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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU 9 & 7 yr olds shouldn't ge left alone??

238 replies

eeyoreandpooh · 11/04/2015 22:23

AMIBU to think it's not right to leave a 9yr old and 7yr old alone playing in a park while you go to the shop? Said shop is a car drive away - not just round the corner or over the roadAngry

OP posts:
chocolatelife · 12/04/2015 08:11

my dd had accident in the park the very first time i left her and her older dd while i was in supermarket, for the life of me I cannot remember her age, but they found me in the supermarket and I took her to A & E - much guilt on my part,
would it have happened had i been there? i have no idea.
no social services visit whatsoever.

Singsongsung · 12/04/2015 08:12

Having to track you down in a supermarket must have been awful for a child in pain Charlotte. Were the hospital made aware that your child had been alone at the time?

Singsongsung · 12/04/2015 08:13

Chocolate not Charlotte!! Sleep deprived eyes playing tricks on me!

chocolatelife · 12/04/2015 08:13

in OP's scenario, shop is a car drive away,
hmm, in that case it might be a bit far.
i bet they have mobile phones though.

fulltothebrim · 12/04/2015 08:13

No way.

I was left to my own devices at that age.

I saw and did things I should never have.
It;s not just about the kids- what is the adult is involved in a traffic accident?

chocolatelife · 12/04/2015 08:15

singsongsung, her older sister was very capable, but obviously worried. However I dont think I did anything wrong, any guilt i had has gone,
I think it was when they were 8 and 11

nobody at A & E & Minor Injuries batted an eye lid

Singsongsung · 12/04/2015 08:15

Did they know they were alone at the time?

chocolatelife · 12/04/2015 08:16

yes, i didnt see any reason at all to keep it from anyone

chocolatelife · 12/04/2015 08:17

I might have been reading a book in the park, and not noticed accident.

CoffeeBeanMonster · 12/04/2015 08:19

When I was a child my 11 year old sister and her friend, who were out by themselves, were chased by an adult. He grabbed my sister but she and her friend managed to break away from him and they were fine.

I would not let my child out to play on his own.

chocolatelife · 12/04/2015 08:21

When will you let them coffeebean?
not 11, then when,?

ThatBloodyWoman · 12/04/2015 08:22

I wouldn't do it with my 9 and 10 year old.
They fight too much.
If they didn't,I would though.

Singsongsung · 12/04/2015 08:22

My daughter fell off a climbing frame two years ago at school and broke her wrist. We must have been asked 10 times by different staff how it had happened. I got the clear impression that they were asking (absolutely correctly in my opinion) for child protection reasons.

I would hope that any parent presenting at hospital with an injured child would be quizzed about the how/what and why and I would hope that if the hospital were unhappy with any aspect of the story they would pass it on.

Singsongsung · 12/04/2015 08:24

You might not Chocolate but you'd have been closer when needed and your child wouldn't have had to search a supermarket in pain to find you.

VolumniaDedlock · 12/04/2015 08:25

I haven't done it, but I could see myself doing it if more people round here did *

My 8 year stays home if one of us nips to the shop, or does the nursery run. She has gone to the cornershop herself. Although like Charlotte, my insane 4yo will not be doing the same things at that age, or indeed any age

Ooothatsnice · 12/04/2015 08:26

I never did with mine. I just took them with me. My 8 year old goes everywhere with me. The older too are old enough to stay home alone for awhile now as they are at secondary school.

ForeverChasingToddlers · 12/04/2015 08:30

OP -

YANBU

I suppose people may feel more comfortable with it for different reasons....but they are children anything could happen point blank. I think we all love our kids but some people are deluded about the world out there ....

What an unsafe and irresponsible thing do to....

TheRestofmylifeiswaiting · 12/04/2015 08:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThatBloodyWoman · 12/04/2015 08:32

Even back in my 70's childhood I think we were a bit older than that,left alone.
Even so,we often had to go and get help if one got stuck/fell/got picked on/ got in a fight.
I think a car journey away,is,actually,a step too far at those ages,if they are in a park.

TheRestofmylifeiswaiting · 12/04/2015 08:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CoffeeBeanMonster · 12/04/2015 08:33

When my partner and I decide that he's ready, Chocolate.

BeeInYourBonnet · 12/04/2015 08:34

There are the plenty of children that age where I live who go to the park on their own, about a 5-10 minute walk from home.
However, if there was an accident, presumably one of the DCs would run home to get help. Not sure what DCs would do in the situation in the OP. Maybe if they had a mobile it would be OK?

Gileswithachainsaw · 12/04/2015 08:35

At that age and if I was only going to be a few mins I would.

Arf at people who'd leave them.at home but not in the park. Most accidents happen in the home.

Kids are far more likely to injury themselves at home even with a parent there than they are anyone else. I'd expect walking across the shop car park is riskier than ten mins on their own in a park.

BeeInYourBonnet · 12/04/2015 08:39

Really thatbloodywoman ? I'm a 70s child and we would be booted out at 9am, back for lunch, back out again til tea from about 5. Had a 'permitted roaming zone' of about a 10 main radius, with a whole gang of kids of various ages. If there was a problem, the oldest would run for help!

But I guess it depends on the area you lived. I was in suburbia!

BeeInYourBonnet · 12/04/2015 08:40

10 min radius.