What age could you more or less do your own thing at home with your child around?

[Chessboardtable]

What age was your child when you could more or less do your own thing with them around at home? (And I mean specifically without plugging them into a screen / electronic device!)

I have a 4.5yo, 3yo and 10 month old. I cant do any of these without being interrupted atleast every 10 minutes most of the time.

I've been wondering the same thing recently.

If one of the older two is out of the house there is more peace and less interruptions. When baby is awake, he can entertain himself and house is baby proofed but somethings always going on. My eldest likes to play in the sink and flood the bathroom so I have to make sure that isn't happening every now and then

I have one of these. The amount of toothpaste we waste is crazy, and soap!

For this i think the big thing is junior sch age. Something seems to change in them between infants and juniors and they just dont seem to need to keep coming and showing you stuff or needing you to do things.
A caveat: i think having a sibling does change things. Most kids will play with a sibling close enough in age for quite a while longer than they would play just by themselves, unless they are say a quieter personality and big into reading or art at a young age.

Er 4 x1 hour blocks of being ignored in a day and people are doing this with primary children??

At 9-10 I could get away with an hour's DIY or fitness video but they'd be asking me questions...

To actually ignore them repeatedly in a day I'd say about 12... Its why we dint wfh with primary kids isn't it??

Am I missing something or are people interpreting rh op differently to me.

Literally watch your TV for and hour AMD do DIY for an hour AND work for an hour And reading And 30min nap And cook dinner.
That's like 5 hours. People aren't really ignoring small children for that long are they?

Id be cooking with my kids or perhaps doing ONE of those things while they watched TV. But we're looking at one hour not being left all day...

What? No way.

Where did OP say ignore them? People aren't ignoring them they are talking about being able to actually complete these tasks. A 7 year old might ask you a question or two while you are doing a job but not to the extent you have to completely stop what you are doing and not finish it.

I'm curious to know what your 5 year olds are doing all day if they're not using screens and not doing anything requiring adult involvement? I didn't have that kind of 5 year old - I had the kind who wanted to play uno, have a book read to them, show me their lego build, race cars where I had to be the baddie...

Well mine would definitely not have been independent for 5hours a day. What would you have them doing? 5 hours of screens would be a lot...

I'm not sure people really do do this.

Eg while cooking dinner a 7 year old might be sat at the table drawing, chatting to you. Whereas a 3 year old is emptying rice all over the floor from the cupboard, and approaching the wall with a felt tip pen, meaning you have to down tools. Its very, very different. Nobody is suggesting you must ignore your child while doing these things 😂

about 14 to totally leave them to their own devices

Well you can't watch TV AND play with a child.

You cant work AND play with a child.

You can't do DIY AND play with a child.

You can't read a book AND play witha chidl.

I happily cooked while my child coloured or pottered while she was around me but there was no way I did 4-5hours of absorbing activity of my own in a day when they were small.

OP is explicitly alking about. "being able to do your own thing" around the hose for 5 hours a day.

Not cooking with a toddler, watching TV with a kid etc.

And yes having a 7 year old chatting to you while you read or work is definitely not "doing your own thing" 😂

But thats the point theres an age they reach where they don't actually need/want you playing with them continuously. Thats what the OP is really asking.
Tbh if your 7/8 won't allow you to iron for an hour while they play in the same room, but insists on you down on the floor with them all the time, i wouldnt have thought that was developmentally normal for that age

I could do most of things, not all one the same now, now DD is five. But she wouldn't be off doing her own thing all that time she'd follow me and talk and get me to do stuff the entire time

What is this thread... surely a LOT of fibs on here or bizarrely docile children (that's pure envy speaking if it's true!)

IMO, you absolutely cannot leave a 2/3/4 year old safely for 30 to 90 minutes - or more - while you go about your day without a care in the world or checking in much, with or without a screen, and not expect to be lodging an insurance claim or calling one of the emergency services afterwards (but you wouldnt be able to do that, because your phone would also be lost or destroyed).

Maybe all the children a similar age we know are just a particular breed of feral/mischievous. But even my v sensible, rule abiding 4 year old niece could/would do some potentially non trivial damage if left alone while you did something else in the house, 1000%.

You can watch a program of your choice (obviously not sexually explicit or violent) together.

You can do DIY with your child watching and helping.

You can work or read a book while your children play or read.

Not everything needs to be an adult playing with a child.

This is how I interpreted the question too. Not trying to do a yoga video while the kid plays lego and chats constantly in the same room...and might at any point decide to dive on your back while you're in downward facing dog because it's funny -but when is your kid genuinely able to entertain themselves so you can do yoga in peace. Similarly, not, when can you cook a meal with a child around and maybe allow them to do some simple chopping - but when can you go into the kitchen and put some music on and cook a proper grown up meal, maybe even with a glass of wine on the go, because the kids are occupied elsewhere in the house (and are still safe and happy). If it's just 'when is it possible to do these things with a child in the house' surely the answer has to be from birth, as it's a lot easier to do most 'me' things with a baby than it is with a 2 year old.

Yup AN HOUR would be normal. OP is taking 5hours. That's not really parenting a 7year old. And yes ironing /cooking while chatting is one thing of course we do that.

OP is taking about being "able to do her own thing" and is taking about reading a book or working or doing fitness videos. Not chatting away while doing housework.

I'm amazed you don't see the difference.

Its like working for 5hours. We don't do that in the holidays we get childcare...

The OP clarified that the child could be involved.

Well that's not what OP asked is it.

She talked about being able to "do her own thing".

Of course we all do things with little helpers. I loved that stage. But that's not the same as reading a book in peace and working now as OP asked is it!?

1456 from birth with varying levels of interaction. And 2, of it was paying bills/ making phone calls. 3 I’d do when they slept or in extremis in front of tv.

And diy project- hand sewing always alongside. Welding not so much.

That's 5-6 hours of 'doing your own thing'.
To be honest unless it's an emergency situation then that's quite an unreasonable ask if you have primary school aged children.

My eldest would easily manage this at 13 but it would heavily involve TV/screens.
Ok every now and again but I'd be looking to break a day up with a walk or a trip out. I don't think it's a fair expectation for a younger child to be honest.

My dad had a spare welding mask and I used to go into the garage with him and watch when he worked from about 7 or 8.