Ok, so my blogging has been less than regular. Honestly, that is because I am in the midst of my actually blogging “job.” And also because we have been really busy this summer with activities and running into each other at home.
This summer, my daughter is going to a kindergarten “readiness” class at the neighborhood school that she will be attending next year. The school itself is about three or four blocks away from our house. It is a straight shot, but there is one busy street that she would need to cross. There is a crossing guard during the school year so she would be safe. But, she is only 5 years old. Is that too young to walk to school by herself?
My husband and I are debating this question. He says that she probably is too young. I am on the fence – mostly because I’m lazy in the morning. Sometimes my fantasies of making breakfast and booting kids out the door while I’m still in my jammies get the best of me! You know, like the mom in “The Christmas Story.”
But if she walks HOME by herself and we are still at work (years down the line), a word creeps into my head that I haven’t heard in a long time. She would be a “latch-key” kid. I am not sure on the exact definition of that word, but I know it was thrown around a lot in the 80′s when people were talking about the breakdown of family values and rising crime rates. I think it means a kid who carries around a house key, lets themself into the house, and proceeds to wreak havoc on their parent’s home. Then, the weary guardians come home and proceed to stick them in front of awful shows like ”Beavis and Butthead” until they go to bed. That’s just a loose interpretation, but it’s the best I can figure.
I know that my mom stayed home with us when we were kids and was always there to see us on and off the bus after school (whether we liked it or not). My husband’s mom was there for him as well. But, I happen to work (mostly so I can pay off my tuition bills I acquired to get the job in the first place). So, would I be a substandard mom if I don’t greet my children after school with milk and healthy snacks?
When I was growing up, the word “latchkey kid” was muttered under the breaths of parents whenever a child of working parents acted up. These upstanding parents would virtually spit the word out as if it were dirty. My mom would never allow us to fall to such a social evil. Let yourself into an empty house? I think not! Of course this is from the woman who would drop us off at the public swimming pool or the public library for hours at a time unsupervised so she could go grocery shopping. But hey, at least we weren’t home alone!
Maybe she and all the other parents were on to something. Although she never kept anything harder than vanilla extract in the house, she usually did have a stocked cookie jar. Had she not been home, I probably would have been a childhood obesity statistic. (another social evil caused by the latchkey kid) So I guess the question stands. Do my kids get to walk to and from school alone and at what age? And will I ever be able to work full time again? Do I need to get a job closer to my kids?
These questions lead me to my own evil “spit-on-the-ground” catch-phrase: the “helicopter parent.” The helicopter parent is a term my generation spits out when we see parents constantly “hovering” over their darling children. You know, the kind of parent at the playground you see going up and down the slide with their 3-year-old for fear they may miss a step. (That’s what stitches are for people!) Here’s what I figure. Since most of the helicopter parents were the latchkey kids of yesteryear, I’m probably naive enough to let the kids walk alone. However, given my obvious parenting shortfalls, I have a feeling I’ll be in my parka walking to school come January with my rotor blades in full swing!
July 9, 2010 at 11:46 am
Personally, I would find it hard to even let Eli walk to school by himself. Then again, Eli wouldn’t walk to school by himself, so who am I kidding! He just now will ride his scooter to the end of the street.
From a former teacher’s kid’s perspective, just so you know, I NEVER practiced piano or ate healthy snacks when I got home from school before my mom did. I always jumped onto the piano and swept up the cheetos crumbs right as she opened the garage door (she was a creature of habit, and we nearly always knew what time she’d get home; if she surprised us, we lied about the amount of time we were supposed to practice. Rebels, I know). So yeah, I don’t know about getting a full-day’s work in when you have kids.
As for the helicopter parent, I think that also ties into people thinking their kids are more exceptional than they are. IE Johnny couldn’t possibly get into that much trouble because I raised him, because he’s entitled to it, etc. but since he is in that much trouble, I’ll just take care of it for him. I think it starts at a young age with kids and a lack of discipline (in whatever form, really) parents choose (or don’t choose; that for me is the underlying problem). Well that, and trusting your kids to figure out things on their own, and being there for them when they make stupid mistakes. I just don’t know if you want your kid to make a stupid mistake on the way to school, even if it is 3 blocks away.
Maybe you can “carpool” (or hire an older neighbor kid to walk with her)! 
Good luck!