How to make my 8 year old feel ok with walking home from school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP,

Do you mind sharing why you need your daughter to walk home by herself?

Especially as you SAH and presumably have some flexibility to adjust your schedule to be available for her at the end of the school day.

[Anonymous]

She is clearly telling you she is not ready. Listen to het and wait for her to be comfortable.

[Anonymous]

It would make me uncomfortable, nervous, and sad to see an 8 year old walking home by herself. If she's not ready, and you or an older child are generally home when she gets out from school, then I don't see why you would push this.

[Anonymous]

I would have never been comfortable at 8 to walk home alone. I also would have been so mad at my mom had she made me do so. If you'd like to foster independence, maybe have her start doing her own laundry.

[Anonymous]

So you are sitting at home and can't be bothered to walk 10 blocks to get your kid? and people wonder why I think SAHMs of school age kids are basically lazy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP,

Do you mind sharing why you need your daughter to walk home by herself?

Because she is lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you are sitting at home and can't be bothered to walk 10 blocks to get your kid? and people wonder why I think SAHMs of school age kids are basically lazy

This idiot is lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you are sitting at home and can't be bothered to walk 10 blocks to get your kid? and people wonder why I think SAHMs of school age kids are basically lazy

+1
This is the most absurd post ever. Why on earth can't you pick your little kid up? And be home with her after school? What's the point of being a sah mom if you can't do that? Hire a sitter to walk her if your older kids activities are so much more important to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could you start by meeting her halfway? Are there other children who walk, or who might also walk if she walked? Could she ride her bike?

To the PP at 14:53, when I was in elementary school, before cable TV, every kid walked, starting in kindergarten. Every kid. If you had said to the parents that an 8-year-old is not old enough to walk 10 blocks on her own, their jaws would have dropped in astonishment.

The "way we did it when we were kids" argument just doesn't fly. Sorry.

When I was a kid, we walked in groups (I started walking alone around age 11 maybe, but even then, half the school was walking the same route). And we knew EVERYBODY in our neighborhood; plus between our neighborhood and the school, I was familiar with probably 3 houses on every block (usually schoolmate's homes). When we were learning about stranger danger, I remember mentally mapping out all of those houses, so if somebody tried to kidnap me, I would run (the opposite way!) to the nearest "friendly" home.

So few people live in neighborhoods like that now. Even if you do live in a suburban area where you know everybody, I wouldn't let her walk alone. Maybe with a responsible sixth grade neighbor.

[Anonymous]

If she isn't ready Op I would start with smaller steps. You want her to be comfortable while walking. It really is child dependent. My 7 year old walks home on her own but my 9 yr old doesn't like to. It is very dependent on the child.