Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 11:18     Subject: Re:child of the 80's
You 80s kids were so coddled.

I was a baby of the 60s. My parents would routinely leave three under three at home in cribs to go play bridge at a neighbor’s house down the street.

They did check on us every couple of hours.

No car seats? No SEATBELTS!!

Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 11:11     Subject: Re:child of the 80's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Upper elementary, I think? I don't think I was bratty, she didn't ask, it was just something she sprang on us and it was a movie I absolutely did not want to see. Well she trotted off with my 2 brothers and left me in the car to stew for an hour and a half.

So in general regardless, it seems like it was somewhat common to allow kids to hang out alone in cars while their parents shopped or ran an errand really quick in the 80's. It's just not like that now.

Last night we went to an event where a lot of families gathered and a mom was there with her young el aged son laying on a picnic blanket. At one point she just got up and left for 10 minutes. Turns out she went to buy a drink at the food truck by the street near the park. Nothing happened and all was fine but I definitely was thinking you really can't do that in this day and age.

I see nothing wrong with picnic blanket scenario


Me either, even today? I don’t expect my 7 year to be within eye sight at all times. 4 year old yes. To me this depends on the kid more than the age.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 10:36     Subject: child of the 80's
I once witnessed a mob gather around a car wherein a dog sat with the window cracked while the owner was out of sight. They were outraged and discussed breaking the windows or calling the police over this gross animal abuse. No way I would leave my child with these lunatics around.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 10:19     Subject: Re:child of the 80's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Upper elementary, I think? I don't think I was bratty, she didn't ask, it was just something she sprang on us and it was a movie I absolutely did not want to see. Well she trotted off with my 2 brothers and left me in the car to stew for an hour and a half.

So in general regardless, it seems like it was somewhat common to allow kids to hang out alone in cars while their parents shopped or ran an errand really quick in the 80's. It's just not like that now.

Last night we went to an event where a lot of families gathered and a mom was there with her young el aged son laying on a picnic blanket. At one point she just got up and left for 10 minutes. Turns out she went to buy a drink at the food truck by the street near the park. Nothing happened and all was fine but I definitely was thinking you really can't do that in this day and age.

I see nothing wrong with picnic blanket scenario


+1

But I’m a 70s baby who regularly spent time in the car while my mom ran errands. She dropped me off at the pool and the movies in late ES. My grandmother would send me to the corner store to pick up an item or two. All totally normal. And my mom was pretty overprotective by 80s standards... like we couldn’t just roam the neighborhood or go into friends’ houses without permission.

I have a kid in ES, and I’ve been watching that show about Japanese toddlers running errands on Netflix. It definitely makes me feel like we coddle our kids too much. Parents in my neighborhood don’t even let their kids walk to the park alone.



More like you could be arrested or lose custody of your kids. Please don't blame parents for living in an overly punitive shame-based society.


Yeah, there are lots of things I'd let my kid do, but I don't want her to get hassled by busybodies or have the police coming after me.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 10:18     Subject: Re:child of the 80's
Anonymous wrote:Upper elementary, I think? I don't think I was bratty, she didn't ask, it was just something she sprang on us and it was a movie I absolutely did not want to see. Well she trotted off with my 2 brothers and left me in the car to stew for an hour and a half.

So in general regardless, it seems like it was somewhat common to allow kids to hang out alone in cars while their parents shopped or ran an errand really quick in the 80's. It's just not like that now.

Last night we went to an event where a lot of families gathered and a mom was there with her young el aged son laying on a picnic blanket. At one point she just got up and left for 10 minutes. Turns out she went to buy a drink at the food truck by the street near the park. Nothing happened and all was fine but I definitely was thinking you really can't do that in this day and age.


Totally normal. Once a kid is old enough to open the doors themselves, you're not risking hot-car deaths. I was left for ten minutes or so all the time while my mom ran into a store. What's the real risk? Kidnapping?
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 09:24     Subject: child of the 80's
My parents definitely left us in the car when they ran into the store while we were out. But never for a few minutes.

I find it very odd that your mother decided to leave you in the car for an entire movie rather than leave you at home. That scenario does sound very odd to me.

I can’t imagine leaving my elementary aged child in the car while I watched a movie. Especially if the child was not behaving - how did she know you would actually stay in the car?
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 09:18     Subject: child of the 80's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:That was pretty common in the 80s. I stayed home by myself from age 8 on.


We babysat other people's kids when we were 10!


I was a summer "nanny" for 3 kids when I was 14. I watched the kids every day for 8 hours. We would walk 6 blocks to the park most days. Looking back I think the parents were crazy.
Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 09:09     Subject: Re:child of the 80's
Anonymous wrote:Upper elementary, I think? I don't think I was bratty, she didn't ask, it was just something she sprang on us and it was a movie I absolutely did not want to see. Well she trotted off with my 2 brothers and left me in the car to stew for an hour and a half.

So in general regardless, it seems like it was somewhat common to allow kids to hang out alone in cars while their parents shopped or ran an errand really quick in the 80's. It's just not like that now.

Last night we went to an event where a lot of families gathered and a mom was there with her young el aged son laying on a picnic blanket. At one point she just got up and left for 10 minutes. Turns out she went to buy a drink at the food truck by the street near the park. Nothing happened and all was fine but I definitely was thinking you really can't do that in this day and age.


At 10 and 11, my sister would take the T together to Boston to sail at the sailing center on the Charles. It was a bus and then we transfer to the area line. NBD


Anonymous
Post 05/10/2022 07:48     Subject: Re:child of the 80's
Dh’s cousin left her kids in the car to run into a mini mart for 5 minutes. The kids were probably young at the time, under 10. Well, someone called the police in that 5 minute time frame and our cousin consequently wasn’t allowed to leave the state with her kids without notifying the government for the next handful of years.

So just be careful; what’s acceptable according to the law and society is in different now than it was in the 80s.
Anonymous
Post 05/08/2022 22:37     Subject: child of the 80's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No big deal, your mother wasn’t abusive you just made a poor choice to sit in the car and are still mad about it. Get therapy




That’s definitely not an 80’s mirror, you’re going to need to dig deeper than that.


Nor is that a Mirror in the Bathroom.