How old were you when you stayed home alone for the first time? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Cynthetiq · 08-14-2008, 01:17 PM

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View: Children Left Alone at Home, Worriedly
Source: NYTimes
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Children Left Alone at Home, Worriedly
August 14, 2008
Children Left Alone at Home, Worriedly
By LISA W. FODERARO

Alison Borzacchiello, a stay-at-home mother from Queens, needed something new to wear to a wedding, so she set out a few weeks ago for Estelle’s Dressy Dresses in Farmingdale, N.Y. That was hardly momentous.

What made it worthy of note is that she did not take her 11-year-old son, Nicky, along. He has just reached that awkward age when he is old enough to stay home alone, but not without a good deal of angst for both parent and child.

“All the while I was out, I kept looking at the watch and listening for my phone,” she said. “He called me four times in an hour: ‘When are you coming home? Where are you? Are you on line yet? Did you leave the store yet?’ It made me so nervous, I just browsed and left.”

Many parents with young children dream of the day they can walk out the door without a baby sitter, turning a stroll with the dog or a trip to the bank into an exhilarating adventure. But unlike so many aspects of child care that are clearly laid out by pediatrician’s decree or government regulation, this is a rite of passage without clear guidelines. New York, like most states, has no law stipulating an age of aloneness, though parents can be charged with reckless endangerment if tragedy befalls children while they are home without supervision.

“There’s no definition,” said Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. “There are child-safety experts who believe some 10-year-olds are quite O.K. alone and others who would tell you that there are some 14-year-olds they wouldn’t leave alone.”

Child-welfare experts say that many low-income parents have few choices but to leave children unattended while working. But for middle-class and wealthy New Yorkers, standards vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, spawning lively dinner-party debates and much judgment-passing at other people’s choices. (“I know people who left their children alone when the oldest was 8 and there was a 4-year-old and 6-year-old,” one person interviewed for this article said with barely concealed disdain.)

It is a quandary that raises questions about safety, maturity, class, cultural traditions and peer pressure, with summer often complicating things, since children usually have more free time and many after-school child care programs are unavailable.

While technology — especially cellphones — has made it easier for a child to get help, families today also confront a culture filled with frightening possibilities, both real and imagined, outside the door (think sex-offender registries and “The Lovely Bones”). And the safety nets that have evolved in recent decades (smoke detectors, 911) also remind parents of all the things that can go wrong.

“It’s extremely stressful,” said Christine Rivera of Lynbrook, N.Y., who has a 12-year-old son, Charles, whom she started leaving home alone two years ago. “At that point you’re not there to watch over them. They’re left to their own devices and the perils of the world.”

When Ms. Rivera, a marketing manager for Microsoft, first let Charles go home to an empty house after school, they were living in Queens and she was adamant that he stay inside behind locked doors until she got home at 6:30. Play dates were out. She has loosened up on his whereabouts, but not her knowledge of them.

“Now that we’ve moved to Long Island, he calls me when he gets home from school and calls me when he wants to go to a friend’s house and again when he gets to the friend’s house,” she said. “When he doesn’t call when he’s supposed to, he gets punished. He can’t go out the next day.”

A 2003 study by Child Trends, a nonprofit research group in Washington, estimated that three million children nationwide under the age of 13 — some as young as 5 — were left to care for themselves for at least a few hours a week on a regular basis.

While most states are silent on the issue, Maryland specifies an age — 8 — under which it is illegal for a child to be left without a baby sitter who is “reliable” and “at least 13 years old.” Others, like Connecticut, offer some guidance: its child welfare agency’s Web site advises that “experts believe a child should be at least 12 before he is left alone, and at least 15 before he can care for a younger brother or sister.”

Safe Kids USA, a nonprofit advocacy organization in Washington that seeks to prevent accidental injury and death, also sees 12 as a turning point.

“Children under age 12 don’t have the cognitive ability to recognize risk and, just as important, don’t have the cognitive maturity to react to the risk or accident once it happens,” said Alan Korn, the group’s director of public policy and general counsel. “That concern is heightened when there are other children in the home. So many injuries and deaths can be prevented by appropriate, active adult supervision.”

In 2003, Kim Brathwaite was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment after her two children, ages 9 and 1, were killed in a fire while alone in their Canarsie, Brooklyn, apartment. Ms. Brathwaite told the authorities that her baby sitter had not shown up and that she decided to go to work anyway so as not to jeopardize her new position at a McDonald’s in Downtown Brooklyn. The charges were eventually dropped.

“The only option many parents have is to quit the job and get thrown out of their house because they can’t pay the rent, or have your child taken away for lack of supervision,” said Richard Wexler, director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, a nonprofit child advocacy organization. One reason states may not have laws on the subject, Mr. Wexler suggested, is that “it would bring a hidden problem out in the open, which is all of the parents who leave children home alone not because they want to, but because they have to.”

Some experts advise parents to take their cue from the children. “I think children let you know when they’re ready, and I really think a parent needs to listen to that,” said Leslie R. Adelstein, a psychologist in Manhattan. “If they’re not ready, you’re going to induce anxiety.”

Dr. Adelstein said that her 9-year-old daughter felt ready to stay home with her 11-year-old sister starting this spring, and the fact that they live in a doorman building helped. “If your child is home and something happens, they feel that someone is there,” she explained. “In a non-doorman building, it’s different. At that tender age, they have to really develop the confidence in themselves and also feel like they have a grasp on the skills necessary to handle problems.”

Like many parents, Ken Amorello, a lawyer with a 12-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter, began small. “We started by letting our son stay home for 15 or 20 minutes when he was almost 10 while my wife picked up some groceries around the corner, and we worked our way up from that,” said Mr. Amorello, a lawyer who lives in a doorman building on the Upper West Side.

The couple just started to leave their son alone with his younger sister recently — for a half-hour at a time. “We saw that he was following the rules,” Mr. Amorello said. “He’s the type of kid who will call up and ask if he can have a third cookie. He has our telephone numbers, and there are neighbors nearby.”

Other parents give their children a push. “I’m so aware of how coddled this generation of children is — they can’t even go out and play by themselves,” said a freelance writer in New Hope, Pa.., who started leaving her children alone two years ago, at ages 9 and 11, but spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety. “My husband and I wanted to build some independence, and frankly, I didn’t want to pay for child care.”

But the woman said her younger daughter “had this inexplicable fear of being home alone.”

“Her imagination had gone wild,” she recalled. “We set them up in our bedroom with the TV, the phone and the dog. I had to run to the grocery store for 20 minutes. She had blown it so out of proportion that when I got home, she said, ‘You’re back already?’ ”

Sarah, 12, of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., whose parents asked that she be identified only by her first name for safety reasons, said she is perfectly comfortable being alone, saying that her family lives on a quiet cul-de-sac where the houses are close together. “I just let myself in, and most of the time I go on the computer and play video games,” she said.

But the other day, Sarah and her brother, who is 15, had their first mini-crisis when the new dog had diarrhea in the house.

“We really didn’t know what to do about it, and we couldn’t get in touch with our parents,” she said, adding that they eventually covered the mess with paper towels, shut the door, and left it until the grown-ups got home.

For many parents, summer brings the home-alone question to the fore. Children often have much more free time. And with the difference in camp and school schedules, there might be a smaller gap before the end of the workday — too small to hire a sitter.

Marie Sloan, a bookkeeper in Nassau County, got a new job with longer hours shortly before school let out for her two children, ages 11 and 13. There was no time to arrange camps. So Ms. Sloan’s mother, who lives in Queens, is staying with the family every other week. In the off weeks, the children are on their own.

They are under strict orders to stay in the house, with the doors locked. They cannot have friends over (Ms. Sloan sometimes checks in and brings them food during her lunch hour). They cannot go in the swimming pool in the backyard. And they cannot answer the door.

“I don’t care who’s at the door,” Ms. Sloan said. “If your uncle’s at the door, you don’t open it unless you call me.”

I was a latchkey kid at an early age. I was given specific instructions to call mom the moment I got home. I wasn't to answer the phone nor the front door. I was to only answer the phone after a prescribed amount of rings and waits so that I know it was my mom calling. No swimming, and no friends over. I wasn't allowed to open the door even for aunts or uncles. I wasn't allowed to use the oven or stove, but when we got a microwave that was okay. Very strict about things.

I was also supposed to do things like get cleaned up and change to pajamas. I'd set the table for dinner, and do my homework. Once I was done with that I could watch TV.

What were your afternoons like when you were staying home alone?

Ayashe · 08-14-2008, 01:46 PM

After the age of 7 I was left with my brother in charge, he was 4 years older than me. Unfortunately, he was very irresponsible. Generally in the summertime I would be left frequently at home with instructions to tell mom he was in the shower or something similar if she happened to call. Thankfully, I really enjoyed my time without my big brother around and was always on good behavior. Like a lot of families he was my childhood tormentor. I saw it as a reward to be left alone and never spoke up.

For the most part I would watch t.v. cartoons and gameshows. My parents also made very frequent trips to the local library so I spent a lot of time reading as well. No one was allowed in the house under any circumstances. They did not really have any strict rules about answering the phone, it was known that if someone called looking for a parent you just answered that they were busy and took a message. As far as answering the door, I know it was not allowed though to be honest no one that I didn't already know ever showed up. All in all, I found it fairly boring as I was pretty much stuck at the house with infrequent visits to friends homes who had parents home. Many of us were all in the same boat together, there were a lot of kids alone at young ages when I was growing up.

mixedmedia · 08-14-2008, 02:06 PM

I can't remember for certain, but I am sure I was at the most 7 when it became routine for me to be home alone. And there were no rules. We could come and go as we pleased until it was dark. Granted, we were living in a small town. I'm pretty sure I was using the stove and oven by the time I was 8 or 9.

I have been leaving my 9 year old home alone for short intervals for about six months now. And I have a lot of rules, lol. Very similar to what cyn recounts above about the telephone, answering doors and using appliances, no friends over...almost point for point.

ShaniFaye · 08-14-2008, 02:09 PM

My mom was a stay at home mom until I was 13, but I was allowed to stay home while she would run to the grocery store (at the end of out street) by age 11 or girl scout leader meetings etc. I was babysitting every kid in the neighborhood by age 12, yeah I was one of those geeky responsible kids. But that was back in the days of no cell phones, no caller ID, no call waiting lol we had the "I will call and let it ring twice and hang up and call back" codes

We let Amanda (she's geeky responsible like me) start staying home alone for short periods of time when she was almost 12.

Charlatan · 08-14-2008, 02:14 PM

I was a latch key kid from grade four. I had to take public transit to and from school. So that is around age eight or nine. Before that age, I would be left home alone from time to time (e.g. if I was sick and had to stay home from school) but had a neighbour that would check in from time to time.

yellowmac · 08-14-2008, 06:28 PM

I believe it was sometime in middle school, maybe as early as 5th grade? To be honest, I don't really remember, but I'll say I was around 12...

The only specific instruction I remember was to call my parents as soon as I got home. Other than that, they knew that I wasn't stupid and that I wouldn't do anything stupid while I was home alone. My parents had a lot of trust in me, probably because I didn't give them too much trouble.

ItWasMe · 08-14-2008, 06:37 PM

I'm not sure, but I do know I was babysitting around age 10 or 11. Also, I have 3 younger siblings, so I wasn't alone when my parents were gone. They fought constantly (my siblings) and I would rather have been alone to watch tv or to read.

Grasshopper Green · 08-14-2008, 08:29 PM

Technically, I wasn't alone - I was with my 6 year old brother and 2 year old sister (I was 4). My mom ran to a friend's house for some reason. Unfortunately, she left the stove on...and the skillet that she had cooked our homemade french fries on the burner. Thank God the neighbors heard the fire alarm.

dlish · 08-14-2008, 08:49 PM

i was never alone. ive got a twin and we did everything together up to the age of about 20.

if i said 20 would i sound stupid?

Eweser · 08-18-2008, 09:32 AM

I'm going to say I was probably around 12. My brother is five years younger than me. I was a responsible kid. I don't think my parents worried about us too much. Heck, when they were around we'd be out in the woods/pastures/etc for hours upon hours without them knowing exactly where we were....

speshul-k · 08-18-2008, 09:50 AM

I think I was 9 or 10. Didn't burn the house down at any point.

Lasereth · 08-18-2008, 10:02 AM

My dad never left me or my brother officially at home alone until we were 17. That's right, I had my driver's license and couldn't stay home alone yet. When I turned 17-18 I could finally stay home alone. And no, I didn't do anything to cause this paranoia.

snowy · 08-18-2008, 10:24 AM

I was allowed to stay home alone when I was sick starting at about age 10. That situation was considered okay because I was alone--no brother--and sick. My mom only worked from about 10am to 3pm, and so she wouldn't be gone the entire day, plus she would call to check in at appointed times. My brother and I weren't allowed to stay home alone together until I was 12, because we would beat the crap out of each other if we were, so we always had a babysitter if Mom was going to be gone more than half an hour (the time it took to drive back and forth to the one market of size on the island). Of course, we lived in a rural neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else, and if we had a problem we could always run over to our next door neighbor's house, or further down the street to our babysitter's house.

I started babysitting other kids at around age 12, but never my brother. He was just too much of a handful, and there was too much sibling rivalry.

Plaid13 · 09-02-2008, 07:42 PM

At 7 i would spend about a hour after school when i got home untill my dad got home from work every day. when i was 8 i would spend evenings alone from time to time thanks to my parents both working extra shifts or a second job. Had a older sister but she wasnt around too much. When she was it was much worse then when i was alone thanks to her being severely bipolar saddly i was the only one that seemed to know she was totally unbalanced. Was much safer for both me and the house when she wasnt home. I was always perfectly fine being left alone. i knew how to deal with problems. Was often a good time for me to get my homework done or whatever. Mostly just got home and watched tv. Only trouble i ever ran into at all was when i came home from school on a really nasty winter day and the doorlock had iced over so bad it broke my key. I was able to just walk next door and get my neighbor and he was able to turn what was left of the broken key to unlock the door then get it out of there.

But plenty of kids are not ready to be left alone untill there teens. Sometimes even later. Hell i know some adults that shouldnt be left alone.

Baraka_Guru · 09-02-2008, 08:00 PM

I was probably a young teen. I'm one of six kids, so there was seldom no one at home.

Starkizzer · 09-02-2008, 11:48 PM

My grandmother left my brother and I home alone when I was about 7, he was about 12. Sadly, I would have been safer had I been left completely alone. My brother is not what you would call the most trustworthy nor normal. :shudders:

curiousbear · 09-03-2008, 08:56 AM

I was 8 years old. My mom explained that she had to go to the movie with friends but I cannot skip my tuition classes. So she asked me to finish the classes and come home and wait. I felt bad that she did not take me, but I thought she will make it up some time and waited at home. It seemed like a long time but I did not do anything naughty

Just waited

Reese · 09-03-2008, 12:13 PM

I had a odd situation. I lived in rural Kentucky, about 5 miles outside a 400pop town. My dad's parents, brother and sister and their families all lived on the same road. The nearest neighbor that wasn't family was probably more than a quarter mile down the road and even then we knew them all. I do remember staying home from school and my grandma would come check on me and bring me lunch after she'd finished cooking around noon. I was probably 9 or 10 then. The transition from having a guardian watching us to being alone was pretty smooth though. We had about 500 acres of forest and fields around us to play in. We'd get home from school at my grandma's house, go outside and we wouldn't be seen again until it got dark and my mom started yelling for us to come get ready for bed.

highthief · 09-03-2008, 01:44 PM

Probably I was about 8 when I was deemed to be old enough to let myself in after school and amuse myself for an hour or so before my Mum or brothers got home. But even as young as 5 or 6, I was allowed to go to the store by myself or to the park. This was in the 70s.

Every kid and family is different.

08-14-2008, 02:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
mixedmedia has all her shots. Location: Florida	I can't remember for certain, but I am sure I was at the most 7 when it became routine for me to be home alone. And there were no rules. We could come and go as we pleased until it was dark. Granted, we were living in a small town. I'm pretty sure I was using the stove and oven by the time I was 8 or 9. I have been leaving my 9 year old home alone for short intervals for about six months now. And I have a lot of rules, lol. Very similar to what cyn recounts above about the telephone, answering doors and using appliances, no friends over...almost point for point. __________________ Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

08-14-2008, 02:09 PM	#4 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	My mom was a stay at home mom until I was 13, but I was allowed to stay home while she would run to the grocery store (at the end of out street) by age 11 or girl scout leader meetings etc. I was babysitting every kid in the neighborhood by age 12, yeah I was one of those geeky responsible kids. But that was back in the days of no cell phones, no caller ID, no call waiting lol we had the "I will call and let it ring twice and hang up and call back" codes We let Amanda (she's geeky responsible like me) start staying home alone for short periods of time when she was almost 12. __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

08-14-2008, 02:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	I was a latch key kid from grade four. I had to take public transit to and from school. So that is around age eight or nine. Before that age, I would be left home alone from time to time (e.g. if I was sick and had to stay home from school) but had a neighbour that would check in from time to time. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

08-14-2008, 06:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
ItWasMe But You'll Never Prove It. Location: under your bed	I'm not sure, but I do know I was babysitting around age 10 or 11. Also, I have 3 younger siblings, so I wasn't alone when my parents were gone. They fought constantly (my siblings) and I would rather have been alone to watch tv or to read. __________________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Ok, no more truth-or-dare until somebody returns my underwear" ~ George Lopez I bake cookies just so I can lick the bowl. ~ ItWasMe

08-14-2008, 08:29 PM	#8 (permalink)
Grasshopper Green ...is a comical chap Location: Where morons reign supreme	Technically, I wasn't alone - I was with my 6 year old brother and 2 year old sister (I was 4). My mom ran to a friend's house for some reason. Unfortunately, she left the stove on...and the skillet that she had cooked our homemade french fries on the burner. Thank God the neighbors heard the fire alarm. __________________ "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king" Formerly Medusa

08-14-2008, 01:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ayashe Psycho	After the age of 7 I was left with my brother in charge, he was 4 years older than me. Unfortunately, he was very irresponsible. Generally in the summertime I would be left frequently at home with instructions to tell mom he was in the shower or something similar if she happened to call. Thankfully, I really enjoyed my time without my big brother around and was always on good behavior. Like a lot of families he was my childhood tormentor. I saw it as a reward to be left alone and never spoke up. For the most part I would watch t.v. cartoons and gameshows. My parents also made very frequent trips to the local library so I spent a lot of time reading as well. No one was allowed in the house under any circumstances. They did not really have any strict rules about answering the phone, it was known that if someone called looking for a parent you just answered that they were busy and took a message. As far as answering the door, I know it was not allowed though to be honest no one that I didn't already know ever showed up. All in all, I found it fairly boring as I was pretty much stuck at the house with infrequent visits to friends homes who had parents home. Many of us were all in the same boat together, there were a lot of kids alone at young ages when I was growing up.

08-14-2008, 06:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
yellowmac Insane Location: left coast	I believe it was sometime in middle school, maybe as early as 5th grade? To be honest, I don't really remember, but I'll say I was around 12... The only specific instruction I remember was to call my parents as soon as I got home. Other than that, they knew that I wasn't stupid and that I wouldn't do anything stupid while I was home alone. My parents had a lot of trust in me, probably because I didn't give them too much trouble.

08-14-2008, 08:49 PM	#9 (permalink)
dlish Currently sour but formerly Dlishs Super Moderator Location: Australia/UAE	i was never alone. ive got a twin and we did everything together up to the age of about 20. if i said 20 would i sound stupid? __________________ An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay? - Filthy

08-18-2008, 09:32 AM	#10 (permalink)
Eweser Psycho Location: O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A	I'm going to say I was probably around 12. My brother is five years younger than me. I was a responsible kid. I don't think my parents worried about us too much. Heck, when they were around we'd be out in the woods/pastures/etc for hours upon hours without them knowing exactly where we were.... __________________ "Whoever wrote this episode should die!"

08-18-2008, 09:50 AM	#11 (permalink)
speshul-k Insane	I think I was 9 or 10. Didn't burn the house down at any point.

08-18-2008, 10:02 AM	#12 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	My dad never left me or my brother officially at home alone until we were 17. That's right, I had my driver's license and couldn't stay home alone yet. When I turned 17-18 I could finally stay home alone. And no, I didn't do anything to cause this paranoia.

08-18-2008, 10:24 AM	#13 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	I was allowed to stay home alone when I was sick starting at about age 10. That situation was considered okay because I was alone--no brother--and sick. My mom only worked from about 10am to 3pm, and so she wouldn't be gone the entire day, plus she would call to check in at appointed times. My brother and I weren't allowed to stay home alone together until I was 12, because we would beat the crap out of each other if we were, so we always had a babysitter if Mom was going to be gone more than half an hour (the time it took to drive back and forth to the one market of size on the island). Of course, we lived in a rural neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else, and if we had a problem we could always run over to our next door neighbor's house, or further down the street to our babysitter's house. I started babysitting other kids at around age 12, but never my brother. He was just too much of a handful, and there was too much sibling rivalry. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

09-02-2008, 07:42 PM	#14 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	At 7 i would spend about a hour after school when i got home untill my dad got home from work every day. when i was 8 i would spend evenings alone from time to time thanks to my parents both working extra shifts or a second job. Had a older sister but she wasnt around too much. When she was it was much worse then when i was alone thanks to her being severely bipolar saddly i was the only one that seemed to know she was totally unbalanced. Was much safer for both me and the house when she wasnt home. I was always perfectly fine being left alone. i knew how to deal with problems. Was often a good time for me to get my homework done or whatever. Mostly just got home and watched tv. Only trouble i ever ran into at all was when i came home from school on a really nasty winter day and the doorlock had iced over so bad it broke my key. I was able to just walk next door and get my neighbor and he was able to turn what was left of the broken key to unlock the door then get it out of there. But plenty of kids are not ready to be left alone untill there teens. Sometimes even later. Hell i know some adults that shouldnt be left alone.

09-02-2008, 08:00 PM	#15 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	I was probably a young teen. I'm one of six kids, so there was seldom no one at home. __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

09-02-2008, 11:48 PM	#16 (permalink)
Starkizzer Hi floor! Make me a samwich. Location: Ontario (in the stray cat complex)	My grandmother left my brother and I home alone when I was about 7, he was about 12. Sadly, I would have been safer had I been left completely alone. My brother is not what you would call the most trustworthy nor normal. :shudders: __________________ Frivolity, at the edge of a Moral Swamp, hears Hymn-Singing in the Distance and dons the Galoshes of Remorse. ~Edward Gorey

09-03-2008, 08:56 AM	#17 (permalink)
curiousbear Addict Location: WA	I was 8 years old. My mom explained that she had to go to the movie with friends but I cannot skip my tuition classes. So she asked me to finish the classes and come home and wait. I felt bad that she did not take me, but I thought she will make it up some time and waited at home. It seemed like a long time but I did not do anything naughty Just waited

09-03-2008, 12:13 PM	#18 (permalink)
Reese Delicious	I had a odd situation. I lived in rural Kentucky, about 5 miles outside a 400pop town. My dad's parents, brother and sister and their families all lived on the same road. The nearest neighbor that wasn't family was probably more than a quarter mile down the road and even then we knew them all. I do remember staying home from school and my grandma would come check on me and bring me lunch after she'd finished cooking around noon. I was probably 9 or 10 then. The transition from having a guardian watching us to being alone was pretty smooth though. We had about 500 acres of forest and fields around us to play in. We'd get home from school at my grandma's house, go outside and we wouldn't be seen again until it got dark and my mom started yelling for us to come get ready for bed. __________________ “It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

09-03-2008, 01:44 PM	#19 (permalink)
highthief Junkie Location: Ontario, Canada	Probably I was about 8 when I was deemed to be old enough to let myself in after school and amuse myself for an hour or so before my Mum or brothers got home. But even as young as 5 or 6, I was allowed to go to the store by myself or to the park. This was in the 70s. Every kid and family is different. __________________ Si vis pacem parabellum.