ChatterBank0 min ago
Another Door Key Question.
18 Answers
This weekend grandson aged nine, (well son in laws son from a previous relationship) turned up with a box and asked me where he could put it so it wouldn't get lost, I asked what was in it to be told it was his house key so he could let himself in if he came back from playing out and his mum was out. I think he is far too young for his own door key, and his mum shouldn't be going out for him to come back to an empty house. What are your thoughts on this?
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I always feel a bit of a fraud answering on family threads as I don't have children but it sounds too young for me. I guess some 9 year olds may be quite mature but they are unlikely to have the lifeskills and experience to cope if something went wrong.
I was only given a key in sixth form, and only then when on a random occasion my mum was out I ended up having to sit on the doorstep for ages. I wouldn't have used it to let myself in though I always had a very strict curfew and someone would have to wait up for me to let me in. I haven't had a key since I left home after college at 18.
I was only given a key in sixth form, and only then when on a random occasion my mum was out I ended up having to sit on the doorstep for ages. I wouldn't have used it to let myself in though I always had a very strict curfew and someone would have to wait up for me to let me in. I haven't had a key since I left home after college at 18.
If it was his idea to bring you a key, I think he's more mature than you give him credit for.
If the mum being out is a case of his mum just nipping to shops for example, I see nothing wrong with it personally.
We do tend to mollycoddle our children far more than we seemed to be at that age, something of which im guilty of too, but I distinctly remember coming home every day from middle primary school onwards every day to an empty house with my own key as my mum was at work and there simply wasn't any other choice.
If the mum being out is a case of his mum just nipping to shops for example, I see nothing wrong with it personally.
We do tend to mollycoddle our children far more than we seemed to be at that age, something of which im guilty of too, but I distinctly remember coming home every day from middle primary school onwards every day to an empty house with my own key as my mum was at work and there simply wasn't any other choice.
I believe I would have been old enough at 5. Not that my parents would have contemplated it. If i got back from playing and no one was home I had to hang around in the garden until they turned up. Got a key at 18 since my parents felt it was there house, kids didn't get keys. Adult offspring could have one. But I think it depends on the individual. The problem is that it's his parents' choice. I think leaving it with granny is not so controversial as having the child hold on to it permanently. May be seen as a more responsible solution if there are times when the house will be empty.
I had a couple of friends in primary school who let themselves in into empty houses after school, the key was on the end of a piece of string which was attached to the letterbox. As a kid I found it eary to walk into an empty house with them but they were quite used to it. So long as he isn't frightened on his own and knows not to touch certain things and has a neighbour to call this might not be a problem. This might just be a 'just in case' problem which may never happen.
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