Before you condemn the mum whose toddlers were found walking alone at night.

“There but for the grace of God go I.”

Is there anything a mother dreads more than waking to a knock at the door from police? Probably only the idea that you might wake up from a nap to find your house empty and the children gone.

There are reports today that two young children, 2 years old and 18 months, were found alone at a local park in regional Victoria playing in nothing more than their nappies yesterday.

It was 15 degrees yesterday in Geelong, where the family lives.

After the children were dressed by locals who found the children and collected by local police, their mother was found at home.

She had been asleep on the couch and the children let themselves out of home to go for a play at the park.

My first thought when I read this story, “that poor mum.” I can only imagine the sharp combination of guilt and relief she might be feeling right now. My second though, “there but for the grace of God go I.”

Kids are tiring. I’m tired. I’ve been tired since my first pregnancy. I’ve been tired for nearly five years.

It is not unusual for me to grab half an hour of shut eye on the couch while the baby is asleep and my son is playing in the lounge room on my day off. It is not unusual for me to nap on the bed with my son next to me watching ABC Kids on the iPad, and it’s not unusual for him to get bored and go and do something else for a spell while I rest.

I came home on Saturday afternoon to find my husband napping, the baby asleep in her cot and my son eating peanut butter out of a jar with a spoon. I thought it was funny and more than anything else I was impressed by my son’s opportunism.

I didn’t think anything more of it, to be honest, because that’s nothing out of the ordinary.

Who hasn’t had a quick lie down on the couch while the baby naps and the eldest watches a bit of Peppa Pig?

Who hasn’t shut their eyes for just a moment?

Who hasn’t jolted awake from an accidental nap, checked the room and felt their heart slow as they realise the kids are alright?

Who didn’t wake up this morning, read this story and think, there but for the grace of God go I?

The woman has not been charged. There is no suggestion of anything untoward, no circumstances that would suggest any kind of neglect on her part.

She sounds like a normal, everyday tired mum.

Some might suggest that this woman is neglectful, judge her, call her a bad mum. I truly hope that she gets nothing but love and support from the whole community. Because we’ve all been there.

Looking for more on parenting? Try:

There is a list of mothers who should just shut up.

The one thing you need to stop saying to my twins.

The Straight Parents’ Guide to Raising a Non-Homophobe.