Sign in to wowOwow

Enter the email address that you used when registering at wowOwow.
The password field is case sensitive. Click here if you have forgotten your password.

Please register for wowOwow

Newsletter subscriptions
Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.
By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.

wOw Moms | 04/22/2009 9:05 am

Madlyn Primoff, Fed-Up Mom, Allegedly Kicked Daughters Out of Car, Drove Off

Madlyn Primoff, 45, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after police say she stopped her car, insisted her daughters, ages 12 and 10, get out and drove off
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
White Plains Police Department
Madlyn Primoff booking photo ©AP

A seemingly well-rounded woman lost her temper on Sunday when she allegedly kicked her bickering daughters out the car and drove away, say cops.

Madlyn Primoff, 45, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after police say she stopped her car, insisted her daughters, ages 12 and 10, get out and drove off. The 12-year-old ran after the car and was allowed back in, but the 10-year-old was left behind, crying.

Police say the little girl was picked up by a stranger, who bought her ice cream and took her to the local police station. When Primoff, a Park Avenue lawyer, got home to her $2 million Scarsdale abode, she called police to report her daughter missing. When she entered the station with her husband and older daughter to pick up her young child, police arrested her and charged her with endangering the welfare of a child.

USA Today reports that a temporary order of protection was issued, barring Primoff from contact with the girls. The New York Daily News is also following the story. Bail information has yet to be released, reports the local newspaper.

26 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

nanchan u

This woman is obviously overwhelmed.  I think S G’s opinion is very harsh and not at all appropriate: the woman involved needs help, not critisism.

By nanchan u on 04/22/2009 1:39 pm
Paula Kwakenat
She should have picked them both up when she let the first one back in - that would have been ample shock value.  I never did that to my kids, but believe me, I may have wanted to, more than once.  It could have been "one of those days" in which whining bickering girls could send you over the edge.
By Paula Kwakenat on 04/22/2009 1:54 pm
WowedbywowOwow NYC
The first commandment of parenting is to control your anger, regardless of a child’s bad behavior. As far as I can tell, we mothers are often stretched to the max, and may, as a consequence violate this rule, but not to the extent of this woman. Yes, I have on occasion raged at my sons and felt miserable about it. But, I have never hurt them physically or traumatized them emotionally as this roadside abandonment is sure to do to these girls. This mother is currently emotionally unfit and needs help.
By WowedbywowOwow NYC on 04/22/2009 2:33 pm
Lori S.

WOW, and I thought I got out of control frustrated with my kids!! These kind of articles do the same thing for me that Maury TV does- by comparison I ROCK!

By Lori S. on 04/22/2009 3:49 pm
Kris Merrill
I think there is a common thread in so many of the responses. We have, perhaps, thought of doing something  like she did! I’m so sorry for the girls and the mother. But this is definitely a newspaper article I would have cut out and mounted on my girl’s bathroom mirror! I’m glad mine are grown and I let them live!!!
By Kris Merrill on 04/22/2009 7:53 pm
Eyeroll Here

My mom did that to me, but I certainly did deserve it. It was a bit of a hike from the shopping center to my house, but I did it, all the while thinking how funny I’d been when I made that remark…. and it had been TOTALLY WORTH IT, to get that response from her! :)  I now remember it with hilarity (and a touch of humility after becoming a mom myself).

By Eyeroll Here on 04/22/2009 8:29 pm
aud b

10 bucks says that Mom made good on the "age old threat" - the 12 year old straightened up (obviously the threat worked with this one), the 10 year old pouted and threw a fit - mom decides to drive around the block  (mind you.. $2 mil home.. obviously a safe neighborhood) but the 10 year old takes off "to show them" and someone picks her up.  When mom gets back, ( after driving around the block - say 5 minutes) sees the 10 year old is no where, goes home and calls police….

 and remember, 10 year olds now are like 13 year olds….

 This is very possible……. we don’t know the whole story.  Let’s wait and see what happens.

By aud b on 04/23/2009 12:36 am
Eyeroll Here
I guess the most disturbing thing to me is that this 10-year-old actually got in the car with a stranger. And this helpful person should not have enticed the kid into the car, but sat at a respectful distance and called the police from a cellphone, if the police option was deemed necessary. I don’t even touch lost kids in the store, but help them find their parents without getting too close. 
By Eyeroll Here on 04/23/2009 12:58 pm
Lucinda Herbert

aud,

I agree — I know few women who haven’t been completely stressed out by their children at some point and threatened the very same thing, even if they never acted on the the threat.  Before I condemn this poor woman, I’d like to learn a few more details like what kind of behavior specifically and for how long provoked her, where and when the girls were dropped off, and what the older child’s perspective is; after all, she did run after her mother. Scarsdale at 2 pm is not a scary place. 

I think we should wait to hear the entire story.   

By Lucinda Herbert on 04/25/2009 3:16 pm
Amanda C
am i the only one thinking the only reason this woman is in the news is because she is rich?
By Amanda C on 04/24/2009 4:31 pm
Ali Bell
Childrens aid so needs to step in & take these lovely little girls out of her custody until she can prove to a court that she is capable and mentally stable enough to care for them. Can you imagine the scars these poor angels will carry with them?. Some women should NOT have children.
By Ali Bell on 06/14/2009 9:57 pm