Leaving children on their own - did you ever?

Oops. I meant imperfect - "independent" being a Freudian slip!

When I was 13, I had Rheumatic fever, and had to stay in bed for 6 months. Money was tight and my Mother had just got a job. I was left on my own all day. I had a flask of cocoa, sandwiches and biscuits. The radio, books and I did a lot of embroidery and knitting. I absolutely loved it, and to this day never mind my own company.
I doubt this could happen today.

independent many of my younger friends return to work when their children are tiny - by choice! And single or with partners. So what's the difference?

I think you were extremely fortunate to not have to return to work when your marriage broke up, I think that's the exception.

I'm sure I left my eldest daughter in charge of the youngest on occasion but she would have been about 14 , maybe when I had to go to the doctors or something. Her sister would have been about 9 but both were very sensible girls and we had an elderly neighbour 2 doors down for emergencies.

My girls talk often about trips out with my Mum. It would have been the early 90's . They would go into town to the local market, where my Mum would buy them a pounds worth of their hearts desire.

They would them go to the shopping centre ( indoors) where my Mum would settle them down on the floor outside the wool shop with their new toys and she would go inside to browse and buy wool.

When she was done she would come back outside , pick them up and take them for breakfast at the Coop ( a huge treat!!).

As a child and the oldest of 4 I was often left in charge of the little ones, and from the age of 14 I took them to the beach every day in the school holidays by bus. I was 14, and they were 9 and 4 yr old twins. So not only did I have responsibility for them on the journey but also for 10 hours at the beach and in the water. I even taught them all to swim.

They were different times and no-one thought anything of it.

I know I was left - youngest of 5, with oldest brother less than six years my senior in charge, even when he was about 11/12. This didn't happen often, or for long periods, but we got up to mischief!
A memorable 'game' - when I became quite distressed - was when my eldest brothers had a teddy throwing competition - up the stairs and straight into the toilet which was opposite at the top. I was terrified my beloved teddy was going to be lost down the loo! I could only have been 5 or 6.
BUT -a very different climate then (1960s). We played out for long hours and were always in and out of neighbours houses.
I did manage to leave my first child parked in a wide shop doorway when she was just 3 weeks old. The shop itself was long and narrow and didn't have room for a pram. I just managed to walk straight past her and halfway up the high street before I realised /I was 'missing something.'
What makes me so cross today is the early pressure on single parents to return to work. I thank god that when my ex left me with 4 children aged between 6 and 14, I wasn't under pressure to go out to work. Now I think single parents have to look for work when children are school-aged. Bad enough to only have one parent, then to have that parent absented through work commitments too - not a good recipe for social care!

This has brought back a flood of memories - as a single mother in SA in the 1950s, my own mother would leave the 3 of us, in our "Sunday best" lined up outside the department store where she would go in to do her shopping. We would always have a "treat", a lolly or similar, and we never felt afraid, or threatened in any way. I have no idea how long we would be there, but I do remember sometimes sitting down against the window. We were not on the street, the department stores had display cases and windows that led to the off-street entrance. Our ages would have been 5, 6 and 7. We would never have dreamt of causing my mother any problems, we understood that we had to behave, and we did.

We were "latchkey kids" - going home alone after school from the age of about 12. Before that, we would be taken, in the "school taxi" to my gran's house every afternoon. By the way, the "school taxi driver" was later charged and found guilty of molesting children. He never tried anything with us, perhaps because there were 3 of us.

As a further aside, from about 10 years of age I would be sent to the grocer shop with a list, money - and a budget! Very good training.

It was also my job to clean the lounge on Saturday mornings. I loved it because my mother would give me carte blanche with how things were displayed, so I often had my brother help me and we'd rearrange all the furniture

Perhaps because of my own experiences, I left my own children unsupervised at times as young teenagers (never overnight). They were pretty responsible so I never fretted about them. However the arm (frame) of our sofa was mysteriously broken, and years later, my daughter confessed they had been doing somersaults on to the couch when it happened. My son was a strapping teenager.