How old were you...?

[JustJoel]

I was watching reruns of MTM last night. In the episode in which Lou babysits Bess, Bess says she’s in 8th grade, which would make her about 12 or 13, right?

Hw old were you when your folks decided it was okay to leave you at home without a babysitter? At 12, I was already babysitting the neighborhood “kids.” So I guess I must have been about 10.

Any other “how old were you” questions?

 

[roadfix]

I was about 7 or 8 when I started commuting to school by bus or trolley, all by myself.

 

[Andy M.]

I was never left home alone. Mom had a job she could work at from home.

 

[Silversage]

Mom got sick when I was 10 and died when I was 13. I was the oldest of 5 kids, so from that first hospital stay until I left home after graduation, I was the babysitter. (and cook, and laundress, etc).

 

[roadfix]

I was about 7 or 8 when I started commuting to school by bus or trolley, all by myself.

Also, my younger brother and I never had a babysitter. Our mom was a homemaker while our father had a M-F, 8-5 job.
We were also free to go play outside and roam the neighborhood with friends until dinner time.

 

[Aunt Bea]

It happened gradually.

After my parents divorced my mother left for work at around 6:00 am so my older sister and I got ready for school and out the door on our own. The woman that lived below us was always home in case of an emergency. After school, we usually got off the bus at our grandmother's and then walked home at about the same time that our mother returned from work. Other times we were left on our own for an hour or two at a time until gradually we were pretty much on our own. I would say that it started around the age of 8 and lasted until age 11 or 12. When we were left alone it always involved long lectures and warnings about the stove, telephone, locking the doors, what to eat, when to go to bed, etc...

I think that it really depends on the children involved I wouldn't trust some thirty-year-olds.

 

[Just Cooking]

I was 12 when my mom (a widow of 8 years) remarried and had a child so, I suppose I was 13 when I started babysitting her..

For myself, my mother worked so, I was pretty responsible by age 10..

Ross

 

[Kayelle]

I was never alone because our house was attached to the family grocery/meat market. It's pretty unusual for a kid to have parents who never went off to work. I was a really responsible kid, and started babysitting the neighborhood kids when I was a pre teen.

I married at 19 yrs and I had never been alone until I was widowed 42 yrs later. I'm just not made to be alone.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I was watching reruns of MTM last night. In the episode in which Lou babysits Bess, Bess says she’s in 8th grade, which would make her about 12 or 13, right?

Hw old were you when your folks decided it was okay to leave you at home without a babysitter? At 12, I was already babysitting the neighborhood “kids.” So I guess I must have been about 10.

Any other “how old were you” questions?

How old were you … when you went on your first date?

For myself, my first date was when I was 14 years old.
That was a big deal for me.
I was a Freshman in High School and a Senior asked me
to his Prom
He was just the sweetest guy, but we really were just friends.
I saved up my babysitting money to buy a dress and a lei
for my date. I have a picture somewhere, I think
That was a long time ago

 

[caseydog]

I'd guess my sister was 12, and I was 10. No big deal, since my parents had no idea where I was or what I was doing. My dad was always at work, and my mom kept the house clean, while I was outside with my friends.

CD

 

[taxlady]

We were almost only ever at home without a parent when the parents went out for an evening. I think my mum quit hiring babysitters for that by the time I was nine. I remember that on rare occasion we would be home alone after school younger than that, but there was at least one neighbour keeping an eye out. I remember the first time. I was about five. I couldn't read words yet. My mum put the neighbour's phone number on a note and drew a bell next to it. Our next door neighbour was named, Isabelle, but went by Belle. I remember her showing me the note and explaining it.

 

[Katie H]

Gosh! This sure sparked some memories.


I was the oldest of my, surviving, siblings and, as a result was charged with taking care of them all.


My daddy was a busy, busy country doctor and was absent so much of the time. Mostly because he was trying to take care of us and his wife who thought spending money was a hobby. Never understood why she had to have the things she purchased. Never mind.


My mother was also not one to be interested into anything other than herself, which meant I was charged with caring for my 4 younger siblings. I became their caretaker, changed diapers, fed them, put them down for naps, etc.


By the time I was 9-years-old I was preparing everyone's evening meal and took care of cleaning up after every meal, including washing dishes, etc.


Needless to say, my childhood was busy and work-filled.


Funny thing is, is that after all that I really liked cooking and have had a great joy in doing so.


This all continued until my father died in 1973 and I ended up becoming the legal guardian of all my siblings. All the while with being the stepmother of a child of my, then husband, and the mother of my own two children.


Can you spell "chaos?"


All said and done, I wouldn't change things, even as difficult as they were at the time.

 

[caseydog]

This is by no means directly related to the OP topic, but the topic did make me think of this Monty Python sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNqJyrRyss8

CD

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Like Andy, I was never home alone. As an only child in a household of four adults (Dad and Mom, Aunt, and Great Aunt), there was an adult in the house all of the time until my great aunt died a few months after I graduated high school. I was around 11 or 12, though, when I got to babysit. The neighbors were only two doors away, though, so if I needed help Mom was literally a shout away.

 

[caseydog]

When I was about 12, my friends and I decided to follow the creek behind their house to the Ohio River. It was only about five miles, but it was quite a hike -- no streets or sidewalks. We didn't tell anyone what we were doing, and nobody asked. We did it, and hiked back in time for supper.

When I got my drivers license, and a car, the world really opened up. My buddies and I decided to go to a Houston Rockets game one night. About 100 miles from Port Arthur. I had the most likely not to die car, although it got 8 miles per gallon. We just did it.

For better or worse, I had very little parental oversight as a kid, or a teen.

CD

 

[roadfix]

For better or worse, I had very little parental oversight as a kid, or a teen.

CD

Same here, I was pretty much a free bird...