How to treat a 10 year old

[goodmanm]

I find it kind of weird that he shares his personal phone messages with his co-workers........

[rockinmomma]

my two youngest come home about 45 minutes before my oldest. There are one or two days a week where they are home alone after school until the oldest gets there. They are 9 and 11. They have to call as soon as they walk in the door, after they finish their homework, and when they want to go to the neighbor's home (where one or both of them play with their children (momma is at home)).

I WANT my kids to call me whenever they need to. My employer has no problem with it so it is not a problem for me. I don't use speakerphone, but I really don't care if my convos "annoy" others. These are my kids. Lucky for me I work in a family owned and oriented business so it isn't a problem for me.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by goodmanm

I find it kind of weird that he shares his personal phone messages with his co-workers........

He doesn't purposely share his messages with his coworkers. He uses speaker phone when he picks up his messages.

He can't possibly know when he checks his messages which ones will be business and which ones will be from his daughter.

His use of speaker phone is an efficiency habit. And I'm sure he's not expecting that his coworkers are ease dropping!

[formercalifornian]

I agree with the others who believe this is a latch-key child who's struggling with being alone.

[haggardhouseelf]

I agree with the general consensus here. Sounds like she's home alone and needs reassurance that things are OK. She's maybe a little scared or possibly bored.

I also think ten is a little young if she's by herself. I have a ten year old boy. We leave him and his 15 year old brother home alone, and we started leaving big brother home alone when he was about 12. But 10 seems very young. That's why most after/before school care and summer day camps, etc. go up to about the age of 12 or 13. Until then kids, even if they seem mature and responsible, just still don't feel very safe when they're alone.

We also experienced a fire once, too. We had to evacuate. Seeing how fast everything can change, and so unexpectedly, really made us reconsider our thoughts on leaving the kids home alone. We were really glad that the fire didn't happen while the kids were home alone.

[Hopes]

I think 10 is way too young for extended periods of home alone time. I've known people who had first graders stay home alone after school.

[formercalifornian]

My child is eleven, and I let her decide how long she feels comfortable being alone. At this point, it's about an hour.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

My child is eleven, and I let her decide how long she feels comfortable being alone. At this point, it's about an hour.

That's how I handled my children. They could handle up to an hour during daylight at that age while I took quick trips to the store down the hill.

It took them a few years before they would even want to be home alone when it was dark.

When I say latch key and home alone, I mean children who are home all day in the summer or from 3pm until 6pm after school during the school year.

[JC JC Mom]

I have a 9 year old and she calls me pretty much every single day when she gets out from school and gets to her grandmothers house (so she is not alone) She always calls with very random questions most that can wait until I get home and all that can be answered by all the adults she is surrounded with at grandma's house but she would rather talk to me and since I have a job flexible enough where I can take her calls without it being a problem and I'm going to enjoy her being open and talkative with me because I dont know how long its going to last with the pre-teen years around the corner and then or course the dreaded teen years after that

As for the question about "what time is it" just a reason to talk to her dad.