Confessions Of A Neglected Latch-Key Kid*
I enjoyed being a "latch-key kid" almost as much as I detest that phrase.
Until I was almost eleven, I went to the Jewish Community Center's after-school program. I went there out of necessity, but there were advantages for me as well. I got to hang out with kids from different schools and do things like ceramics and swimming. There was no pool or pottery wheel in my house. Sometimes I went from there to ballet class with some other girls. Sometimes my mom picked me up and I went home and played (outside in good weather, indoors in bad) while my mom made me dinner. I'd eat, put on my pajamas, do some homework, watch a little TV, and go to bed with my cat.
When I went to middle school - and got too old to go to the after-school program - my mom had a key made just for me. I went right home after school (if not to ballet or some other activity). I would stop at the store and get a little candy if I had pocket money. My mom would call me, or I would call her, to tell her I was home safely. I hope she didn't worry too much about me then, but if she did I didn't know it.
Those precious couple of hours (usually from about 3:30 to 5 pm) were wonderful. I would either play in the yard or indoors, or read, or make myself a snack, or watch Oprah, and generally relax and unwind. All day long I had been surrounded (me, the bookish only child!) by yard-apes and mean girls; surrounded all day long by chatter, with no unstructured time, and certainly no time to myself except for long trips to the bathroom. I cherished my alone time after school. The only time I ever got in trouble was the episode of the kitchen matches, which I had only bought so that I could make a realistic fireplace in the little brick house I'd built in the yard for my dollhouse dolls.
My mom had surgery and was home for several weeks when I was about twelve and for that period I didn't have my latch-key alone time. I got to the door and the TV would alread by on, or my mom would be sitting in the comfiest spot on the couch where I liked to read. (It was Her Spot, so I only got to sit there when she wasn't home!) I would be too embarassed to watch Oprah or childish cartoons with my mom there. But worse, my poor mom had been home by herself all day and would be brimming over with chatter when I came home and she finally had someone to talk to. Ah! There went my chill-out time. It nearly drove me crazy, and we were all very happy when Mummy could go back to work.
I say this to counterbalance arguments that cast latch-keyism in an unquestionably negative light. For me, as an uncomfortable"tween", having a quiet house to myself for an hour and a half was a critical and enjoyable part of my day - I could breath easily and recharge my batteries for when my parents came home and it was time to do homework, etc.
And I could make my own brownies, too.
*Irony Alert
Until I was almost eleven, I went to the Jewish Community Center's after-school program. I went there out of necessity, but there were advantages for me as well. I got to hang out with kids from different schools and do things like ceramics and swimming. There was no pool or pottery wheel in my house. Sometimes I went from there to ballet class with some other girls. Sometimes my mom picked me up and I went home and played (outside in good weather, indoors in bad) while my mom made me dinner. I'd eat, put on my pajamas, do some homework, watch a little TV, and go to bed with my cat.
When I went to middle school - and got too old to go to the after-school program - my mom had a key made just for me. I went right home after school (if not to ballet or some other activity). I would stop at the store and get a little candy if I had pocket money. My mom would call me, or I would call her, to tell her I was home safely. I hope she didn't worry too much about me then, but if she did I didn't know it.
Those precious couple of hours (usually from about 3:30 to 5 pm) were wonderful. I would either play in the yard or indoors, or read, or make myself a snack, or watch Oprah, and generally relax and unwind. All day long I had been surrounded (me, the bookish only child!) by yard-apes and mean girls; surrounded all day long by chatter, with no unstructured time, and certainly no time to myself except for long trips to the bathroom. I cherished my alone time after school. The only time I ever got in trouble was the episode of the kitchen matches, which I had only bought so that I could make a realistic fireplace in the little brick house I'd built in the yard for my dollhouse dolls.
My mom had surgery and was home for several weeks when I was about twelve and for that period I didn't have my latch-key alone time. I got to the door and the TV would alread by on, or my mom would be sitting in the comfiest spot on the couch where I liked to read. (It was Her Spot, so I only got to sit there when she wasn't home!) I would be too embarassed to watch Oprah or childish cartoons with my mom there. But worse, my poor mom had been home by herself all day and would be brimming over with chatter when I came home and she finally had someone to talk to. Ah! There went my chill-out time. It nearly drove me crazy, and we were all very happy when Mummy could go back to work.
I say this to counterbalance arguments that cast latch-keyism in an unquestionably negative light. For me, as an uncomfortable"tween", having a quiet house to myself for an hour and a half was a critical and enjoyable part of my day - I could breath easily and recharge my batteries for when my parents came home and it was time to do homework, etc.
And I could make my own brownies, too.
*Irony Alert
posted by Joolya at
5:52 PM
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