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Original poster

What were DS (9) and DS (7) doing outside at 2.30am?

197 replies

TroublesomeTrucks · 11/04/2022 10:25

My DSs aged 9&7 are in serious trouble this morning. Background: our front door is set back from the road and the house is long and narrow along the road. DSs bedroom (shared by their own choice) is at one end almost above the front door.

Last night at 2.30am the door bell camera caught the pair of them going out of the front door and walking round to the front of the house, I would guess to approximately where their bedroom window on the front of the house is, before coming back in about 30 seconds later (staying inside the front garden, so nowhere near the road or pavement). They were empty handed so if they’d thrown or droppedsomething out of the window they didn’t find it. They claim they ‘wanted some fresh air’Hmm

I don’t know if it’s connected, but they were already in trouble because when it came to handing over their chrome books at bedtime, they told me they couldn’t find them (not unusual) but then I caught them using them under the bed covers.

What the hell were they up to????!

OP posts:
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 11/04/2022 10:27

Have you at the house below their window?

Talkingtomycat247 · 11/04/2022 10:31

I'm not sure, but I can remember my brother and me doing a very similar thing when we were that age.
I can't remember what our motive was now, but I remember we both felt a sense of excitement being out of the house at that time of night without our parents knowing.
Obviously there were no cameras back then, so our parents never found out.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just make them aware of al the dangers of being out at that time of night and make it clear that they are not to do it again.
Hopefully they will have lost interest now they have tried it once.

DramaLlamaAlwaysLaughs · 11/04/2022 10:31

Didn’t you ask them what they were doing?
Followed by a lecture about the dangers, then a series of restrictions until they grew up and weren’t so bloody stupid

Cultureclub · 11/04/2022 10:32

Buy a cheap door wedge alarm or door handle alarm for the front door so you're alerted them to them going out. I'd also have stern words with them although finding out exactly what they were doing needs to be more if a priority.

Newrumpus · 11/04/2022 10:33

Do they read Enid Blyton novels? It sounds like they might be on an adventure…

I thought I was the only junior school kid not allowed to wander out alone in the middle of the night to catch bad guys.

girlmom21 · 11/04/2022 10:33

Is there some new online fad of kids sneaking out the house without getting caught or something daft? Or could they have been having a wee or something silly?

Look at their search history and see what they've been watching. It was obviously pre-planned.

TonyBlairsLover · 11/04/2022 10:35

Defo seems sus. Are they speaking to an adult? That’s my thought. I’d keep a close eye out

Original poster
TroublesomeTrucks · 11/04/2022 10:35

@DramaLlamaAlwaysLaughs

Didn’t you ask them what they were doing? Followed by a lecture about the dangers, then a series of restrictions until they grew up and weren’t so bloody stupid
If you read the op it says they claim they wanted some fresh air. I don’t believe them.
OP posts:
TonyBlairsLover · 11/04/2022 10:36

@TroublesomeTrucks no way were they getting fresh air. As a young person myslef theyre defo BSing. Please get to the bottom of it cos it could be serious

RiverRats · 11/04/2022 10:42

Check their history. It might be something silly and they just felt like they were on an adventure but now make sure they can’t get out the door

DragonOverTheMoon · 11/04/2022 10:42

My dc at that age had hidden chocolate in the shed and snuck out at night to eat it! Really naughty of them but ingenious Grin

I don't think it's uncommon OP.

Original poster
TroublesomeTrucks · 11/04/2022 10:44

@Cultureclub

Buy a cheap door wedge alarm or door handle alarm for the front door so you're alerted them to them going out. I'd also have stern words with them although finding out exactly what they were doing needs to be more if a priority.
Thankfully the doorbell cam has a motion sensor, which is how I discovered they’d gone out in the first place.
OP posts:
ProseccoStorm · 11/04/2022 10:53

Sounds naughty and mischievous but not malicious.

Give them a telling off, explain the dangers, make sure they can't do it again.

sweetbellyhigh · 11/04/2022 10:58

It's pretty cute really. I mean every kid needs to have some childhood adventures. I would be straight faced and form with them but you have to keep that footage for when they are older.

I had a similar thing this weekend. Woke up with a sense something was wrong and my 14yo was gone. Eventually found him, 2am, skateboarding...

LetHimHaveIt · 11/04/2022 11:22

I think I know what they were doing.

I think it's called - 'fucking about'.

Not good, but not tremendously worrying. What do you honestly think they were doing? Hiding a burner phone? Breaking Bad?

Georgeskitchen · 11/04/2022 11:29

Back in the day I would have said its kids on a dare
However these days of instant communication I would be looking a little deeper just to check they aren't communicating with someone dodgy

DomPom47 · 11/04/2022 11:37

Speak to them separately and see whether they stick to their story or not. It’s weird going outside for just 30 seconds for fresh air - sounds fishy.

JunhaLamra · 11/04/2022 11:47

Separate them, ask them individually and ask them did they know they were caught by the camera? Might be enough to make them confess what they were up to.

However, you now need to work out whether you will leave the door keys accessible for them. Ours are upstairs in our bedroom at night and the children who are now teenagers know what to do if the house alarm goes off or if there is a fire. Plus we have a house alarm set so if they go downstairs ever it triggers the sensor and beeps loudly.

Also I hope you have parental controls on those chrome books as they appear to have access to them without you or an adult supervising them if they cannot be found very often.

incognitoforthisone · 11/04/2022 11:50

I expect they couldn't sleep and ended up just daring each other to see if they could get out of the house at night without getting caught. Then they realised it wasn't actually anything special and went back in. That sort of thing seems incredibly exciting when you're 9 and 7. Or maybe they were pretending they'd heard some kind of suspicious activity outside and that they had villains to catch because they're an intrepid crime fighting duo. It will be something as daft and innocent as that, totally.

When I was little my friend and I were allowed to ride our bikes up to the top of our street but no further, and we used to go around the corner sometimes and see how many houses on the forbidden street we were brave enough to ride past before we panicked and turned round. Completely pointless (there was literally nothing to see on the other street, just another load of houses identical to the ones in our street) but somehow seemed like some kind of adventure.

TheMarmaladeYears · 11/04/2022 12:06

@LetHimHaveIt

I think I know what they were doing.

I think it's called - 'fucking about'.

Not good, but not tremendously worrying. What do you honestly think they were doing? Hiding a burner phone? Breaking Bad?

Absolutely this. Classic silly 'fucking about' behaviour. Exactly what my ds would have done at the same age. Almost certainly they've no real idea why they were cavorting about at 2.30 am but simply thought it would be a lark. Given that they didn't leave the garden and were nowhere near the road or pavement there's little harm likely to have come to them. Further interrogation is unlikely to reveal any more meaningful truths.
MissyB1 · 11/04/2022 12:12

Oh gosh I used to do this! My sister and I once had a midnight feast in the garden. We were big Enid Blyton fans.

ImBurtMacklin · 11/04/2022 12:41

Re the chromebooks not being found at bedtime, my natural consequence of that would be to ask for them an hour earlier the next day. So by them hiding them one day, they lose them an hour earlier the next day to make sure they have time to find them.

RB68 · 11/04/2022 12:59

Jeez I used to go out the landing window (half way up the stairs so risky just climbing onto the cill) then across the flat roof, balance walk over the gate and fence and down on the coal bunker. Maybe not at 2am but early morning or later at night aged about 10 or 11.

PumpkinPie2016 · 11/04/2022 13:04

It doesn't sound particularly sinister, although obviously it's not something you want them doing for safety reasons!

Have they been reading adventure stories? I used to love secret 7 books as a kid and they always snuck out at night to do things (looking back - where were the parents Hmm)

I'd have stern words about the dangers.

Also, though, you need to ensure they can't get out - extra bolt on the door high up? Would be fairly cheap and easy to do.

Siameasy · 11/04/2022 13:04

It’s typical kids’ tomfoolery but I think I was too scared of the dark to actually do this type of thing