4th Grade “Parent”
Posted by Remote-Station4687@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 18 comments
Both of my parents worked in a factory and left the house before 7 am.
As a 4th grader, I had an alarm clock to wake myself up, set out cereal for my little sister and me, help her get dressed, pack up our homework, get our coats on, and walk to school by 8 am.
When I look back at school pictures, our hair was a little rough but hey…we were there! Was anyone else a very young “parent” for a sibling?
labboy70@reddit
Yes. I’m the oldest of 7 so started very young. I was left alone to watch siblings starting at 7. Cooking, laundry, changing diapers, other household tasks.
It served me well as I was super independent by the time I was 10. But, it also made me realize early I didn’t want children.
Slight-Bowl4240@reddit
Yeah I remember changing my sisters diaper and I was 5 when she was born
MikelarlHaxton@reddit
I was "babysitting" my 7 yo and 4 yo siblings by the time i was 8. It looked more like parenting, including doing my little sisters hair, cooking dinner, and hanging out laundry. Mom worked nights, so was home, but sleeping.
Slight-Bowl4240@reddit
So insane!!
Cinnamon_heaven@reddit
My mom worked graveyard shift 7pm-7am. I would get up, get breakfast, make lunch, and catch bus. If I was late and missed it. I got my bike and rode to school and arrived late. Then got home. Hope I had my key, otherwise sat on porch until older siblings got home. Mom was sleeping and we could never wake her. Dinner directions were on counter. Did homework, watched tv, played, whatever. We never saw her until days off. We figured everything out ourselves. Homework, laundry, projects, food, everything. Was walking home since 1st grade and doing all this. I'm very independent now and do everything for my kids so they can be kids. Attend plays, choirs, matches, track meets, clubs, dance, etc. Every spring break was filled with activities like pottery painting, hiking, jump parks. I may have done too much.Now they're adults trying to manage work, chores, spouse, etc. I think I failed them but my mom failed me. Need a happy medium.
Remote-Station4687@reddit (OP)
Yes! I struggled with finding that balance with my kids, too.
Slinkystonermom@reddit
Yes and that is why I had my tubes tied when I was 33. F 50
StarDewbie@reddit
No, and this is why I ended up being happy to be an only child.
reddit_fake_account@reddit
In elementary school, lived in city, walked about 3/4 miles home to an empty house. Didn't have a key so I'd have to climb the chain linked fence and wait in the back yard until mom got home. Mom was a sahm.
Maleficent_Thanks_51@reddit
If I couldn't find my key in the morning I'd leave a window open and crawl through it in the afternoon. My dad was SAH but I had to take care of myself
KyotiKill@reddit
I am an only child, but yes I was a "parent" to myself. Woke up to the alarm clock, got myself breakfast and ready. And at 8y/o started babysitting the neighbor's baby and toddler.
Igmu_TL@reddit
I was still in elementary when I had 7 paper routes in the city. I think I was about 11, driving the car to the newspaper printer dock before 4, getting all the papers folded, rubberbanded, delivered late, and returned home only to miss the bus and walk another 2 miles to school. I got to take a shower at school once I starting stinking.
ShoddyHedgehog@reddit
Not necessarily being a mom to a sibling but I came home to an empty house starting in 5th grade and was expected to make dinner for our family 3 days a week (the days my older brother had sports). My parents would leave out the recipe and tell me what time I should start making dinner so it would be ready when everyone got home.
automator3000@reddit
I’m glad that this was what my mom expected from me. Neither of my siblings were interested in helping like that. Guess who moved out of the house knowing how to make balanced dinners while the other kids relied on frozen foods until their 30s?
data_meditation@reddit
Yes, I was. Like you, both parents were factory workers. I used my alarm clock to get up and got my younger brother ready for school. After school, I would make snacks for us. My parents came home around 4 PM and had dinner by 5, and I did the dishes. Different times back then.
j1knra@reddit
For sure! My mother was a very low income single parent. I was first latchkey in kinder and then responsible for all afterschool stuff for my sister when she went to kinder. I helped with Xmas budgets and choices by 7/8 and often helped with meal planning against the sales flyer. Learned a lot but then ran into serious issues with parent at about 11/12 when I felt like I was 20 and mom kept trying to keep tabs and restrictions on me even though I was actually being asked to function as an adult.
Made me the person I am today but man did it suck until I broke free at 17 and NEVER came back.
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
There were multiple ways in which I had to operate as the "parent" growing up. One of the scarier ones was that I had to be the safety monitor for the house when my Silent Gen parents decided to get drunk and pass out. (There was a phase where this happened quite a bit.) I'd wind up on "cigarette duty", meaning I'd have to check to see if one of them has fallen asleep with a lit cigarette still in their hand or nearby. And yes, I stopped a mattress from burning once.
More on your topic, yep, I was responsible for a lot of things involving my younger sister.
Historical_Project86@reddit
We were lucky, after our mother finished her degree when I was 10, she became a teacher, so we were usually out of the house before she was.