Are parents overprotecting their kids?

[MrsSmith]

It is but it's probably still a better choice. :(

Yeah, when it's possible. I can only imagine what would have happened to my kids if I'd left them alone all day for 2 weeks when the oldest was 10.

[Gingersnap]

Yeah, when it's possible. I can only imagine what would have happened to my kids if I'd left them alone all day for 2 weeks when the oldest was 10.

It would depend on your situation. I was babysitting alone at 10. That was pretty normal for where I grew up. I wasn't doing it for 4 hours at a stretch at that age but I was good for an hour or two. I was doing it for 4 hours at 12. Nothing bad happened to them or me. ;)

[MrsSmith]

It would depend on your situation. I was babysitting alone at 10. That was pretty normal for where I grew up. I wasn't doing it for 4 hours at a stretch at that age but I was good for an hour or two. I was doing it for 4 hours at 12. Nothing bad happened to them or me. ;)

Oh, I meant if I'd been caught. The minimum babysitting age is 14, and that's only if they've taken a class. If I'd left mine when the oldest was 10, likely they'd have been hauled off to foster care.

[Gingersnap]

Oh, I meant if I'd been caught. The minimum babysitting age is 14, and that's only if they've taken a class. If I'd left mine when the oldest was 10, likely they'd have been hauled off to foster care.

Under contemporary standards, we all would be. :p

[noonwitch]

Yeah, when it's possible. I can only imagine what would have happened to my kids if I'd left them alone all day for 2 weeks when the oldest was 10.

My parents did it every summer, starting about when my older brother was 10. It was not the best plan. 10 year olds are too young to be responsible for themselves, and adding on the additional responsibility of supervising 8 and 6 year old siblings is not fair to any of them.


Incidentally, my mom totally denies that this was the case, now. She says she hired a babysitter. Borderlines start to believe their own lies after a while, so she probably has convinced herself by now. During that same time frame, they still hired a babysitter to watch us when they went out at night.