show up and let you know how to go about the rest of the process. I hope this helps you out!!

Call the police and let them deal-I have enough on my plate with my own son. In this day and age I would likely call from in the house and not open the door-less chance of being sued for anything by the kids family.