Have You Left Your Kids Home Alone Today?

Last week I left my older kid home in charge of getting my younger one on her camp bus. I had an early morning meeting that I could not miss. Fortunately, as a lazy parent, I had no qualms about leaving the task to my 12 year old.

You should know, however, that sometimes it takes a little extra work to be a lazy parent. For example: On that day, I got up 20 minutes earlier than I normally would have so I could get my daughter’s camp backpack ready to go. Lunchbox and water bottle filled and packed; swimsuit, towel and sunscreen packed. All she had to do was get dressed, brush her teeth and eat breakfast. Sometimes in these situations I make lists for them. I did not do that this time. Perhaps I was being lazy.

(In another post I’ll talk about teaching kids to feed themselves. But in the meantime, know that because I’m lazy, I was comfortable leaving them to get their own food.)

I made sure they were both awake before I left. I asked my older one if I should call from the meeting. He said no. 

Well, I’m a mom and I did it anyway. I called the house about five minutes before the bus was due to arrive. There was no answer.

I could have panicked. Had they gone back to sleep? Were the phones not working? Was something else horribly wrong? Should I have left a list?

I decided not to panic, but to assume instead that no answer was a good thing. I decided to believe that if they did not answer the phone it meant they were outside, sitting on the front porch, waiting for the bus.

I learned later that this was indeed the correct assumption. Whew. Mission accomplished. Meeting attended. One kid safely and happily on bus. One kid praised for getting the job done.

You know your kids. You will know if they can handle this assignment. If you don’t know, one way to find out is to ask them. What have you asked your kids to do for you today?

Disclaimer: I am not a trained therapist or teacher. My opinions are my own. If they help you - great. If you don’t like them, read something else. What works for me may not work for you. If it does, that’s wonderful and I want to hear about it. If it doesn’t, don’t blame me: every kid is different.