Defined by Wikipedia: "A latchkey kid or latchkey child is a child who returns from school to an empty home because his or her parent or parents are away at work, or a child who is often left at home with little or no parental supervision."
In the late 1960's my brother and I were latchkey kids and didn't even know it. It was a period in time when many mothers still did not work. They stayed home with the kids and did the laundry, cooked the meals and did the shopping, etc. Our mom worked two jobs as a waitress; she was a single parent. I really don't remember having a key to the house either. When school was out for the summer we would leave the house after breakfast and go to our friends house to play or play outside all day till it got dark. It was too spooky to go home at night when mom wasn't there so we would invite ourselves to stay at a friends house so we could at least eat supper and then we would time our departure with the time mom would probably be home. Those were really fun days. Today children don't do the fun things we did back then. To be honest I don't believe I would have let my own children do the daring things we did back then. People sat on the front porch and kept an eye on the children; it was safe. It's a miracle we didn't turn out to be criminals or something weird!
In the late 1960's my brother and I were latchkey kids and didn't even know it. It was a period in time when many mothers still did not work. They stayed home with the kids and did the laundry, cooked the meals and did the shopping, etc. Our mom worked two jobs as a waitress; she was a single parent. I really don't remember having a key to the house either. When school was out for the summer we would leave the house after breakfast and go to our friends house to play or play outside all day till it got dark. It was too spooky to go home at night when mom wasn't there so we would invite ourselves to stay at a friends house so we could at least eat supper and then we would time our departure with the time mom would probably be home. Those were really fun days. Today children don't do the fun things we did back then. To be honest I don't believe I would have let my own children do the daring things we did back then. People sat on the front porch and kept an eye on the children; it was safe. It's a miracle we didn't turn out to be criminals or something weird!
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