To have left DS (3) alone for 8 minutes?

[HTK]

I'm wondering if I'm a bit too risk prone. I got up with DS this morning. I wanted the papers so went to the shop and left DS tucked up on the sofa with milk, watching TV for 8 minutes. DH was upstairs asleep with the door ajar but he is not a heavy sleeper and DS can get into the room if needed. The house is childproof, he wasn't eating anything and he can't open the front door.

I "risk assessed" this is my mind and decided it was fine. DH is a bit cross with me and said I should have woken him up to tell him I was going out. I didn't because he isn't the type who would have been able to go back to sleep and he works extremely hard and needs that one lie in a week.

I find I often do things with DS that DH wouldn't do.... Leave him in the car outside the local shop (in view), leave him in the car at the petrol station etc. am it too risk prone?

In the holidays I'm always still asleep when DH leaves for work. My room is downstairs and the kids are in the next door room watching TV or reading a book or playing. They come and get me or shout if they need me. Didn't realise this made me an unloving parent.

Wish my mum had let me watch tv in the morning by myself. I used to set an alarm to get up as I wanted to watch tv by myself and wasn't allowed a TV in my room, however early I tried mum was always up before me. Most annoying ;)

OK, as the person who said that having a lie in while your children get themselves up isn't very loving, maybe I have to admit that my wording could have been better!

I like being in bed as much as anyone, but if I need extra sleep I go to bed earlier. I get up with my children because the weekends and holidays are family time. My children don't particularly want to watch TV the minute they get up. We potter about. Sometimes they chat to me, sometimes they play by themselves. We generally have a nice breakfast - something like pancakes that we don't have time to make during the week.

If your children are happy to amuse themselves while you sleep then fine. All families are different. I only commented because someone said
At 3 most kids I know go downstairs on a morning and put childrens TV on while their parents have a lie in. and I was a bit astonished.

I didn't mean to cause a kerfuffle. We're all different and there's more than one way of being a good parent.

I still think the OP was out of order though!

Yeah, whatever vestandknickers now you're just coming across as smug by saying your kids don't always want to watch TV. I'd stop digging if I were you.

Hmmm... Obviously, the world must be different now to when I was young.

First night I stayed home all on my own (parents at a party about an hour away), I was 8 yrs old.

My bro used to play in his room (with others elsewhere in the house) all on his own at age 3.

Christ on a bike Jessie I give up! My kids watch plenty of TV, just not as soon as thy get up. Anyway, I'm not going to waste any more of my time here. I actually don't care what you think. I am perfectly happy with my parenting.

Kids don't need you in their face every moment of every day. Watching TV in a childproof house while parent is upstairs is not neglect.

Surely that depends entirely on the age of the child.
Would you leave a 1 year old?
And the 'parent upstairs' is very different to parent upstairs asleep unaware that they are the only adult in the house.

If I was upstairs half asleep, thinking my DH was with the kids, and I heard the bath running, I would think nothing of it. If I knew I was the only adult in the house and my 3yr old was on their own, I'd be out of bed in a heartbeat.

People assume that their "sensible" very young children, won't decide to do something to help - like making breakfast, running a bath, doing some housework. Kids are unpredictable - even the predictable ones. You don't need to be in their face every minute of the day, but you do need to be close enough to keep a watchful eye and ear.