To leave kids in bed whilst I run

[Wanttodobetter]

I’m a single parent to 4 children, youngest 8 and eldest 14. I want to run for 30 mins locally early morning whilst they’re still asleep. 2 have phones and I’ll leave a number of a neighbour. That’s fine right?!

Seems ok to me

Personally I think 14 is too young to be responsible for three younger siblings. How long do you go for & how often?

If you've raised a 14 year old who can't look after younger siblings for 30 minutes when their mum is at most, 15 minutes away with a phone then you've done a shit job, frankly.

Well, equally if the only time you can go for a jog is when your kids are tucked up in bed without an adult around then your time management, organisational and prioritising skills are v questionable.

Are they? Wake up at 6, get school lunches ready. Get showered and dressed, 7am children get up, get showered and dressed. 7.45 breakfast, 8am leave for school. 9am-5pm work. 5pm collect children and dog. 5.30pm cook dinner, 6.30pm walk dog, 7.30pm homework/bath 8.30pm youngest in bed.

where in that set up allows to go for a run?

prioritising spending waking hours with your children to me is preferable than 30 mins running while they’re sleeping.

Yeah….lone parent, full time job. Raising 2 boys alone. I’d like to have that discussion with you in person.
My sons are independent, confident and mature (mostly!). As such I’ve been able to pursue my own interests when they reached a certain age.

I would think they’re safer asleep than you going out when they’re awake. Yes there are risks but there are risks with everything. Hundreds of people die each year falling down stairs so please don’t use stairs when your children are asleep! You know your children and how they react and what they do when they wake up.

I went for my jog this morning, back by 6am. Kids knew the drill. Nobody had stirred by the time I got back, all still fast asleep (like they are at that time every day). I did laps past the house.

Incidentally, there is no way my 14 year old (or 12 year old) would be able to continue sleeping if my 8 year old needed them to wake them up. She is not the quietest and I don’t for one moment think she would be unable to wake them!

Good for you, OP! 💪 🏃

Exactly. Lone parent, working full time, no family support, 4 children. I think I manage my time pretty well thank you very much!

Your days look similar to mine, chucking in a few after school clubs! I feel the same, I’ve been at work all day / they’ve been at school. Nice to reconnect rather than being going off out again by myself!

I only have one at home now and he's 16 so life is a lot easier.

I am also a runner and I absolutely did make it a priority for myself during the years when getting out was darn hard!

Glad you got out! There is no world in which some sort of aerobics workout in your living room is anything like getting outside for a run!

The only thing I want to add is to please mix up your routine so that no one watching you would be able to predict that you are out in the small hours on a certain day at a certain time or that DC are home alone . I firmly believe that a lot of bad things happen because someone sees an opportunity