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WWYD?
I live on a cul de sac and we've got quite a few kids on our street. Most of them are probably age 5-7. There is also an older lady who keeps some young kids daily, but I think she also does after school care for some of the kids on the street. Plus, she's got 3-4 grandkids that live with her.
Yesterday I came home from seeing a client about 4pm. 4-5 of the kids were out playing and walking some dogs. Once I turned on to the street, most of them moved to the side. One, however, continued running right down the middle of the street. I stopped my car right away, since I know that most of the kids are slow to move to the sidewalk but this kid ran right down the middle until he met my car, then slowly moved to the side. I really wanted to speak to the grandmother then, but she wasn't outside.
I see her daily with the kids at the bus stop in the morning, and I want to say something to her but I also don't think she gives a crap. Am I wrong to think that 5 year old kids shouldn't be playing in the street unsupervised?
I don't mind stopping for kids to run down the street - but I do think they are old enough to know to get out of the way. People drive way too fast down our street, there are always several cars parked on the side and I really don't want to come home one day to see cop cars because the kids assumed regular drivers would stop for THEM.
DH said I should report the "sitter" to the cops for not supervising kids. I don't want to go that far, but I also don't want something bad to happen.
Re: WWYD?
The 5 yr old was playing outside with a group of children, some of them older, on a cul de sac street, right? I'm just trying to make sure that I have the basic info straight.
If that is the case I would not have a huge problem with the kids playing outside alone. I would absolutely speak to the older lady regarding the fact that the kids do not move for cars. And if it happens again, then I would call the police.
We've actually called the police about two small children (the OLDEST was maybe 4) that are always outside alone one the main street in our neighborhood and dart out into traffic alot. Like you, I never want to see something happen to one of those kids.
I wouldn't say anything. The kids sound big enough and they are in a group in a culdesac. Older kids play like this all the time.
Ditto this.
That's a hard situation. I'm not sure calling the police is the answer, except as a last resort. I'd mention to her that she has at least one child who can't be counted on to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.
This is something that's on my mind every afternoon when I'm outside with my 3yo and 5yo. We live in front of a cul-de-sac and there's always a group of kids playing outside after school if the weather's pleasant. The age range varies widely. There are middle schoolers on down to preschoolers and everything in between.
There are many moms in our neighborhood who are comfortable allowing their kinder age children to play outside without an adult, while there are others who are not. I've been outside before when a young child fell off his bike or fell down and scraped a knee or elbow and I was one of maybe 2 adults present. I think you have to calculate the risk of something happening to your kid in your absence and decide if it's worth it to you or not to leave them outside without an adult. When I see the big UPS and FedEx trucks and the high school drivers come through, I'm always glad I'm out there, because we live on a corner with a blind curve.
Yeah, it isn't the playing alone that bothers me so much. I mean, they could be older than I think and to each his own.
It is the fact that the kid looks old enough to know to move out of the way when a car is coming. I know that they play in the street and I know to drive very slow down our street, but I see other kids and even adults come flying down.
Being a little slow to get to the side is one thing, but this kid just ran right down the street toward me for a good two-house-lengths before moving.
I would either say something to the caretaker or say something directly to the child. Had it been one of the kids who play on our street (generally, one will yell "CAR!" and they all get to the side) who hadn't moved, I'd have stopped my car and gotten after the child who didn't move out of the way.
If 5 is the youngest of the kids playing outside unsupervised, I wouldn't say it's really a faux pas. If ours wanted to ride bikes, we'd let them, but I can also see right out front from my office window, and we'd check on them from time to time.
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Odd that the 5 year old didn't move to the side. Even my 19 month old knows to get out of the street when anyone of the kids (5 being the eldest) or adults yell, "CAR!". And we are out with the kids 100% of the time, sitting right along the sidewalk or someone's driveway. We don't even allow the kids to go more than 2 houses away from our spot.
If you see that kid again I would stop and ask them to make sure they knew the "rules" of playing in the street.