I'm not a parent but I feel like the answer is vastly different today than when we were kids (but then so is the world). How old were you when your parents first left you home alone? If you had siblings, how old was the oldest in charge?
Posted by MTRIFE@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 163 comments
I'm the youngest. Born in 82. My sister is the oldest of three. Born in 77. I think I was like 4 when they left us which would have made my sister 9 and in charge. The funny thing is, there was never any outside threat. We were the biggest threat to each other! You know, pushing each other down the stairs in laundry baskets. Making each other walk backwards down the stairs in our mother's platform shoes. Things like that.
MensaCurmudgeon@reddit
Really short daytime outings- age 4. After school for a couple of hours- age 9. Nighttime- age 12 after my dad showed me how to use the handgun. Overnights- age 16 until they found a bottle of vodka from a party, then back to staying with grandparents/aunt.
AhfackPoE@reddit
I was a latchkey kid starting around age 8. Be home before the street lights turn on. We gave our kid a key at age 10. There's some unspoken understanding I think once they hit double digits. Try it out, "You left your 9 year old at home while you ran to the store?!?" Vs. "Oh yeah, you left your 10 year old at home while you ran you the store." Lol
NativePA@reddit
I got off the bus and let myself in for all of 2nd grade. Watch Tom and Jerry and eat junk food til a parent came home. Loved the time alone as the middle kid
Impressive-Shame-525@reddit
This was my life, too. I was the v youngest of 3 boys but my brothers were all more than 12 years older then me.
Starting in third grade I would walk to and from school if I wanted. Usually rode the bus to school but talked home. I was last on and last off the bus so I could beat the bus home every time. It was about 3/4 mile from my house to the school. I could cut through the cow pasture if I wanted to make it faster but I had to check for the bulls first. Make sure they weren't in that area of the pasture.
Blackbird136@reddit
Yep. I was 7 the first time I was left for “a run to the store” or similar, but a latchkey kid for hours a day starting at 8.
I believe state law where I am mandates that kids have to be 13 here to be left alone. Feels wild.
MI6Monkey@reddit
Born 1978. I know by the time I was 9 I was home solo and my brother (1982) would walk home from his school solo (well with a group of neighborhood kids) and he was under my supervision till mom got home. His elementary school was on the same street as the house 7 blocks away no sidewalks and no stop signs., which is terrifying to me now.
I want to say the summer I turned 9 (so btwn 3-4th grade) was the first summer I was primarily home solo. It was a small "city". The same town my parents had grown up in, and a couple grandparents for that matter. So it's not like I didn't have have every single damn movement reported to my mom...couldn't so much fart without my mom telling me she heard all about it when I got home for dinner.
lorazepamproblems@reddit
I'm also born in 82.
I have a very vivid memory of waking up and no one being home, and I think I was like 3. I would have been 4 at the most based on the house we lived in (since I moved from that house at 4).
I eventually walked out of the house and found my dad across the street at a garage sale.
He can be a real idiot.
When I've brought up the story, he remembers it--he doesn't deny it, which is kind of unique for him. But his only remark is, "Yeah, you were scared!" like it's funny. No apologies, no insight, etc. Not even acknowledging that I crossed the street when I was 3 or 4. It's more like a "Yeah that was funny." And he has a PhD in English and taught at a university his entire career. But he's still really dumb about some things.
I have really severe anxiety and it started with attachment anxiety, and so nights that my parents went out and left us home alone were really difficult and I would have to beg for them to get a baby-sitter. I would have been in first or second grade around the time I was begging for a baby-sitter. And they'd make a big show out of how pathetic I was and how they were giving in to me. My sister is 4 1/2 years younger, so if there hadn't been a baby-sitter, I would have been at only age 7 or 8 her baby-sitter. It was like a big "treat" that they would get a baby-sitter and they'd make me feel awful about it.
As far as after school, I'd often come home and just have to sit on the stoop and wait. My dad had told me if anyone approached me to run back to the school. So there was a time a woman kept driving by asking if I as OK. And I just refused to talk to her but she kept coming by. So I ran back to the school and found the teacher who I was happy to stay with and who had me grade papers with her. My dad then found me there and was mad at me for embarrassing him. I remember my teacher standing up for me and saying I did exactly what he said to do.
That next year we moved to Sweden, and I was 8. And in Sweden things were really different. I had to take the city bus to get to school and to get home, which I was really terrified about. They didn't have school buses. And I remember my Swedish relatives making fun of me for being scared about it because it was all normal for them. I had this huge fear I'd fall asleep on the bus and end up in a completely different part of town. Sweden is generally pretty safe but the year we moved there, 1991, and in the town we lived in (Uppsala) there was a man called the laser man who was shooting immigrants in broad daylight and the murders had taken place right where I would have to go to get to school, so that was kind of scary.
We then moved to Virginia, and I was 11 by then, so that should have been old enough to stay at home. But I had and event right when we moved there. The house we moved into was completely empty--just white carpet, white walls, no furniture yet. And my parents were out at a work party for his university (he told us they didn't take us because his colleagues didn't have children and it might make them depressed to see us--he has such a weird sense of humor that I really don't even know to this day if that was a joke or a weird barb or if he actually thought it was true).
Anyway, the party was at night so it was pitch black outside. My sister and I were in my room just sitting on the floor. And this guy in a pick up truck drove into the driveway and would not stop knocking on the door--and we knew no one on the entire east coast. And he not only knocked, but he kept looking through all the windows--we had all the lights on so I know he could see in. And we were looking out from below the windows on the second floor trying to see what he was up to.
He would drive away, then come back, and knock, and then look frustrated . . . and repeat, over and over again. It was all very creepy.
So eventually I called my parents at the party (that was another thing--when they went out, I was the one who had to ask for the phone number of where they were going).
I can't remember what they said, probably just to ignore it.
But when they got home, my dad said everyone at the party was making fun of me for having called and for being worried.
I'm sure if I asked him today about this, he would say it was one of his "jokes" and that I had no sense of humor (because I later met his colleagues and they were in no way people who would have been making fun of me for calling). Anyway, it turned out it was someone that had business to do with the closing of the house, but why they were there at night and so insistently, I don't know.
I guess the short answer is that my first memory of being home alone was at 3 or 4, and to this day my dad would just remark, "Ha! Yeah you were so scared."
I don't know if this makes him sound like an asshole, but it's a very narrow part of him, and to the world he looks like a saint and diplomat. I guess I mention him more than my mom as the one with agency because she just wasn't around in general.
twirlerina024@reddit
I remember being about 4 and being left with my 7 and 9 year old siblings. We were forbidden from opening the front door for any reason, so my siblings got around that by climbing out the kitchen window to play with their friends. I was too short to climb out by myself, so I opened the front door and walked around sobbing until I found a neighbor at home who let me stay there. Then *I* got in big trouble when my mom came home, and she praised my siblings for being clever enough to follow the letter of the law.
Hellokitty_uzi@reddit
I had older siblings that were left in charge of me, often overnight since they were teens when I was 6.
They would just ditch me for their friends and I'd be alone. It sucked and I was lonely.
twirlerina024@reddit
Wow, overnight, that's awful! Did your parents know, or did your sibs bribe/threaten you into keeping quiet about being abandoned?
Hellokitty_uzi@reddit
I can't quite remember because I was super young, but I was very aware that I didn't want to snitch on them. Even when I was older, like 14, I hated being alone at night. Now that I'm 35, I still hate it!
takisara@reddit
Man this hurts my heart....i had very similar experiences with my mom.
Frequent_Alfalfa_347@reddit
I think i was 9 when I went home after school alone, instead of to the babysitter’s.
That summer, when i was 10, I was allowed to stay home alone in the morning and ride my bike to the babysitter’s (a family friend with 6 kids). I felt rebellious when i stayed at home long enough to watch The Price is Right, which i think was at 10:00 AM.
Seahawk_I_am_I_am@reddit
flipnitch@reddit
ersatzcanuck@reddit
latchkey kid here - got myself up and walked to school on my own starting in 3rd grade. i was the youngest of 4 and the older kids were long gone to middle and high school before i woke up.
i think my parents left us alone a couple times when i was a baby and my oldest brother was 10. i know it was a regular thing by the time i was a toddler.
Cloud_Fortress@reddit
84’. Grandma had a big part of raising / watching me even tho I technically lived with my mom and older brother. By 11 grandma would buy me a kids bus pass and a summer swim pass to the YMCA or local pool. I went all over town completely solo that way via bus for a few summers.
ESPRE5S0@reddit
I was latchkey at 11 with my year old sister. We walked a mile home from school and my parents got home a little after 5. They still got a babysitter for us if they went out at night until i was about 15.
Goondal@reddit
7 or 8 maybe
mobtown_misanthrope@reddit
I was 8 when I was finally successful in arguing my case that I didn't need the housekeeper to stay with me after school. They probably would have agreed earlier, but there was no bus until 3rd grade, so she had to pick me up from school anyway.
I think I was 9 when my folks started letting me stay home alone at night.
DefyingGravity234@reddit
We were latchkey kids. I am the oldest of three. Parents would leave us alone starting when I was in 6th grade. My brother was in 3rd and my sister was in 1st.
SweetCar0linaGirl@reddit
My brother was born in 80 and I'm 83. When he was in 6th grade and I was in 3rd we would walk home from school at 3 and be there alone until 6:30. The next year he started after school sports, so I had to walk home by myself and wait for him to get home after practice. Summers we were shipped off to our Grandparents in another state. For holidays or spring break we just stayed home alone all day.
Narrow_Grapefruit_23@reddit
RaphaelSolo@reddit
Probably about 8 or 9, sister was the oldest and in charge. She got a very small allowance for watching us. We used a foam mattress to go down the stairs. Mostly we just watched PBS or reruns all day. Bewitched, I Dream of Genie, Gilligan, Beverly Hillbillies, that sorta thing.
obviouslymoose@reddit
I was 9. Born 1992. I think my parents were just grateful I was finally old enough to take care of myself and my brother.
mondaysinseptembee@reddit
Home alone at seven, between school ending and mum coming home from work.
I was eleven by the time the next one started school.
Ok_Stable7501@reddit
I was a paid babysitter at age 12, and home alone at 10.
figsslave@reddit
I’m the oldest and our mom went back to work when I was 10 so I was in charge after school.Our older cousin stayed with the following summer and the next year we were on our own,but my kept close tabs via phone and if I was too boisterous the stay at home moms would rather me out 😂
Intelligent-Deal2449@reddit
I was in like 5th grade so ten or eleven. Latch key kid here!
rialucia@reddit
I was at a conference where a keynote speaker did a great presentation on generational differences and how events of our childhood shaped us. She posed a question of “How old were you when you were allowed to go somewhere by yourself unsupervised?” And was supposed to discuss it with the other people at their at the table. We had at least one Boomer, one Gen X, two Millennials and four Gen Z. On average, the older the generation, the younger they were and vice versa. Although, a few of the Gen Z members at our table said they were allowed to go outdoors alone and unsupervised from a pretty young age (we’re talking 4 or 5) because they grew up on a farm.
Anyway, my answer was about 7 or 8. It’s one thing to just be in charge of myself, but my younger brother is 6 years my junior and I was put in charge of watching him when I was way too young.
Malicious_blu3@reddit
I was about 9, I think. My mom was SAHM, though, so it was sporadic.
deefunkt01@reddit
I used to be in after-school YMCA at my elementary school, it was an on-site program that was paid - basically babysitting. I didn't really like going, so one day in second grade (I think) I said fuck it and walked home and went to hang out at my neighbor friend's house. Mom got super pissed because she didn't know where I was - but I was given a house key after that and walked to and from school daily from then on, lol. Honestly, I enjoyed having the house to myself from about 2:30PM to 5:15PM or so.
Deep-Interest9947@reddit
I was home sick a lot from school, and my mom would run errands and leave me home for an hour or so starting from 7 or 8. But otherwise my older brother was in charge of they left us. He definitely mostly ignored me and my sister. Or we would all watch something we weren’t supposed to.
genrlokoye@reddit
I was also sick a lot and my Mom was a single parent. I remember her picking me up from school, grabbing me a couple of Cup Noodles and taking me home, depositing me on the couch and going back to work for the rest of her day. One day there was even an earthquake when I was home alone sick. This started when I was around 10.
MisRandomness@reddit
I was 10 when I first had times of being home alone but it wasn’t for very long. I ran around a square mile of neighborhood by myself anyways so being home alone was safer and a piece of cake.
Walksuphills@reddit
11 or 12 (and in charge of 3-4 younger siblings)
MarsR0ve4@reddit
Both my parents worked so until I was about 6 I would go to an after school daycare until they picked me up. From then on I would go straight home, I had two older sisters who would have been 8 and 11 at the time, but we would also often be coming from different schools, so I might have still been alone for a short time some days.
By the time I was 10 I would just tell them I was going out with a friend and we could bike as far as we wanted, just had to call again before dark.
YinzaJagoff@reddit
It’s funny when I think about being left alone at 8 or 9 because where I grew up— Illinois, it’s actually illegal now to leave a kiddo under the age of 13 alone.
LifePedalEnjoyer@reddit
Probably 8 or 9.
Only child. Would wake up with the alarm clock, get ready for school, lock up the house, go to school, and let myself in when I got back home.
During summers, I stayed with my grandma until I was 12 or 13. Toward the end of that, I took care of her more than she took care of me.
rangeo@reddit
9 or 10
Latch key kid from the 80s....there were entire classrooms filled with us.
rainbowtison@reddit
I was young. Probably six. But my parents were going “right down the street “ and I was watching cartoon. My son was 12…well no there was one time he was maybe 9 or 10 and his dad was supposed to stay home while I went out with my sister but he got a side job and went to it leaving my son home alone. With an iPad, wii, tv ….haha. He was fine obviously but I was so annoyed at my ex. But I think he was 12 when I let him stay home for a stretch while I ran errands or something.
Morning-Few@reddit
When i started 1st grade in 1990 my bus was to make us do a transfer at a high school, where i had to find my other bus and hopefully make it there fine lol. All i had to guide me was my knowledge of the school bus number and that was enough to send me by myself downtown to a high school i had never been to, where about 15 other school busses were transferring kids. crazy times uh? it was so damn important to remember that number that i still remember it at 40y old.
anyway.. was probably left alone for short period of times with my younger brother at like.. 8-10 i can't remember exactly the first time.. and overnight at about 12?
wonderbeen@reddit
I was a latchkey kid. I was alone after school starting when I was 7.
silverfang789@reddit
I was 12. I asked if I could try staying home alone instead of having a babysitter (are those still a thing?) and surprisingly, my parents agreed to it. I stayed alone ever after that when they went out.
Leftylady79@reddit
I was around 4th grade and I was walking to school. When I was 10 & 13 my mom had a child so summers after they were born I had them. Always.
Sugar_Kowalczyk@reddit
For how long?
Wait, no, this is gonna be one of those times I tell a funny story about my childhood and everyone stares at me, totally horrified.
poindxtrwv@reddit
I was around 8 years old, I believe. They left me with some money to order a pizza and our fancy new VCR. I think they also left the phone number of the place they would be. I was not a latch key kid.
PatchEnd@reddit
born 77, i was by myself at 6, someone would check in on me every 4-5 hours. the only thing i wasn't "allowed" to do was cross the road by myself. i had to call an adult from across the road to come out and stand with me and make sure I didn't get ran over. I was 6....FUCKING 6!!!!!! i hate my parents
LordLaz1985@reddit
About 8 or 9.
shpoopie2020@reddit
I regularly babysat my three younger siblings when I was 10. The youngest was 2.
XainRoss@reddit
I got off the bus by myself to an empty house 5 years old, just for short periods at first. I knew how to tell time, use the phone, and the numbers for my grandma and aunt that both lived nearby. If anything happened or no one else was home my a certain time I was to call one of them. By 7 I was also in charge of my 5 year old brother. By then we were pretty much unsupervised all the time though. Even when my mom was home we were constantly playing down by the creek in the woods way out of sight.
Schmuck1138@reddit
Around third grade if was quick trips to the grocery store. By 5th/6th, all day during the summer.
Poison_Ivy_Rorschach@reddit
I was home by myself after school off and on from 3rd grade and up, until someone came home from work. From 10 years old I would be left home when parents had plans. Only child.
ornery_epidexipteryx@reddit
I grew up in rural Kentucky. We had a trailer on a five acre lot surrounded by woods. I can’t remember the exact age, but it was young enough that by the time I was in 4th grade I was cooking all my own meals.
I have a very powerful memory of being home alone with my two siblings during a thunderstorm, and all of us huddling on a water bed. I might have been 7.
I think that once my baby sister was old enough to go to kindergarten that my mom got a full time job, and was forced to leave us alone (my dad was a long haul driver then). So my best guess for mine and my sisters’ ages would be oldest (10), me (7), youngest (5).
My daughter is 8- I can’t leave her and my 2 year old in the living room while I’m in the kitchen without chaos🥹. She is high anxiety and gets lonely just being in a different room from me. I can’t imagine leaving her home alone until she’s a tween at the very earliest.
Rat_Master999@reddit
I was 7 or so and we were stationed in Germany, living off base.
Willing-Pizza4651@reddit
Earliest I remember was 2nd grade when I was home with chicken pox, but probably only for an hour of two. But I was babysitting for neighbors by the time I was 11.
Zealousideal_Equal_3@reddit
I was 9. I was in charge at 11 with my 1 yr old sister. I was told not to use the stove, open the door and don’t answer the phone. I’ll be back in two or three hours.
I’m an 82 baby.
Msheehan419@reddit
I have step daughters and they have a half sister on their moms side. So three girls in the house. They are 21, 16 and 10 and I don’t think the 21 or the 16 year old has ever been in charge of the 10 year old at any age.
The 21 year old didn’t stay at home without an adult until she was 16.
gwmccull@reddit
I was born in 1979. I don't think we were left fully alone very often growing up. When I was little, my mom ran her own daycare (11+ kids before licenses were required). Around 3rd grade, mom started working nights at a factory and dad worked days. So my sister and I had to ride the bus home, let ourselves in, do our homework, eat snack, etc while not waking mom up
I do remember being left alone at night around middle school while my parents were out somewhere. Some guy broke down on the highway near our house in the country and was banging on our door at midnight asking to use the phone. I had to go tell him he couldn't come in to use the phone. I remember that being pretty scary
gwmccull@reddit
I also remember my parents leaving me at home for a week when I was 16 while they took my sister on a vacation to grandma's house. I was left to take care of my uncle's new puppy (he was also on the family vacation). It was before I had a driver's license so when the puppy got parvo, I had to call a friend to take us to the vet while I held the dog out the window as it had explosive diarrhea
New-Anacansintta@reddit
I was 6, and I absolutely cannot fathom leaving my child at home alone when he was 6.
I was more independent, sure, but he is much less anxious and more secure in general from having a more overtly warm parenting style…
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
I'm the oldest, with my sister 2.5 years younger and my brother 4, and they were 3 and 4 years behind me in school. There were definately times starting when I was 8 or 9 that I was allowed to stay home for short periods alone, but I was never left with my siblings at that point. Once I was 11 or 12, I was home for long stretches, because my sister was involved in activities that would go on all day long, and my brother would go with my mom and have to wait, but I was allowed to stay home instead. I was never "in charge" though until around when I started high school and they were in middle school, and we'd all be home for a while before one of our parents got back from work.
fairlyaveragetrader@reddit
Third grade? What would that be like 8? It was kind of bizarre when you think about it because I would come home after school, I had a dirt bike to ride and if my friend came over we would sometimes shoot guns in the backyard. My parents were safe though, since we were young the largest gun they would let us use is a 22 if we were alone 😹
Typing this makes me feel like I grew up on a different planet compared to today
NoAnnual3259@reddit
I was a latch key starting at age 8 in 3rd grade, I was sort of in charge of getting my 6-year-old brother home from school on the public bus system. I still had to go to daycare during the summer but then when I was 10 we got to start home alone the entire summer while my parents worked. We’d ride our bikes and take the bus all over the city. It was a great summer.
Kalel42@reddit
Born in 83 and I think I was 11 before I was left alone or alone with my 8 year old brother. Although that's more a function of the fact that my mom didn't work until then so she was just always around. I started walking to school alone when I was 7.
Humphalumpy@reddit
At four years old I was left caring for my 2yo brother. At 7 yo I cared for 5yo, 3yo, and infant. I don't believe this was ok then.
shadow_hide_you_@reddit
I think I was probably about 10 when I was left alone (I am the oldest) and about 12 when I was left in charge of my two siblings (6 months old and 6 years old) for a few hours at a time.
Piranha_Vortex@reddit
I'm the oldest of 3. My sister is younger by 3 years and my brother is younger by 9. As soon as I turned 12, they left me to babysit in the evenings after school. I was the instant babysitter.
Funny thing is, when my youngest was 14, by law that child still wasn't able to be left unattended for an "unreasonable amount of time". Lol the 90s were truly a different time.
GreyGhost878@reddit
I was 11 and my brother was almost 8. Our dad had a 9 to 5 and our mom started substitute teaching (after being a SAHM until then) so we started coming home alone after school for an hour or two. From then on us being alone was never a problem. It was around the same time I started babysitting other kids, too.
DominaSaltopus@reddit
8 by myself. I was the oldest and babysitting my siblings at 10. Babysitting for the neighbors when I was 11.
BrucetheFerrisWheel@reddit
9 yrs old alone after school and at night when mum had second job. About 12 to 13 for leaving me alone for trips she took, only 3 day ones.
I got into a lot of trouble so I'd wait til 16 to do that with my kid.
AgentWD409@reddit
I think I was about 12 when I was first allowed to be home alone without a babysitter.
IndigoStef@reddit
9 and I was in charge of a 5 and 1 year old
Global-Jury8810@reddit
It was first my sister, born in August 73, but when she left my brother who was born in March 1975 took over. Eventually it was decided that my fellow Xennial brother (May 1981) was in charge when the parents weren’t home.
Academic_Deal7872@reddit
'78 here. 2nd grade, there's was like an hour difference of when I got home from school and my next oldest sister 7 years. The middle child '69 was always in charge when mom and dad weren't home. Oldest two were gone by that time. '64 and '67.
Latchkey wasn't an option because Mom worked 1st shift dad worked evening shift and they both took overtime when they could. So I didn't have a ride to pick me up until about 6th grade I was allowed to ride my bike to school and would leave when I knew my sister would be home or if she had a game at the high School nearby, I would ride to that and we would walk ride home together.
Rules: no phone, no stove, no toaster, don't open the door (everyone that lives here has a key), TV okay but not loud if homework is done. Feed and walk dog when sister gets home. There would usually be snacks that didn't need heating like musubi, PBJ, or canned tuna and sardines.
thenamewastaken@reddit
5 or 6, whatever kindergarten was. The bis would drop me off, and I'd go into the house. I'd be alone for a few hours. My grandparents lived next door, and my mother was in a building in the backyard working, though. So I could get to people if I needed to. I'm the oldest, but I don't really remember my brother being there with me at the time.
gummi-demilo@reddit
I became a latchkey kid at 10. My brother was born in 1994, but I wasn’t really watching him until he was about 2. I watched him every summer (unpaid, of course) until he turned 10 and was allowed to stay home by himself. Only then was I able to get a summer job.
xmadjesterx@reddit
My sister was almost eight years older than me, so she was generally the designated babysitter starting from when I was about 6. She liked to show me A Nightmare On Elm Street and then tell me to take a bath and go to bed. Yeah, she was great like that.
I started being left home alone at around 11 or 12. Son of a Colonel in the Air Force and a school teacher, so I was a pretty responsible kid, except when I wasn't. That's okay, though. It's only bad if you get caught
twatwaffleasaur@reddit
Born in 1984.
I was in 4th grade, so 9/10, when I (eldest) started coming home from school by myself with my middle sister (age 8) until my mom got off work. We had to call her as soon as we walked in the door and she was home around 6. We had to do chores and our homework before she got home so we didn’t have time to get into anything really.
I was also responsible for getting my baby sister (age 2) up and dressed and ready to go the sitter before I went to school and a few nights a week I would also give her a bath, brush her teeth, and get her ready for bed.
That summer I was responsible for both sisters during the day while my mom was at work.
remoteworker9@reddit
Maybe 11? I was babysitting for others at 12 and I had four younger siblings.
MiniRems@reddit
For a couple hours because we didn't want to go shopping with mom? Maybe 7 or 8 (my brother was 1 year older than me - practically "Irish twins" because my mom believed the wold wives tale that you couldn't get pregnant while breast feeding).
For whole work days, like in the summer? 11 or 12, not long before that, my mom got a part time job where she usually got home an hour after the school bus dropping us off, so we were latch key. She'd leave a note with all the chores we had to have done before she got home, and there would be hell to pat if it wasn't done.
My foster sister and I were seniors in high school when we were left alone for a whole week while my parents drove my brother to college. It was the first week of school, too, but it's not like we could skip, because our bus driver was mom's good friend and would have let her know (dad had a fsncy pants bag cell phone he'd gotten just for the trip!)
Zealousideal_Put5666@reddit
I started baby sitting around 6th / 7th grade.
al_brownie@reddit
When I was 9 we moved to a house in the boonies on a dirt road, and my mom would walk the dirt roads for exercise and would generally leave my brother (then three) and I at the house. She would always remind me where the numbers were by the phone (emergency, neighbors, my dad’s work) and that was about it. We generally had a babysitter otherwise though.
ChickenBossChiefsFan@reddit
I thought it was normal for the time, now I’m realizing maybe not? I’m 83, brother is 85, single mom. First grade on I would get off the bus (with my bro from 2nd grade) and wait for my mom to get home. I technically had a key, but I also had ADHD to the max so I lost it often, so my brother and I spent a lot of time waiting in the backyard lol
Teen mom so grandparents were still “young” and working also (they weren’t even 50 at this point) and after school care was EXPENSIVE. There was a 6 week summer day camp during the summer, but we spent the rest of the summer break time with my dad (even less supervision than we’d normally get).
We just had very strict orders to not answer the phone or door, and to NOT peek through the blinds. We stayed home alone because there wasn’t really any other option 🤷♀️
Electrical-Pie-8192@reddit
I don't remember when I was first left home alone, probably after school for 30-40 minutes around age 9-10. I know at 11 I took a babysitting course offered by the local hospital and was babysitting up to 3 kids at that age. It was pretty common in the area at that time
esocharis@reddit
No siblings(until I was 17). I was completely alone starting the entire summer in between 4th and 5th grade. Mom would come home by 4ish to get dinner started, but otherwise they were both gone around the time I got up and I didn't see them again until dinner.
Once school started again, I was home by 3ish and mom started coming home by 5 instead of 4 since I wasn't home alone as long.
They called to check in on me a couple times a day, and I was always allowed to go to my friends house down the street as long as I called my parents first, his mom was a stay at home mom and I had an open invitation as long as my friend wanted me to come over lol
Indubitalist@reddit
Man, your parents were practically empty-nesters when they had their second kid?
esocharis@reddit
Yeah, I was a senior in high school when he was born. My mom still has one of my grad pics hanging in the house with me holding him at 3 months old in my cap and gown lol
She divorced when I was 15 and remarried when I was 16, then a new brother st 17. High school was a trip 😁
runjeanmc@reddit
I babysat 3 kids (and 2 neighbor kids) and an unruly dog by the time I was 11.
I was wrestling a knife out of one kid's hands while another was flushing socks down the toilet. No idea where the third was. Probably eating markers?
All 3 are married with kids now; no idea how they made it to adulthood with that sort of supervision.
mangoman39@reddit
I don't remember for sure, but I know my mother went back to work when I was about 7 or 8. My sister is 3 years older than me. We would have been home alone after school for a few hours and all day in the summer. Funny that I don't really have any recollection of that, though. I guess it's probably because ai always just got home and went to.my bedroom, whether my parents were home or not, so the memories would basically be the same either way
lsp2005@reddit
I was 9 and taking care of a toddler and an infant. I would not dream of doing that to any kid today.
Salty-Complaint-6163@reddit
My brother was born when I was 9 and I remember being left alone to watch him when he was an infant. Can remember him just full blown bawling one day, no cell phone to call my parents I was like WTF IS THIS.
lsp2005@reddit
Same.
Interesting-Fly879@reddit
Yep, starting at 9 I babysit for my 4 cousins 3 days a week all summer. I had been babysitting my little brother for a few years before that.
cellrdoor2@reddit
Left completely unattended for hours, probably 4. Left home alone probably about 8? I remember having strep throat in second grade and my parents both had to work so I was set up on the living room couch with some ice water and some microwaveable soup left in the kitchen for me. I was really too sick to get off the couch so had to just leave on the channel they turned on. The scene in Indiana Jones with the snakes and monkey brains almost made me throw up. I tried very hard to concentrate on my book instead. I actually still have that book, a trilogy of Anne of Green Gables novels. It became one of my favorites.
Narrow_Echo_9836@reddit
Once I was old enough to walk by myself to the store and buy cigarettes for my mom, so like 6.
AttemptVegetable@reddit
I was left at home all the time in first grade by my mom. I found my mom's meth stash under the couch, I cooked kraft Mac n cheese myself. One time the power went out and I was scared as hell for hours. My dad wasn't much better
RoastQueefSandwiches@reddit
I panicked when I read “I found my mom’s meth stay under the couch, I cooked…
Mac n cheese. Jesus man. Why you gotta do that to me.
Longjumping-Fact2923@reddit
The lack of landlines is such a big thing these days.
My kids don’t have phones, so leaving them home is a much bigger issue. I’m thinking about getting one just for this.
DisastrousFlower@reddit
i babysat starting from age 12 but not all night. it was always scary. my mom left me alone starting around 15 and would go stay at her boyfriend’s. i hated it. i was always terrified.
Ok-Reflection-6207@reddit
Omg it’s different. I literally left the week I graduated high school, and pretty much never looked back. I’m SO CONFUSED that my oldest is over 18, graduated and still living at home.
LemonPuckerFace@reddit
I grew up as a feral child.
I would walk myself home to an empty house after morning kindergarten. There would be nobody else home until 3 or 4.
When I was in first grade, I was home by myself after school until 6-ish. Once my mother got home, I was fed and sent to my room.
By the time I was in second or third grade I was left alone for entire days and would have to fend for myself. My parents would regularly go out for the night and not come home until the next day.
I remember my parents going away for a 10 day vacation and leaving me alone when I was 8. I was told to not answer the door or the phone (unless it was the one ring hang up and call back thing), and that my uncle would be by to check on me every few days. He showed up once. It was the day before my parents got home. He was drunk and forgot to bring me any food.
From the age of 10 onwards, I had absolutely zero parental supervision. My parents were split up. I lived with my dad, and he worked 3 jobs. I'd only see him briefly on weekends before he was heading out to work in the afternoon.
Being 13 years old and having no curfew seems like fun until you realize that every other kid you know has to be at home at a reasonable hour. Shit gets old real fast.
Glass-Marionberry321@reddit
Not positive but single digits for sure, with my older sister who is 3 yrs older. 80s parents had it easy, barely parenting.
katemonster42@reddit
I was 9 taking care of a 6 year old and an infant. I started leaving my only child home alone at 9 for short trips to the grocery and my mom thought I was insane. How quickly one forgets
PleezaJazz@reddit
My sister was 5 years older than me and for a brief 2 years, we were at the same elementary school together and would walk home from school together. This was when she was 9-11 yrs old (4th-5th grade) and I was 5-7 years old (Kindergarden-1st grade). We would only be home alone for about 2 hours after school.
The first time I can remember being home alone without my sister was about age 8-9 for a few hours at a time. By the time I was 10, I was home alone for long periods during the day in the summer since my sister was working at this point and my parents both worked. My parents would maybe call once per day to check in. I had a couple of neighborhood friends that I'd occasionally go to their houses to hang out during the day. If I was leaving the house, I'd put a note on the kitchen table. Had I been kidnapped at 8am on one of these summer days where I was home alone, my parents wouldn't have known until after 5pm when they got home. LOL!
BreakfastBeerz@reddit
Born in 78, younger sister born in 80. I don't remember exact ages, but I know for sure I had a sitter over the summer when I was in 5th grade, probably 6th too. I know for date nights I was left home alone with my sister for a few hours starting in 5th grade.
My kids are 5 years apart so it's a little different, I would have left my son alone all summer at 13, but his sisters were 8 and that's just too much for him to handle. We did start leaving them alone for a few hours for date night about that age.
My son is 16 now and his sisters are 10....we just started talking about if we were getting them a sitter again. The answer is probably as I'm sure the 16 year old isn't going to want to be home watching his sisters when he has a driver's license.
Ambitious_Tackle@reddit
Earliest I remember is 4.
proxminesincomplex@reddit
Only child, 8 during the day and probably closer to 10 if my parents wanted a “date night” until midnight or so. I was responsible enough to know not to open the door, no one is allowed over, how to dial emergency numbers and speak to a dispatcher, make simple meals, do laundry, etc. We were also in a safe neighborhood and I knew I could call/walk to neighbors’ if I needed anything, and my folks would let my friends’ parents know they were out for the evening, as their parents would tell my folks the same when they would go out. I have friends who don’t even let their middle/high school aged kids alone at home and I think it’s bonkers. But I am not a parent.
Impressive_Bat3090@reddit
I was born in 88 and when I was 3 my 11 year old sister would babysit. She also had our 7 year old, very very ADHD (medication still wasn’t a big thing even then according to our mom so he was a lot) brother. I now have kids that are 16, 15, 12, 10 and 2 and the only time my oldest has babysat is when I had to have an emergency C-Section with our youngest and he was only only for about 3 hours, until my dad got to town.
Being responsible for us at such a young age was really hard on my sister, I didn’t see it at the time obviously but as I grew up, and we talked about our memories and experiences from childhood I finally realized how incredibly stressful it was for her and I just don’t want to put any of my children in that situation.
Also my brother was really mean to me and would try to hit me with shovels (in the most loving way possible) and I also didn’t want to put any of them in the kind of situations that could lead to things like that lol.
Meatball-Alfredo-Mom@reddit
I was 8.
CalgaryChris77@reddit
Only child and maybe 9 for short periods, by 11 I was often alone for hours though.
noronto@reddit
My Grandma lived with us until I was 15, so I was never home alone until after she left. But once she did, my parents did not care about leaving me alone.
EvoSP1100@reddit
My brothers are decently older, so I got left with them a lot. We used to pull mattresses off the bed and put a football helmet on and go down the stairs. We’d slide the bookcase out of the way first and one my brother put dent in the wall. Just slid the bookcase back into place
Edlo9596@reddit
My parents never left me home alone until I was 13-14. My mom was wildly overprotective though, I wasn’t allowed to do much of anything.
RoanAlbatross@reddit
About 8.
My parents both worked overnights starting when I was 12 and I was on my own every night. No siblings. Just me. I had unrestricted internet so it was always fun. Even if it was dial up.
nikkesen@reddit
I was left home alone as a child, but officially became a latchkey kid when I was in grade 4, so that would've made me 9 years old. Basically, I got rewarded for mouthing back to the after-school caregiver (we got into an argument because I refused to wear some super butt ugly brown gloves she had on her. I mean, it was barely -1C and my sleeves were good enough for keeping my hands clean). My parents decided it was easier and cheaper to just set me free. After all, it meant they could save on childcare expenses. I was a five minute walk from school.
ghouldozer19@reddit
Born a week into 85 and the first time I remember being home alone for any length of time I was seven. By the time I was nine it was full days home alone and spring break and stuff,
clutzycook@reddit
I'm the eldest. I think we were coming home from school to an empty house by the time I was 9. Our parents started to leave us home alone briefly (an hour or less) around that time too. But we weren't left home alone for the whole day/evening until I was maybe 12 or so.
AdelleDeWitt@reddit
I would take care of my brother home alone probably when he was about two, which would have made me nine and a half. There was also the expectation that I would get dinner started. I was 12 when strangers started paying me to take care of their kids all day, which as a parent now seems pretty horrifying, but I knew what I was doing because I've been doing it for years. I was good at it and made money.
Slamnflwrchild@reddit
I’m the oldest, born in 82. I had a stay at home mom, but occasionally I’d be left alone for a little bit starting at 12. The older of my brothers was born when I was 8, the youngest when I was 15. They let me watch my brother when I was probably 14 or so
LittleSubject9904@reddit
I was 6 and a latchkey kid. I walked home from school and stayed home alone until my 9 and 12 year old brothers came home from afterschool activities about 2-3 hours later. I loved having a chance to control the remote every day.
RoyalPuzzleheaded259@reddit
My sister was 5 year older than me. I remember being 5 or 6 and my sister babysitting me. I also remember getting off the bus alone around the same age and letting myself in the house and getting a snack before my sister got home about or so later.
wheres_the_revolt@reddit
After school? 7-8 ish. At night (past 7pm)? 9-10 ish. I was the oldest until my dad got remarried, my step sister is a little under two years older. My brother is almost eight years younger than me, and my mom had me babysitting pretty young.
Frosty_Cloud_2888@reddit
Latch key kids have entered the chat
Munchkin531@reddit
Born in '84, and I definitely remember being left home a lot as a kid. I was a latch key kid, so I was home alone after school in 3rd grade (age 9) and up. Then, when I was 10 and my sister was 6, we were left alone fairly often for my parents' date nights or whatnot. I could never leave my 7 - and 10 year old boys alone!
Do you remember being left in the car while your mom did her grocery shopping? Ah, that was the best! I could read my book and listen to the radio. I didn't have to walk around aimlessly bored. If I tried to do that with my kids today, someone would call the cops.
CROBBY2@reddit
I'm guessing like most it was 8 or 9, with my sister two years younger. We were usually home alone after school for an hour or so.
PercentageRoutine310@reddit
I was an only child for the first 13.5 years of my life. i was a latchkey kid around ages 8-9 when I was in the 3rd grade as my school was walking distance from my apartment. I checked and it's only half a mile. But being a little kid with smaller steps circa 1988-1989, it felt like I walked a mile. Especially when I would carry a heavy backpack.
elphaba00@reddit
I’m an only child so no siblings to watch me or no siblings for me to watch. I think I was in second grade when my parents would leave me alone on sick days. I was told to stay on the couch and not really move around. When I was in 4th grade, I became a latchkey kid and would walk home from school
sevalle13@reddit
I was a latch key kid from Kindergarten on…My own kids have spent time home alone as early as 6-8 depending on the kid
Transplanted_Cactus@reddit
Around age 5 for brief periods. Then alone all day at 11.
I obviously didn't leave my kid alone at that age, but by age 10 she would finish getting ready for school after I left and walk next door to my grandparents house so they could drive her and her cousins in or they walked the mile to school if the weather was nice. Then walked home or was picked up.
bientumbada@reddit
I was 4. My parents were only gone an hour and they didn’t want to wake the baby (grocery shopping) so I was told I had to stay in case he woke up so he wouldn’t be scared and cry. They even left me apple slices as a treat. I cried the whole time because I was scared. The baby never woke up.
By the time I was 6, I would pick up my brother after school and watch him till my parents came home.
YouKleptoHippieFreak@reddit
I came home from school alone beginning in first grade, so probably 7? I'd walk home with two friends on my street (3rd graders), let myself in, call my mom at work to let her know I was good, get some cereal, then watch TV until a parent came home.
TheBlueNinja0@reddit
As the oldest, I think I got left alone at ~7 but wasn't left in charge of my little brother until ~9.
What I really remember is being told to wait in the car ... in July in Vegas.
Comfortable-nerve78@reddit
6 my parents were divorced, I lived with mom and she was a addict, welfare checks would come in she would go shopping and be gone for days at a time. She’d leave me alone so she could go get high. 😂 I had a brother when I turned 7 she’d leave him once he could stand on his own. Fun times.
Loud-Strawberry8572@reddit
7 or 8
RDCK78@reddit
I was around 9… 9-10 seems to be the most common response around here.
No-Championship-8677@reddit
I remember being left alone in high school, but not before then. However I was allowed to baby-sit starting at age 10 so make that make sense
sjd208@reddit
I started babysitting for the neighbors when I was 9. I think the kids were around 3&5!
11229988B@reddit
7 or 8 with a sibling a few years younger. But even worse was being left alone at 9 with a baby a couple times that belonged to some friend of my dad. I kinda remember struggling with a diaper change. It was over night so he slept. It should never have happened. Thankfully nothing went wrong.
11229988B@reddit
Eta: from 7 or 8 till highschool we were left alone more than we weren't. It was a pretty rough time.
Bread-Like-A-Hole@reddit
Born in 82, sister in 85.
I wanna say around 11-12? My Mom stopped paying for baby sitters after I cooked dinner for my sister and I because the teen neighbour she hired couldn’t even make scrambled eggs.
Cisru711@reddit
When I was 9, my parents left me to watch my 5 year old sister in Tomorrowland while they waited in line for Space Mountain. They were probably gone about 90 minutes.
My wife says her parents left her and her siblings on the streets of LA near an open air market for about 4 hours so they could watch The Price is Right be filmed. They would have been between 13 and 8 years old.
cloudydays2021@reddit
Born in 1981.
I used to be left alone when I was about 8 or 9.
By 11, I was picking up my sister from her bus stop and getting her home to start homework and I’d make us an easy dinner some days. Dad worked night and mom was going to college at night during that time.
I don’t have kids. I never wanted any because I feel like I already was a parent in some ways and it wasn’t for me.
CorgiKnits@reddit
2nd grade. Born in 80; I was a latchkey kid! Also the fun ‘left in the car while they went shopping’ was a regular. (And I mean that it was fun - me and a book and quiet? Heaven.)
SweetCosmicPope@reddit
I knew people who had been latchkey kids since kindergarten, which is insane to me. My sister had to do that for a while with her kids too. She had the 7 or 8 year old in charge, and walking his siblings home from the bus stop.
I was the other end of the spectrum. Not that I couldn't be left at home, but my grandma was a homemaker and a bit of a hermit, so there was never an occasion to be home alone. When she got sick, she was in and out of the hospital and my gramps was with her all the time because he needed to be there for her and to take her to and from the hospital, so from 14-15 I would be at home alone for days at a time.
I moved in with my dad after that, and I was home alone every day until I could drive, and then I was not even coming home. I was out fucking around with my friends after school or banging my girlfriend on her couch.
Amnion_@reddit
Probably 10-12 if I had to guess. Seems reasonable
thatguy420417@reddit
Born in 78. I was 12 when I became the "babysitter" of a 3 & 4 year old a couple nights a week. I was 13 when it became every day.
FewConversation569@reddit
10 or 11 for a short errand, and 12 or 13 with my brother after school and over summer. My mom would check in and at least one of my friend’s moms was always home. Plus, there were several other adults I could turn to if needed. All those high school party movies never made much sense to me, because our neighborhood was fairly tight knit. There’s no way I could’ve pulled off something like that without a neighbor telling my parents.
oakleafwellness@reddit
I was 9 and in charge of my 5yr, 3yr and six month old siblings usually for an hour or two, once I was 12 it was all day.
Finalgirlcandy@reddit
I’m the oldest, 4 years older than my twin brothers. I was home alone with them every day for a few hours from age 9 on up. I definitely have the “Eldest Daughter Syndrome” and had a lot of responsibility at a very young age.
Careless_Ad_9665@reddit
I was 10. When I turned 11 my mom had my brother. So that means I was 11 and alone with a newborn. I cannot imagine that now 😂
TurboJorts@reddit
Pfft... my mom left for a week when I was 13 or 14. She had a friend stop by daily and I was left $50 to spend on food as I chose. Hey pizza!!
Granted I was a very responsible kid.
Icy_Hippo@reddit
I was 6, I walked home from school, got into the house, rang mum to say im home, made a snack, went to neighbours to play or go ride my bike, mum got home around 5. Im an only child. lol
takisara@reddit
I was walking to school solo in grade 1. My mom started working when i was 9. My brothers were 12 and supposedly my babysitters, but they were aholes from the start, so i would say 9.
I dont have a lot of memories from anything pre-25...so maybe earlier.
I don't think it was a better time.
Jonestown_Juice@reddit
I was home alone and watching my little sister all the time. Probably started around 9 or 10.
geekgirlwww@reddit
Age 10 but 1) necessity 2) I had multiple neighbors to turn to for help.
Every day I did the call mom to check in.
blownout2657@reddit
We were latchkey kids when I was in fourth grade and my brother was in second.
blueyedwineaux@reddit
Second grade is when I know we were home alone with out parents after school. My older brother (by 23 months) was left in charge. So stupid. I remember a car following us as we walked home from school. My brother constantly tried to burn things down or melt them with fire or magnifying glasses.
Moxie_Stardust@reddit
I think probably age 6 (my sister was 8). Could have been 5 and 7 though.
Persephonesgame@reddit
I had a key to the house on a lanyard around my neck so I wouldn’t lose them in first grade. I got myself up and on the bus and off and home every day.
theshub@reddit
I got myself ready for school alone and rode my bike to school alone about a mile when I was in 2nd grade. I came home after school and my mother got home about 2 hours later.
OrdinarySubstance491@reddit
I can't remember exactly but I know that I was 9 when I fractured my arm and I was home alone at that time. My older brother wasn't home and we had never had a babysitter. I seem to remember that I was pretty used to being home alone at that point and I know for sure that before that, I had been home alone during a hurricane. So, I think probably age 6 or 7.
TroleCrickle@reddit
Born 79. I wanna say maybe 11 or so?