andrewducker | Yes, YES, The child is out!

At Jane's suggestion Sophia (6) just made her first solo trip to the shop. It was nerve-wracking, but she survived just fine, and is currently upstairs demanding that Jane think of other things that she can go and buy us.

She was out of sight for nearly 4 minutes and I managed to not have a panic attack. Go us!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

lilitufire

Well done! I am sure that must have been terrifying, but go you for allowing her that first taste of independence x

From:

andrewducker

Yeah, I was trying to remember when I first started going any distance by myself. I think probably about 9. But the shop is literally 3 minutes and the only road you cross is our cul-de-sac. There's nowhere else to go easily from here, so she's not going to be going further solo for a while.

From:

lilitufire

I think I was about 6 or 7 when I started taking myself to school or to the corner shop, but I'm probably an outlier as it was not far but across a fairly busy B road.

From:

redbird

Those walks I mentioned in my other comment, to the shop and to school, each involved crossing only one fairly quiet residential street. A person could have gotten lost--our street was part of a large street grid, not on a cul-de-sac--but "walk to the corner, turn right, and go up the hill" is pretty simple.

From:

hilarita

Well done to you all!

From:

andrewducker

Thank you

From:

gingicat

Excellent milestone!

From:

andrewducker

Thank you

From:

redbird

Well done, all of you!

I remember going by myself to the shop around the corner when I was 6 or 7, if we needed a quart of milk or the like. Getting a quart of milk alone was useful, but also a step toward for walking to school with my younger brother when I was eight. That led to longer walks alone, like to and from the library, and then to solo subway trips by the time I was 11.

To me, this felt, and still feels, like an ordinary part of growing up in the city. Sometime in the couple of decades after my own childhood that changed, and I'm glad to see parents like you helping, and letting, their children gain those skills.

From:

andrewducker

Yeah, I was making bus trips age 11 across the city.

And lots of kids here get the bus to school when they're in secondary school. I'd expect that ours will (it will also be my bus to work). They may also walk to school together in a year or two. When he's 6 and she's 8 that should be doable. I'll have to find out what age the school will let her out without a parent present.

From:

juan_gandhi

Good! Is it legal where you are? I was sent to buy bread since I was 5, and at 7 I had my own axe, to chop wood - but this was so many years ago. Now, I guess, everybody's paranoid.

From:

andrewducker

There are definitely no laws against it. Other than a general "child endangerment" one that I'm unlikely to fall foul of.

From:

wenchpixie

Congratulations - Sophia will get SO much from it (and never realise how utterly terrifying it was for you)

From:

andrewducker

I hope so, all part of her growing up!

From:

calimac

Great job! Gradually becoming independent - just a step at a time, nothing too scary - is the most exciting and morale-boosting thing for a child, and I'd be sorry if today's cocooning culture interferes with that.

There were no shops within walking distance from where we lived, but at age 6 I was able to begin walking to school, which was - I just measured it on Google Maps - 0.4 miles or 600m from our house.

From:

andrewducker

We're very grateful for our local shop.

Sadly the school is about 1.1 miles away, and there's a reasonably significant road to cross along the way. But it's a reasonable route to work for me, so I don't mind too much. Gideon joins her there this year in any case, so I'll probably be doing drop off for the next three years at least.

From:

calimac

There was a traffic light to cross on my school route, but neither street was very major. I do not remember being taught to press the "walk" button, but I must have been.

The next year we moved, and my school was 1.4 miles (2.2km) away, in a hilly country neighborhood with no traffic. At the beginning I took the school bus, but mostly I bicycled.

From:

andrewducker

Yeah, if we had a decent crossing between here school then I'd be much happier.

From:

bens_dad

We haven't reached that point with Ben yet, but he is a history of going out on his own without permission, starting with slipping out to the park aged three. Aged five he left a birthday party unnoticed and made his own way home - from somewhere he had never previously been and hadn't even walked to !

I walked home on my own from swimming lessons aged about seven and from eleven had a six mile bus ride and a ten minute walk home from school without adult supervision, though there were older boys on the bus and I shared part of the walk with a friend whose house I cycled to on my own.

My brother and his friend across a private road were in and out of each other's houses from the time they could walk. Our mums would phone to say we were on our way.

From:

andrewducker

I'm glad he found his way home okay!

$radiantfracture: Beadwork bunny head (Default)$

From:

radiantfracture

First errand! Congratuations.

From:

andrewducker

Thank you!

From:

cmcmck

I'm so glad you're able to let a sensible youngster do this! :o)

From:

andrewducker

I'm glad we have nice simple walks that she can do at her age. People who live in the middle of nowhere and drive everywhere undoubtedly find it harder.