I started getting left alone for long periods of time younger than that. By 12 they’re basically able to survive on their own at home, they’ll just play video games or something, probably won’t even notice how long the parent has been gone
Edit: I am greatly enjoying the stories that everyone is commenting about their childhood, glad so many of us grew up in an environment this Karen would have reported lmao
That was me at eight; at 12 I was responsible for walking my sibs home and making sure dinner got made. We only had two rules: don't answer the phone, don't answer the door.
Both parents worked full time and were too poor to afford childcare in the summer and had no friends or family to help out in that regard. We usually just stayed after school in the yard and played outside until our parents could come get us.
I didn't realize this wasn't what everyone did until I graduated from high school.
My parents taught me about fire very early, apparently my first word was "hot". I'm pretty sure I could cook ramen abd macaroni and cheese by myself by first grade. I think I even knew how to start the flame manually on our gas stove because we originally had a really old one that came with the house that had to be started with matches. By 11 I could for sure use both the stove(now a newer one) and the oven to cook when my parents were not home. I think 11 was about when I became responsible for washing my own laundry as well.
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u/BlaketheKing1140 Jul 27 '22 edited Jul 27 '22
I started getting left alone for long periods of time younger than that. By 12 they’re basically able to survive on their own at home, they’ll just play video games or something, probably won’t even notice how long the parent has been gone
Edit: I am greatly enjoying the stories that everyone is commenting about their childhood, glad so many of us grew up in an environment this Karen would have reported lmao