What age would you leave your children to pop to Waitrose?

[SoupDragon]

I'm not ready to do this yet (DSs are nearly 7 and 9) but I was dreamily thinking how much simpler it would be to leave them in front of the TV and just nip there myself (it's 5 mins up the road). Obviously BabyDragon is excluded from this, she's in nursery.

Instead I will shift my ar$e from in front of the PC and go now, before school pick up, but I just wondered when it might become a possibility

Batters.

I have reported your post as advertising.

i wondered if there were different ages for different supermarkets

you have disappointed me

Message withdrawn

My DD is 10 also Batters. She is very responsible and would probably also be able to do a bit of home tutoring in subjects like internet surfing, the proper use of the Nintendo DS and creative play with common household substances - she is particularly good at science experiments. Also cookery. Do you think she could charge a higher rate for this?

I can't believe that BabyDragon is 2!!

I left DD alone for an hour or so in the daytime when she was 10.

I've been to the Balham Waitrose, but only because the children have Balham library tickets and I'm too stingy to stump up £1 to park there .

well if you wanted to go to Lidl then teh children would need to be 14.
but as you shop in Waitrose and are therefore clearly a better parent and yoru children must be so much better behaved and repsonsible then you could leave them at 10

There's a Waitrose in Balham!? Good grief, either Balham is in the grip of serious regenetrification or Waitrose is going downmarket We'll be having one open up here next
I think I'll stick to Lidl/Asda (although I prefer to think of myself as 'cutting edge' and 'ironic' rather than dirt poor )

The Waitrose in Balham used to be Safeway, then became Morrisions, then Somerfield, and now it's Waitrose. It's had its ups and downs.

Hallgerda - are you saying that library patrons can park in Waitrose Balham carpark for free? I have never heard this before. Often bung my dcs (9 and 11years) into the library while I pop into Waitrose (avoids anti-social behaviour and pester shopping plus they often see friends).

So how does the library card connected parking work?

No, CoffeeCrazedMama, I'm afraid it's not quite like that. If you use the car park to go to the library, you pay £1. If you go to Waitrose and spend over £10, you still pay £1, but you get a £1 refund when you produce your parking receipt at the till .

Oh, I see. Of course . Please excuse stupidity.

I got all excited there - you know when you just want one tub of ricotta or one small item to complete a planned meal, not worth ten quid, and you find yourself scrabbling round the shop trying to make it up to a tenner? (Or is that just me?) Thought I'd found a way around it!

I have a few solutions to that problem. But I think the best is probably a bottle of wine and five slices of cake . (Only one slice is for me, I hasten to add).

lol at batters and blu

Soupy why can't you get the Waitrose shop delivered as well as the Tesco one? Or am I missing the point as it's more about when you could leave them for 20 minutes to go anywhere, not just Waitrose ?!

Depends on the child I tihnk. I'd leave ds and dd (he is 10) for 5 or ten minutes, no longer.

I leave my 9 year old whilst I pop to shop, takes around 20 minutes and he's usually in the same position I left him in when I return. He knows not to answer the phone or the door.

I can't imagine leaving DS2 (aka: Dennis the Menace) until he's around....oh...18?