Yesterday, on the way home from school, we found one of DD1's friends on her way home alone. Ok, the girls are 10 so walking home unaccompanied in itself is fine but I was surprised as it is quite a long way to this girl's house on foot and all along a v busy road.
Anyway, it turns out that the girl's parents had not come to get her from school and her plan was to squeeze through a gap in the garden wall!
Her parents are divorced and dad was supposed to have her. He lives a 10 minute drive away. He had told her mum he had a meeting and couldn't collect child. The mum said she was going away and it wasn't her problem! Neither gave a back up plan to the child :-(
We were just by our house so brought her home, called her dad and the end result, she's still here as he was too busy to come. It's a bank holiday where I live today so we have her all day and her dad had just said he'll call us!
She's no trouble but I'm not impressed. If we hadn't bumped into her yesterday, how long would she have been left in the garden of her mum's house? Noone would have even known she was there. If something had happened on the way home, who would habe raised the alarm?
There is an after school service at school but she thought she wasn't allowed to go. Even my 6 yr old knows that if I was late she should go back in and tell the after school people...
AIBU to be a bit grrr about these parents?