It was a different world up until about 20 years ago. Nobody in the history of forever would have trouble with a 14 year old babyitting, until post 9/11, then everyone was told to be afraid. Be very afraid.
I used to get off the bus with my sister who was a year older and we would let ourselves into the house, turn on the tv to watch after school cartoons, grab a snack, start our homework, and wait until mom and dad got home from work at 530pm. Sometimes, we'd find instruction on the fridge to put something in the oven at a certain time and temperature so it would be ready for dinner when they got home. It was no big deal and our neighbors were there for us if we needed them and we knew it. They weren't gonna call the cops. We were FINE.
Yep by the time I was 10 my mother had remarried for the final time, and it was nothing for me my younger step brother who's 2 years older, and my my sister who's 5 years older than me for us be left home for sometimes a week at a time when they would go someplace to like Florida for the UGA vs. FLA football game, as my sister had her license already, and my oldest step brother who did not live with us at the time, and is 8 year older than me, we could call him if we really needed anything.
When I was 8, my neighbors across the street were a pastor and his wife, a stay at home mom, if there was an urgent situation that needed an adult, we were to go get Pam.
I was 7 & I left home alone for a full day. Because I was sick & my parents had to work. Parents these days are *WAY* too overprotective of their kids.
My mom went back to work 3/4 days a week when I was in 1st grade. We livd in a small Iowa town and I would walk home from school and do my chores and watch Gilligans Island after school, by myself. Then I might go to a buddies house or whatever. I just had to leave a note and be come when the 6 o'clock whistle blew for supper. BTW this was the 70's
At 12 (1981) I spent the entire summer as a full time nanny for 8 year old twin girls and their 3 year old sister. I was paid 20 bucks a week and I was RICH!!! I was alone with those kids for over 10 hours a day in the country!! Ah, the good old days!
My sister used to babysit the neighbors NEWBORN when she was 9yrs old. Due to the way we were raised back then we were much much more responsible and capable of safely doing so.
I was 7 & I left home alone for a full day. Because I was sick & my parents had to work. Parents these days are *WAY* too overprotective of their kids.
That is sooo bad. I baby sat at that age and I was left home alone a lot younger. Call the police, that is insane, they clearly knew the kid and you are right. You keep them at your house, feed them and maybe pop over to make sure everything is ok back at the kid's house :(
That's what I would do. I'd *ONLY* call the police if it was obvious something was wrong. Like the parents had abandoned them to go off on holiday for a week.
You'd spend tens of thousands of dollars and get a pittance in return IF you won. You people are ALWAYS threatening to sue and you really have no clue what you're talking about.
My parents would go out on Friday nights. I was 13! They would say "Lock the door, we will see you later". I got left ALONE. Good times. Sometimes a friend would stay the night.
13? In Gen-X years you were damn near college age! My folks were going to Saturday night house parties and getting home LATE when I was 10. Hell, we had buddies over and frozen pizza and pop. What more did we need.
OMG! 🙄I was caring for my kid brother when he was a baby when I was in elementary schools and when he got older. I was told make sure he got fed and watch him. As he got older he did his thing and he'd go play with his friends and off they road the cycle bike gang.🤣He is Gen-X too born in early 70's. They called the police! That is so ridiculous! I'm so glad I'm Gen-X we were left alone all the time.
Waaaaaay back in the early 1900s 14 year olds were legally getting married. Brooke Shields' grandma was RAISING her younger siblings bc her mom died. She was NINE YEARS OLD.
My maternal great grandmother married at 14, maternal grandmother married at 16, my mother married at 18. I'm gen Jones & broke the cycle married at 36.
I started taking care of myself at 7. Most kids I knew were out living as independent adults between 16 and 19. Now were have 35 year olds living at home with mommy still cooking their kid food favorites and washing their clothes. Freedom, independence, competence. Not forever toddlerhood. We need to repeal the nanny state. Free range children!!
My independence started the day I started kindergarten. I got booted out the door and told to walk to/from school. Then was told not to come in until supper was ready. I spent more time at my neighbors than my own house
I was born in 81, My sister is 5 years older than me, and my oldest niece was born when I was 15, so I'd often have to watch her with no one else at home after school but the 2 of us as my parents had to work as well, and I did not even get paid, so my sister, and her first jerk could go to work, and make ends meet, and I thought nothing of it because my mother did the same when I was young as 5 leaving my sister watch me, so my grandmother could get a break during some of the summer, as she watched me after school for most of the year. So yeah it's indeed insanity!!
At 11 I was watching some 5 and 7 year olds for some neighbors when they would go out on a Saturday night. This was 1981 and I had all the frozen pizza and pop and Saturday Night Live I could watch. And I got paid good money. Not bad for a boy in 6th grade to spend a few Saturday nights a year.
Hey, I did it too. Not changing diapers or anything. Just 5-7 year olds a few Saturday nights a year when I was around 11/12. Made good money and helped me buy a motorcycle at 14.
PS: When I was 11, it was not unusual for me to be babysitting a kid that was younger than me, plus one that was a year or two older and then to have moms drop by to ask if they could leave their kids with me, too, since I was already there, getting paid and they just needed to be there an hour or so. Some of the kids were in my class and were like "Why do I have to listen to you?" and I'd be like "Because, your mom said so." and that was usualy good enough. Except for kids that acted really rude or stupid, or were to young to take care of themselves, it was more like just us all hanging out and being safer than being alone at home.
As one that walked the neighborhood at 11 with my mower and edger looking for work after school when I was alone, I’m ashamed of what this country has become. We need something that threatens today’s people’s “comfort zone” to scare us back to how humans were designed to me.
That's a decision made by a local cop, don't your panties all in a twist, you people will use ANY reason to bring up your Maga propaganda. Fwiw, you may not appreciate it but most of those laws are protecting YOU because the corporations and the top 3% don't give a rats azz about you Bub.
It’s not the government. It’s people. People are incredible entitled but not compassionate. I mean the 4 year old being a wander was known so many ways this could have been handled without wrecking the kids lives.
At the age of 12, I had an after-school 5 hr baby sitting job Mon thru Fri for an 8 month old baby girl. They were my next-door neighbors, so I was pretty confident. I was also that niece that all my relatives used for babysitting since I was 11. I really think it was that we were more mature and NOTHING was ever just handed to us. We had to earn our money after we reached the age of 10. 😂
I was left alone every single day at 6. Babysitting by 9, getting paid to babysit by 12. Had a regular full time babysitting job from 12-16 when I got my first on the books job.
Good Grief, where I grew up you qualified for the babysitter's license class at the age of NINE back in the day. Remember they taught you how to do CPR and what to do if the child was choking and they gave you a piece of paper and everything. After that class, I officially raised my prices 😂
People have had the cops and cps called on them for their 12y/o walking a couple of blocks to the store alone and i believe it was also a neighbor and the mother was charged with child abandonment. I was 8 going to the grocery store for my elderly neighbor to buy her a carton of cigarettes with a note, lol
At 4, I was routinely sent to a mom & pop grocery store about 2 blocks from home. This was because I already knew how to read and make change. I walked to school by myself, too. My parents knew I was smart enough not to get into someone's car or to go into a stranger's home.
My sister and I would walk to the 7/11 in our small town by ourselves at 5 & 6 years old to buy candy and comic books. At 10 & 11, we would walk to the drug store to buy the neighbor lady’s cigarettes.
I was babysitting other peoples kids at 14!!! This is how they have changed everything to tbe point your average 25 to 30 year old acts like an over grown toddler. We have to reverse these laws that say only hover mother parenting is ok. Let kids have freedom and brains again.
That’s just crazy! Why would you not just walk the kid back? Like it really helped to have a single mom arrested. That could happen to anyone. Poor mom. ❤
For us gen X people that was nothing that could happen. to anyone. That was just life. Go over to your friends, play, have fun and come back for supper. Sometimes you got fed and sent home after supper. And nope, we did not get walked home. We were independend enough to walk on our own at 4 or 5. That was a great time.
I remember the days when neighbourhoods were like big families. Parents would inform the neighbours to " just keep an eye out for the kids" when they weren't around. And when Ma was working late ? " If you get scared, just pop next door to Bette's, I won't be home till 7. Can you record M.A.S.H and put away the laundry? I'll bring home pizza so don't get into those cookies!" We were 5 and 8 yo.
Same, 1st day of school mom walked up with me KINDERGARTEN I was 4yr 7mo old. For the next 6 years I walked or rode my bike alone or with buddies 😂😂😂 today's whining kids can't do that at 25yrs old😂😂😂. I was cooking food at 5 for grilled cheese or making PBJs etc. By 6 I was cooking hamburgers and soups (not caned stuff mind you real soups.) Made Thanksgiving dinner at 12 when my sister was sick.😊😊
I baby sat my little sister and brother for 8 mabye 9 hours while mom worked. I WAS IN 3RD GRADE! I even made powerd suger toast and stired the choclet milk myself. I miss being a kid.
I was left home alone at 6, I was already cooking my own food. Yeah it was just a hot dog on the stove but I still kept myself fed. I knew how to make instant tea and instant pudding as well. By 7 I was putting biscuits in the oven and preparing that safely. Ramens and Mac'n'Cheese not to long after that. The fact that so many kids are incapable of taking care of themselves once they're not "kids" anymore is a testament to how screwed up shit is now days.
I babysat my two younger siblings, and ALL of my parents’ friend’s kids since 11… and even got punished if they trashed the house, ‘cause I was left in charge and had to learn the basics of being a good leader: never ever blame your subordinates when you’re the one in charge😅It’s all about good management😅And yes, I had a wonderful childhood in-between the burden of being the oldest😊
I was literally paid to babysit the neighborhood kids when I was fourteen 😂 and yes my mom even left me alone when I was six. That was a long time ago.
So, a female who about 100 years ago she would have been old enough to be a housewife in many places even in the United States and still would be in some, was watching some kids and one of the kids decided to go to a place that was known to be safe to go to and it was found out he also went to that safe place a different time. Which means that a working mom who trusted her neighbor got arrested for being responsible and raising a good teenage girl who actually helps her mom out, just because they were not clairevoyant.
My sister is 5 years older than me, & by the time she was 10 it was nothing for my mother to go to work, & leave her to babysit me for most of the summer to give my grandmother a break, & if I got out of line my sister was allowed to spank my ass if needed. This would have been a nothing burger during the 80's, or 90's unless the kid got seriously hurt, or something else really bad happened.
We live in a dystopian nightmare. At 4 we were walking to school. Like you said. If I went to a neighbors friends house we would play around. I'd get dinner and walk home. People are nuts.
When my cousin was close to that age in the early 70s he took to sitting in the road. A busy, 2-lane road. Neighbor across the street, an old farmer, came out and told him if he caught him again, he would hit him with this 2x4. Later neighbor came over to tell my aunt and uncle and they ratified the whacking in hopes of stopping the behavior. My cousin stopped before seeing if there was follow through.
When I lived in the high mountain desert of Idaho, I had a Hispanic boy of about 3 show up in my front yard. My 3 neighbors were white, and my small farm fronted a busy highway. It was bitter cold, about negative 20F, and the wind was howling. I was calling the police, as I rushed out to the child. He was a friendly, well fed, well cared for child, who only spoke Spanish. He was wearing pants, shirt, and socks, but nothing else in the bitter cold. I wrapped him in a down jacket, and stuffed him inside my huge winter jacket, so he could share my body heat. 911 dispatched an officer immediately. I was afraid there had been an accident on the highway, and this boy had wandered away. I was debating on going into my house, because I didn't want to be accused of kidnapping, but I wanted him out of the cold. Just then a big white car came screaming into my driveway, and a nearly hysterical Hispanic Mom got out of the car, she was yelling and sobbing her son was missing. I opened my coat to reveal her son. She actually staggered, and looked like she was about to pass out. Turns out my closest neighbor, was running an in-home daycare. The Hispanic Mom had come to pick her son up. In the few minutes the two ladies were talking, the little boy got outside, and saw my bottle baby goats in the yard. He crawled through the hedge, and came to play with my baby goats. Once through the hedge, he could no longer be seen. So everything was perfectly fine, and the child safely returned to his Mom. Remember the police officer? He showed up over an hour later! He'd been dispatched to the wrong rural address. The police officer was releived everything was fine. My bottle baby goats were nibbling the officers pants, as I explained the whole story. 🐐
My sister was brought home by the police when she was 9 months old because she had climbed our fence and taken herself on a walk. She did this by first moving some boxes so she could climb into the kitchen sink and out the open window. We could both walk by 6 mths ( as did my son) and the police just laughed and were amazed she had figured out how to do all of that. Never was there any threat of arrest. That story is disgusting. That mom did nothing wrong.
YEah, this is pretty insane. And it happens more often than you think, which is why its insane that people call the cops over being neighborly. It takes a village.
I'm sure that having the mom arrested and possibly ending up with 4 kids in foster care is really helping those children. One thing to think about before calling the cops, or cps on a family is, will those children be better off in a group home or foster care than will their parents. Sometimes the answer is yes, but rarely.
I remember being in 1st grade coming home to an empty house because both my parents were working, now I was only alone for a half hour before my mom got home but still , it wasn’t that big of a deal
This might be one of the dumbest things I ever heard, I remember my 2-year-old brother running butt naked down the road on a daily basis and nobody called the cops. They did call the let us know so we can go grab him.
WTF!?!? Seriously, I was 7 & I left home alone for a full day. Because I was sick & my parents had to work. Parents these days are *WAY* too overprotective of their kids. I'd *ONLY* call the police if it was obvious something was wrong. Like the parents had abandoned them to go off on holiday for a week.
lol I was babysitting my siblings and aunts at the age of 9. (My youngest aunt is only 3 years older than me). I was cooking cleaning and basically being a sister mom to my siblings. Truth be told these kids are born soft and cannot take care of themselves because they have no sense of awareness or the “street smarts” we had. Even neighbors are different because they don’t “honor thy neighbor” which is so bad. I am glad I am surrounded by Gen X Neighbors because if we need anything they are all there and vice versa. I agree there would be an ass whopping but the first thing I would say is hey kid what’s your mothers phone number let me call her and let her know I will help keep an eye on your guys until she gets back.
I was on my own at 8 years old after school, cause both parents worked. I was the definition of a latchkey kid. A neighbor regularly had a 10 year old girl babysit a 2 year old for several hours on a Saturday nights. No one ever once thought of calling the cops.
I was a latchkey kid, at 12 I started watching my baby brother (7) after school, on holidays and summer. No one called the cops. Neighbors all made sure I had their numbers in case I needed anything while Mom was at work. Of course Mom let me know those numbers were for emergencies only.
In the 70's, my mom's friends 2 kids (4 and 6 yrs old) left their place and walked 3 blocks to our place while their mom was at work and their dad was sleeping. The dad woke up and found the kids missing and called his wife at work. His wife asked my mom to call our house to see if the kids were there. My mom called my grandma and she said yes, the kids came over and she fed them and they were playing with us. No police were called. The dad wasn't arrested.
Even back then, the legal age of a caregiver was 14. Nobody cared. I agree, feed the kid, help the family. Arresting the mother is NOT HELPING the family.
Absolutely ridiculous. I remember my parents leaving my sister an I home alone at 8 & 9. After school we walked home to an empty house. Let ourselves in with our keys and started our homework. We were supposed to go outside and play except the backyard but that rarely stopped us. We just had to keep an eye on the top of the street to watch for their car, then run like hell to the backyard or inside the house. They totally knew we were doing this as I’m sure the neighbors ratted us out but they also kept an eye out for us too. Oh, forgot to mention this was in the state of Georgia which had more sense back in the 60’s and 70’s than they do now.
My older brother watched me and another sibling a couple times and he was like 11 or 12. It would be the last time however as I told my parents how we got up on the roof while they were gone. Good times 😂
We had a 4 year old that would show up at our door at 6 am. every day. His Dad was a druggie. We took him in, fed him, and watched him till his Dad came to his senses and came and got him.
When I was 10 I got my own key I wore around my neck so I could get off the school bus, and let myself into my house and was alone until my parents got home from work. By 14 I was making supper to be ready when they got home, and baby sitting was a great way to make cash at that age. This was Totally normal, and adults expected more from us which taught us responsibility.
When I was 5, I was expected to find my way to kindergarten and back on foot. Police probably would not even have bothered to come - not that the neighbor would have called. Neighborhoods were a lot more social back then. The downside was that the neighbor might have diciplined kids for mischieve even when they were not theirs.
I'm not on RUclips often but I am following you here since FB and Instagram (owned by the same entity, I am pretry sure) apparently decided that you had some how pissed in their Wheaties and decided to cancel you. Well as a member of Genx "they ain't canceling me" so now I'm gonna keep an eye on you here as well. I'm also already following you on your new Facebook profile. We ride at dawn brothers and sisters...
As a 13 and 14 year old that had to watch a sibling that was 10 years younger than I was It's kind of a good thing that this kind of behavior is frowned on today. Both I and my sibling would have grown up a lot less maladjusted if we'd had parents that were more present in our lives back then.
I grew up next to a huge forest owned by the BLM. When I was about 12-14 in the late 70s, I would hike miles into the woods to go overnight camping by myself. Carried a rifle in case of bears. Never considered the possibility that another human could be a threat in those days, and I never saw one on my trips regardless.
I was left by myself at age four by my mother. I cooked for myself I cleaned up while she was at work. When I got older I had a step sister 5 years older than me used to babysit when my mother and stepfather or her new boyfriend or girlfriend went out. Never had a problem.😊
I've recently realized that one of the greatest generational differences is that GenX grew up (broadly) on an entirely different level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs than Millennials and certainly GenZ. When you scrabble for food and safety, feelings seem silly...
Crazy times. In the 80s I regularly took the public bus to school in 5th grade. And my siblings and I were left alone all the time when the oldest of us was 9 and my little sister was 1
Yeah. I remember coming home every day after school (bus ride), watching reruns of Star Trek TOS, Lost in Space, Lone Ranger, Dark Shadows… I was in first grade, my sister in 3rd. While the shows were running in the background, we would set the table for dinner, dust, do other chores until the parents got home. It was like that until high school, then I had band practice after school, then home to do the other domestic chores. Oh, and my sister and I always automatically cleared the table, did the dishes, cleaned the countertops, swept/vacuumed the floors in kitchen/dining room. It’s what we did. No biggie.
Unreal. Neighbor sounds like a Karen. Fifteen year old girls had three years experience babysitting. Given it's the same kid, same neighbor, it happened with both mother, and daughter, something is strongly attracting the kid. Lock the doors, and a four year old will go for the keys.
At 7 I used to walk to the corner store "Chins Market" with a note from my grandpa for 3 packs of Camels and a Gallon of red table wine. Then i d get stocked up on 5 cent candies. And this was in Oakland on Coolidge Ave. in 1976. My how things have changed.😅😅😅
Yeah, back then our neighbors were an immediate resource if something came up that we couldn't handle. But I never had anything I couldn't handle come up! Our neighbors would have helped, not called the police. 🤦♀️
So my take on this is that the neighbor lady absolutely hated the mom and took this opportunity to eff with her life. That is absolutely the level of bitchery that some women will stoop to these days.
My memories of being in the house with my younger siblings were awesome, my parents had to work while I watched my brothers and sisters (I was 13 at the time) and we had 3 rules to abide by … #1 don’t open the door for anyone (not even my older siblings) #2 If we were going to eat, make sure to leave some food for them (mom and dad) and *#3* under no circumstances should we answer the phone until they come home.
Yeah; mind blown… 🤷♀️ I was a latch key kid by age 9, and I had to watch my younger brother, age 8… in St. Louis. In 1968. In an apartment. Both parents were working when I came home from school. 🤦♀️ I walked the 3 blocks to school by myself, or with friends, in kindergarten, in San Francisco. All the time.
I knew how to push the button in to lock the door behind me when I was 4 or 5. I was left home alone at 7 while my parents went to the grocery store, and I knew where the spare key was if I had to unlock the deadbolt to get out, like if there was a fire or other emergency.
I had a paper route at 11 where I rode my bike to deliver papers several blocks in my neighborhood. At 12 I was babysitting for 3 and 4 year olds. I am the youngest sibling in my family and pretty much by the time I was 11 everyone moved out on their own. My parents would go away for a weekend and leave my 15 year old sister and me alone!
Wow. I started babysitting neighbor's children when I was 10! I tended my siblings before that (but my parents didn’t pay me). My oldest was watching his siblings by age 11 or 12 for a couple of hours, in the early 2000s. I guess I should have been arrested. It all depends on the maturity and capability of the child in charge.
I was babysitting my neighbor’s four boys in fifth grade, so 10 or 11 years old. The 80s were a different world.
It seems the 80s were a different planet today.
And soooo much better than what we’re living through now….😢
It was a different world up until about 20 years ago. Nobody in the history of forever would have trouble with a 14 year old babyitting, until post 9/11, then everyone was told to be afraid. Be very afraid.
I used to get off the bus with my sister who was a year older and we would let ourselves into the house, turn on the tv to watch after school cartoons, grab a snack, start our homework, and wait until mom and dad got home from work at 530pm. Sometimes, we'd find instruction on the fridge to put something in the oven at a certain time and temperature so it would be ready for dinner when they got home.
It was no big deal and our neighbors were there for us if we needed them and we knew it. They weren't gonna call the cops. We were FINE.
I was being left home alone at 10 and I was told if I needed anything just ask my neighbor across the street
Yep by the time I was 10 my mother had remarried for the final time, and it was nothing for me my younger step brother who's 2 years older, and my my sister who's 5 years older than me for us be left home for sometimes a week at a time when they would go someplace to like Florida for the UGA vs. FLA football game, as my sister had her license already, and my oldest step brother who did not live with us at the time, and is 8 year older than me, we could call him if we really needed anything.
When I was 8, my neighbors across the street were a pastor and his wife, a stay at home mom, if there was an urgent situation that needed an adult, we were to go get Pam.
I was 7 & I left home alone for a full day. Because I was sick & my parents had to work. Parents these days are *WAY* too overprotective of their kids.
My mom went back to work 3/4 days a week when I was in 1st grade. We livd in a small Iowa town and I would walk home from school and do my chores and watch Gilligans Island after school, by myself. Then I might go to a buddies house or whatever. I just had to leave a note and be come when the 6 o'clock whistle blew for supper. BTW this was the 70's
At 12 (1981) I spent the entire summer as a full time nanny for 8 year old twin girls and their 3 year old sister. I was paid 20 bucks a week and I was RICH!!! I was alone with those kids for over 10 hours a day in the country!! Ah, the good old days!
Seven dollars an hour in today's money. Not bad for a twelve-year-old.
My sister used to babysit the neighbors NEWBORN when she was 9yrs old. Due to the way we were raised back then we were much much more responsible and capable of safely doing so.
Sorry, I just read your comment, but I didn't know that mine was so similar. That said, we're both right. We were more responsible! 😊
I was 7 & I left home alone for a full day. Because I was sick & my parents had to work. Parents these days are *WAY* too overprotective of their kids.
@@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 I can relate, but I was 8. I stayed home by myself for a week when I had chickenpox.
That is sooo bad. I baby sat at that age and I was left home alone a lot younger. Call the police, that is insane, they clearly knew the kid and you are right. You keep them at your house, feed them and maybe pop over to make sure everything is ok back at the kid's house :(
Exactly
That's what I would do. I'd *ONLY* call the police if it was obvious something was wrong. Like the parents had abandoned them to go off on holiday for a week.
I'd sue the crap out of the neighbor, police, prosecutor's office, AND the state of GA.
You'd spend tens of thousands of dollars and get a pittance in return IF you won.
You people are ALWAYS threatening to sue and you really have no clue what you're talking about.
@@SlimKeith11 there's no law that says what she was doing is illegal actually there are laws that say what she was doing is legal.
My parents would go out on Friday nights. I was 13! They would say "Lock the door, we will see you later". I got left ALONE. Good times. Sometimes a friend would stay the night.
Yes!! Me too😂
And no one had cellphones so parents werent calling to check on us.
13? In Gen-X years you were damn near college age! My folks were going to Saturday night house parties and getting home LATE when I was 10. Hell, we had buddies over and frozen pizza and pop. What more did we need.
OMG! 🙄I was caring for my kid brother when he was a baby when I was in elementary schools and when he got older. I was told make sure he got fed and watch him. As he got older he did his thing and he'd go play with his friends and off they road the cycle bike gang.🤣He is Gen-X too born in early 70's. They called the police! That is so ridiculous! I'm so glad I'm Gen-X we were left alone all the time.
Waaaaaay back in the early 1900s 14 year olds were legally getting married. Brooke Shields' grandma was RAISING her younger siblings bc her mom died. She was NINE YEARS OLD.
My maternal great grandmother married at 14, maternal grandmother married at 16, my mother married at 18. I'm gen Jones & broke the cycle married at 36.
I started taking care of myself at 7. Most kids I knew were out living as independent adults between 16 and 19.
Now were have 35 year olds living at home with mommy still cooking their kid food favorites and washing their clothes.
Freedom, independence, competence. Not forever toddlerhood. We need to repeal the nanny state. Free range children!!
My independence started the day I started kindergarten. I got booted out the door and told to walk to/from school. Then was told not to come in until supper was ready. I spent more time at my neighbors than my own house
I was getting paid to babysit at age 13. This is insanity.
I was born in 81, My sister is 5 years older than me, and my oldest niece was born when I was 15, so I'd often have to watch her with no one else at home after school but the 2 of us as my parents had to work as well, and I did not even get paid, so my sister, and her first jerk could go to work, and make ends meet, and I thought nothing of it because my mother did the same when I was young as 5 leaving my sister watch me, so my grandmother could get a break during some of the summer, as she watched me after school for most of the year. So yeah it's indeed insanity!!
Same here. Three boys & if I couldn’t do they would wait for me or switch nights!
Same
At 11 I was watching some 5 and 7 year olds for some neighbors when they would go out on a Saturday night. This was 1981 and I had all the frozen pizza and pop and Saturday Night Live I could watch. And I got paid good money. Not bad for a boy in 6th grade to spend a few Saturday nights a year.
The 4yo left the house? Hell, I was riding my bigwheel around the entire neighborhood alone at 4 years old. LOL
I started babysitting when I was 12 years old... odd for a boy to do, but I needed money for a bike & fireworks... only so many lawns to mow...
Hey, I did it too. Not changing diapers or anything. Just 5-7 year olds a few Saturday nights a year when I was around 11/12. Made good money and helped me buy a motorcycle at 14.
PS: When I was 11, it was not unusual for me to be babysitting a kid that was younger than me, plus one that was a year or two older and then to have moms drop by to ask if they could leave their kids with me, too, since I was already there, getting paid and they just needed to be there an hour or so. Some of the kids were in my class and were like "Why do I have to listen to you?" and I'd be like "Because, your mom said so." and that was usualy good enough. Except for kids that acted really rude or stupid, or were to young to take care of themselves, it was more like just us all hanging out and being safer than being alone at home.
Yep, there has to be at least one person with the lead role. It sounds like you were respected among the adults.
As one that walked the neighborhood at 11 with my mower and edger looking for work after school when I was alone, I’m ashamed of what this country has become. We need something that threatens today’s people’s “comfort zone” to scare us back to how humans were designed to me.
This government is absolutely getting tyrannical
Well.police were only involved because a neighbor called them.
That's a decision made by a local cop, don't your panties all in a twist, you people will use ANY reason to bring up your Maga propaganda.
Fwiw, you may not appreciate it but most of those laws are protecting YOU because the corporations and the top 3% don't give a rats azz about you Bub.
And charges were brought against this Mom @fdm2155 . That is government tyranny and harassment
Even in the 80s neighbors called on my mom for leaving us alone.
A week later we'd be back by ourselves.
It’s not the government. It’s people. People are incredible entitled but not compassionate. I mean the 4 year old being a wander was known so many ways this could have been handled without wrecking the kids lives.
At the age of 12, I had an after-school 5 hr baby sitting job Mon thru Fri for an 8 month old baby girl. They were my next-door neighbors, so I was pretty confident. I was also that niece that all my relatives used for babysitting since I was 11. I really think it was that we were more mature and NOTHING was ever just handed to us. We had to earn our money after we reached the age of 10. 😂
I was left alone every single day at 6. Babysitting by 9, getting paid to babysit by 12. Had a regular full time babysitting job from 12-16 when I got my first on the books job.
Those were great times. Now we have to battle bearded weirdos who want to make 9 year olds their wives.
Me too ! At six I would get off the bus and go home and watch Speed Race and Zoom until my mom got home to cook me dinner lol
Good Grief, where I grew up you qualified for the babysitter's license class at the age of NINE back in the day. Remember they taught you how to do CPR and what to do if the child was choking and they gave you a piece of paper and everything. After that class, I officially raised my prices 😂
People have had the cops and cps called on them for their 12y/o walking a couple of blocks to the store alone and i believe it was also a neighbor and the mother was charged with child abandonment.
I was 8 going to the grocery store for my elderly neighbor to buy her a carton of cigarettes with a note, lol
At 4, I was routinely sent to a mom & pop grocery store about 2 blocks from home. This was because I already knew how to read and make change. I walked to school by myself, too. My parents knew I was smart enough not to get into someone's car or to go into a stranger's home.
As a kid In the mid 90s I ran around the entire neighborhood and shops all day! I had nothing else to do
My sister and I would walk to the 7/11 in our small town by ourselves at 5 & 6 years old to buy candy and comic books. At 10 & 11, we would walk to the drug store to buy the neighbor lady’s cigarettes.
I was picking up cigarettes for my mom at 11 in 1992.
I was babysitting other peoples kids at 14!!! This is how they have changed everything to tbe point your average 25 to 30 year old acts like an over grown toddler.
We have to reverse these laws that say only hover mother parenting is ok.
Let kids have freedom and brains again.
I earned my baby sitter certificate when I was 11. Wow!
That’s just crazy! Why would you not just walk the kid back? Like it really helped to have a single mom arrested. That could happen to anyone. Poor mom. ❤
For us gen X people that was nothing that could happen. to anyone. That was just life. Go over to your friends, play, have fun and come back for supper. Sometimes you got fed and sent home after supper. And nope, we did not get walked home. We were independend enough to walk on our own at 4 or 5. That was a great time.
Damn weak. SMH. Free the mom and arrest neighbors for filing false police report.
I remember the days when neighbourhoods were like big families. Parents would inform the neighbours to " just keep an eye out for the kids" when they weren't around.
And when Ma was working late ?
" If you get scared, just pop next door to Bette's, I won't be home till 7. Can you record M.A.S.H and put away the laundry? I'll bring home pizza so don't get into those cookies!"
We were 5 and 8 yo.
I walked home from first grade and was home alone. That was back in the early 70s.
Same, 1st day of school mom walked up with me KINDERGARTEN I was 4yr 7mo old. For the next 6 years I walked or rode my bike alone or with buddies
😂😂😂 today's whining kids can't do that at 25yrs old😂😂😂.
I was cooking food at 5 for grilled cheese or making PBJs etc. By 6 I was cooking hamburgers and soups (not caned stuff mind you real soups.) Made Thanksgiving dinner at 12 when my sister was sick.😊😊
Same but for me it was 3rd grade. I walked the kindergartener next door home every day.
I baby sat my little sister and brother for 8 mabye 9 hours while mom worked. I WAS IN 3RD GRADE! I even made powerd suger toast and stired the choclet milk myself. I miss being a kid.
Ridiculous! Glad she was cleared!
I was left home alone at 6, I was already cooking my own food. Yeah it was just a hot dog on the stove but I still kept myself fed. I knew how to make instant tea and instant pudding as well. By 7 I was putting biscuits in the oven and preparing that safely. Ramens and Mac'n'Cheese not to long after that.
The fact that so many kids are incapable of taking care of themselves once they're not "kids" anymore is a testament to how screwed up shit is now days.
Oh Jesus, spare us the generalizations. You Maga sure sound like Chicken Little.
No freakin' common sense these days!
This is asinine! 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
Geez my parents should be in GITMO if this is the case!!
Good times. I was babysitting the neighbor's literal baby at ten...circa 1985...😅
Do that to an off the boat family like mine 😂😂 oh boy did u make a mistake.
At age of 10, I was babysitting other people children at night while they were at bars until 2 am. 70's child here.
Neighbor of the year nominee.
She's probably an HOA Karen
I babysat my two younger siblings, and ALL of my parents’ friend’s kids since 11… and even got punished if they trashed the house, ‘cause I was left in charge and had to learn the basics of being a good leader: never ever blame your subordinates when you’re the one in charge😅It’s all about good management😅And yes, I had a wonderful childhood in-between the burden of being the oldest😊
I was literally paid to babysit the neighborhood kids when I was fourteen 😂 and yes my mom even left me alone when I was six. That was a long time ago.
So, a female who about 100 years ago she would have been old enough to be a housewife in many places even in the United States and still would be in some, was watching some kids and one of the kids decided to go to a place that was known to be safe to go to and it was found out he also went to that safe place a different time. Which means that a working mom who trusted her neighbor got arrested for being responsible and raising a good teenage girl who actually helps her mom out, just because they were not clairevoyant.
My sister is 5 years older than me, & by the time she was 10 it was nothing for my mother to go to work, & leave her to babysit me for most of the summer to give my grandmother a break, & if I got out of line my sister was allowed to spank my ass if needed. This would have been a nothing burger during the 80's, or 90's unless the kid got seriously hurt, or something else really bad happened.
We live in a dystopian nightmare. At 4 we were walking to school. Like you said. If I went to a neighbors friends house we would play around. I'd get dinner and walk home. People are nuts.
When my cousin was close to that age in the early 70s he took to sitting in the road. A busy, 2-lane road. Neighbor across the street, an old farmer, came out and told him if he caught him again, he would hit him with this 2x4. Later neighbor came over to tell my aunt and uncle and they ratified the whacking in hopes of stopping the behavior. My cousin stopped before seeing if there was follow through.
Cripes folks... . We're not going to make it.
When I lived in the high mountain desert of Idaho, I had a Hispanic boy of about 3 show up in my front yard. My 3 neighbors were white, and my small farm fronted a busy highway. It was bitter cold, about negative 20F, and the wind was howling. I was calling the police, as I rushed out to the child. He was a friendly, well fed, well cared for child, who only spoke Spanish. He was wearing pants, shirt, and socks, but nothing else in the bitter cold. I wrapped him in a down jacket, and stuffed him inside my huge winter jacket, so he could share my body heat. 911 dispatched an officer immediately. I was afraid there had been an accident on the highway, and this boy had wandered away. I was debating on going into my house, because I didn't want to be accused of kidnapping, but I wanted him out of the cold. Just then a big white car came screaming into my driveway, and a nearly hysterical Hispanic Mom got out of the car, she was yelling and sobbing her son was missing. I opened my coat to reveal her son. She actually staggered, and looked like she was about to pass out. Turns out my closest neighbor, was running an in-home daycare. The Hispanic Mom had come to pick her son up. In the few minutes the two ladies were talking, the little boy got outside, and saw my bottle baby goats in the yard. He crawled through the hedge, and came to play with my baby goats. Once through the hedge, he could no longer be seen. So everything was perfectly fine, and the child safely returned to his Mom. Remember the police officer? He showed up over an hour later! He'd been dispatched to the wrong rural address. The police officer was releived everything was fine. My bottle baby goats were nibbling the officers pants, as I explained the whole story. 🐐
I was babysitting newborn twins at 13 that were not related.
So a 5 year old can be responsible enough to pick a gender, but a 14 year old can't watch their younger siblings?
Lmfao right it blows my Frickin mind
That's what you want to say about this situation?
Yep - the human race is in serious shit
That has nothing to do with this.
My sister was brought home by the police when she was 9 months old because she had climbed our fence and taken herself on a walk. She did this by first moving some boxes so she could climb into the kitchen sink and out the open window. We could both walk by 6 mths ( as did my son) and the police just laughed and were amazed she had figured out how to do all of that. Never was there any threat of arrest. That story is disgusting. That mom did nothing wrong.
Crazy that the neighbor called police instead if just returning kid. Doesn't seem like there's neglect.
I was younger than that with my younger brother and sister. I m not quite Gen X but they are. My life growing up was the same as Gen X. What the hell.
I started babysitting when I was 11.
YEah, this is pretty insane. And it happens more often than you think, which is why its insane that people call the cops over being neighborly. It takes a village.
I'm sure that having the mom arrested and possibly ending up with 4 kids in foster care is really helping those children. One thing to think about before calling the cops, or cps on a family is, will those children be better off in a group home or foster care than will their parents. Sometimes the answer is yes, but rarely.
I was left in charge of my nephew and niece when I was ten! And we lived in the Barrio!
GenX and I was babysitting my newborn neighborhood at age 10!
You probably get this a lot but you look so much like the actor Michael Stuhlbarg! Especially in Men in Black 3.
I love your videos ❤❤❤
Oh Mylanta. I was babysitting at 12!!
90's kid here... I think I was like nine or ten when my siblings were left home alone, to go run down the street to the store.
I remember being in 1st grade coming home to an empty house because both my parents were working, now I was only alone for a half hour before my mom got home but still , it wasn’t that big of a deal
I could walk to the store, alone, with a list pinned to my shirt before I could count money.
Thos is ridiculous
This might be one of the dumbest things I ever heard, I remember my 2-year-old brother running butt naked down the road on a daily basis and nobody called the cops. They did call the let us know so we can go grab him.
WTF!?!? Seriously, I was 7 & I left home alone for a full day. Because I was sick & my parents had to work. Parents these days are *WAY* too overprotective of their kids.
I'd *ONLY* call the police if it was obvious something was wrong. Like the parents had abandoned them to go off on holiday for a week.
lol I was babysitting my siblings and aunts at the age of 9. (My youngest aunt is only 3 years older than me). I was cooking cleaning and basically being a sister mom to my siblings. Truth be told these kids are born soft and cannot take care of themselves because they have no sense of awareness or the “street smarts” we had. Even neighbors are different because they don’t “honor thy neighbor” which is so bad. I am glad I am surrounded by Gen X Neighbors because if we need anything they are all there and vice versa. I agree there would be an ass whopping but the first thing I would say is hey kid what’s your mothers phone number let me call her and let her know I will help keep an eye on your guys until she gets back.
I was on my own at 8 years old after school, cause both parents worked. I was the definition of a latchkey kid. A neighbor regularly had a 10 year old girl babysit a 2 year old for several hours on a Saturday nights. No one ever once thought of calling the cops.
I was a latchkey kid, at 12 I started watching my baby brother (7) after school, on holidays and summer. No one called the cops. Neighbors all made sure I had their numbers in case I needed anything while Mom was at work. Of course Mom let me know those numbers were for emergencies only.
In the 70's, my mom's friends 2 kids (4 and 6 yrs old) left their place and walked 3 blocks to our place while their mom was at work and their dad was sleeping. The dad woke up and found the kids missing and called his wife at work. His wife asked my mom to call our house to see if the kids were there. My mom called my grandma and she said yes, the kids came over and she fed them and they were playing with us. No police were called. The dad wasn't arrested.
I'm pretty sure I wandered over to the neighbors at that age too. Suburban area but everyone knew everyone. And I knew where my friends lived.
Man, how times have changed! 🤦♀️
Even back then, the legal age of a caregiver was 14. Nobody cared. I agree, feed the kid, help the family. Arresting the mother is NOT HELPING the family.
Absolutely ridiculous. I remember my parents leaving my sister an I home alone at 8 & 9. After school we walked home to an empty house. Let ourselves in with our keys and started our homework. We were supposed to go outside and play except the backyard but that rarely stopped us. We just had to keep an eye on the top of the street to watch for their car, then run like hell to the backyard or inside the house. They totally knew we were doing this as I’m sure the neighbors ratted us out but they also kept an eye out for us too. Oh, forgot to mention this was in the state of Georgia which had more sense back in the 60’s and 70’s than they do now.
I was paid babysitting after school for a neighbor's two kids when i was fourteen.
My older brother watched me and another sibling a couple times and he was like 11 or 12. It would be the last time however as I told my parents how we got up on the roof while they were gone. Good times 😂
We had a 4 year old that would show up at our door at 6 am. every day. His Dad was a druggie. We took him in, fed him, and watched him till his Dad came to his senses and came and got him.
When I was 10 I got my own key I wore around my neck so I could get off the school bus, and let myself into my house and was alone until my parents got home from work. By 14 I was making supper to be ready when they got home, and baby sitting was a great way to make cash at that age. This was Totally normal, and adults expected more from us which taught us responsibility.
da fuq? complete insanity
When I was 5, I was expected to find my way to kindergarten and back on foot. Police probably would not even have bothered to come - not that the neighbor would have called. Neighborhoods were a lot more social back then. The downside was that the neighbor might have diciplined kids for mischieve even when they were not theirs.
I'm not on RUclips often but I am following you here since FB and Instagram (owned by the same entity, I am pretry sure) apparently decided that you had some how pissed in their Wheaties and decided to cancel you. Well as a member of Genx "they ain't canceling me" so now I'm gonna keep an eye on you here as well. I'm also already following you on your new Facebook profile. We ride at dawn brothers and sisters...
As a 13 and 14 year old that had to watch a sibling that was 10 years younger than I was It's kind of a good thing that this kind of behavior is frowned on today. Both I and my sibling would have grown up a lot less maladjusted if we'd had parents that were more present in our lives back then.
That is insane
I grew up next to a huge forest owned by the BLM. When I was about 12-14 in the late 70s, I would hike miles into the woods to go overnight camping by myself. Carried a rifle in case of bears. Never considered the possibility that another human could be a threat in those days, and I never saw one on my trips regardless.
WTF 12 use to be the common age for babysitting
I was left by myself at age four by my mother. I cooked for myself I cleaned up while she was at work. When I got older I had a step sister 5 years older than me used to babysit when my mother and stepfather or her new boyfriend or girlfriend went out. Never had a problem.😊
I've recently realized that one of the greatest generational differences is that GenX grew up (broadly) on an entirely different level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs than Millennials and certainly GenZ. When you scrabble for food and safety, feelings seem silly...
Crazy times. In the 80s I regularly took the public bus to school in 5th grade. And my siblings and I were left alone all the time when the oldest of us was 9 and my little sister was 1
Yeah. I remember coming home every day after school (bus ride), watching reruns of Star Trek TOS, Lost in Space, Lone Ranger, Dark Shadows… I was in first grade, my sister in 3rd.
While the shows were running in the background, we would set the table for dinner, dust, do other chores until the parents got home.
It was like that until high school, then I had band practice after school, then home to do the other domestic chores.
Oh, and my sister and I always automatically cleared the table, did the dishes, cleaned the countertops, swept/vacuumed the floors in kitchen/dining room.
It’s what we did. No biggie.
Ridiculous
I had to learn how to cook at 7. It all started when I asked for a box of Mac & Cheese, I was told to go make my own fucking box. So I did
That is crazy
Ummmm yeah… babysitting my siblings at 10. Cousins overnight at 12. It’s sooo hard to believe that people think this is wrong.
Unreal. Neighbor sounds like a Karen. Fifteen year old girls had three years experience babysitting. Given it's the same kid, same neighbor, it happened with both mother, and daughter, something is strongly attracting the kid. Lock the doors, and a four year old will go for the keys.
Times sure have changed.
At 7 I used to walk to the corner store "Chins Market" with a note from my grandpa for 3 packs of Camels and a Gallon of red table wine. Then i d get stocked up on 5 cent candies. And this was in Oakland on Coolidge Ave. in 1976. My how things have changed.😅😅😅
Yeah, back then our neighbors were an immediate resource if something came up that we couldn't handle. But I never had anything I couldn't handle come up! Our neighbors would have helped, not called the police. 🤦♀️
WHAT Yeah I recall the same things.
So my take on this is that the neighbor lady absolutely hated the mom and took this opportunity to eff with her life.
That is absolutely the level of bitchery that some women will stoop to these days.
My memories of being in the house with my younger siblings were awesome, my parents had to work while I watched my brothers and sisters (I was 13 at the time) and we had 3 rules to abide by …
#1 don’t open the door for anyone (not even my older siblings)
#2 If we were going to eat, make sure to leave some food for them (mom and dad)
and *#3* under no circumstances should we answer the phone until they come home.
Yeah; mind blown… 🤷♀️ I was a latch key kid by age 9, and I had to watch my younger brother, age 8… in St. Louis. In 1968. In an apartment. Both parents were working when I came home from school. 🤦♀️ I walked the 3 blocks to school by myself, or with friends, in kindergarten, in San Francisco. All the time.
I knew how to push the button in to lock the door behind me when I was 4 or 5. I was left home alone at 7 while my parents went to the grocery store, and I knew where the spare key was if I had to unlock the deadbolt to get out, like if there was a fire or other emergency.
I had a paper route at 11 where I rode my bike to deliver papers several blocks in my neighborhood. At 12 I was babysitting for 3 and 4 year olds. I am the youngest sibling in my family and pretty much by the time I was 11 everyone moved out on their own. My parents would go away for a weekend and leave my 15 year old sister and me alone!
A few days home alone with siblings, we had neighbors across the street who checked on us.
Wow. I started babysitting neighbor's children when I was 10! I tended my siblings before that (but my parents didn’t pay me). My oldest was watching his siblings by age 11 or 12 for a couple of hours, in the early 2000s. I guess I should have been arrested. It all depends on the maturity and capability of the child in charge.