For how long would you allow a 10yo be alone shopping in town?

[LynetteScavo]

When I say alone, I mean with an 11yo friend, buying "stuff" with £12 he has saved.

[claricebeansmum]

Probably 1 or 1.5 hours.

Perhaps ask for a call after 1 hour to see how they are doing.

My DD can browse for hours
Everyday
In the same shops

[mrshibbins]

my DD 8 would happily spend ALL DAY in Claire's Accessories deciding what to spend her pocket money on ...

I leave her there and do a whole supermarket shop, load up the car, come back and find her agonising over the same items

[ICANDOTHAT]

Agree with clarice .. about 1.5-2 hours with a call half way.

[LynetteScavo]

I was thinking 1 hour max.(Actually I was thinking of not letting him at all)

DH was thinking 2 hours, and DS 3 hours.

I plan to be in the town park with the younger ones while he is shopping, but don't think I could bear to be in the park for 3 hours!

DS is now grumping because he hasn't got his own way.

[LynetteScavo]

Hmmmm, he's aranged to meet this school friend in the Park at 1pm. I've told him we can't get there before 2pm because of younger ones swimming lessons, and he should phone his firend.

He's refusing to phone her, and thinks she will hang around the park all afternoon waiting for him. It's raining. She does have a bit of a crush on him, but surely she's not that dedicated?

[WickedWitchinthesticks]

My DS is 13 and was only allowed in town for the first time this summer, after a conflab with his friends' parents we decided that for a first time an hour was plenty.
IMO boys are not such dedicated shoppers as girls and 1 hour is long enough to browse Game and Topman, after that boredom can lead to mischief?

[LynetteScavo]

LOL @ my DS going in to Topman! That'll be the day.

Well, he was fine...I was in town shopping the whole time, as was DH (in his office). He bought 3 palystation games for £5.

It's a small town, and several children from his class live very close to the town centre, so he bumped into them and compared pund land purchases.

He was alone for a total of 1 1/2 hours in the end.

I know what you eman about mischief. DS1 is very sensible with tons of common sence. DS2 is a completely different character, and it's going to be tricky when he's 10 explaining why he can't be alone in town if he wants to.

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

Did the girl wait in the park for him? Thanks for this thread, it reminded me of something useful to tell my daughters - NEVER wait more than 15 minutes for a boy.

[WickedWitchinthesticks]

Now you mention it there's a world of difference between 10 and 13. DS1 has only discovered Topman since he became interested in girls.
My DS2 is also much less sensible than his brother.

[LynetteScavo]

No she didn't wait - he did look hopefully into the bandstand as it was raining, but she's already gone into the shopping centre. He binped into her later though, and she wasn't too impressed with him. Good Girl!

His attituede bought back lots of memories for me of teenage boys being crap. I think I'm going to have to address this in the future, and I'm not having my sons treat girs dreadfully, even if they don't realise they are doing it.

[ItsAllaBitNoisy]

About 10 minutes. Seriously.

I'm obviously WAY over-protective, but I ain't changing.