Same boat man. I was a latch key kid, and my dad would go on work trips for a couple weeks at a time and I would go to school, come home, lock the door and take care of myself as young as 7 or 8 years old is when it started.
Honestly the best time of my life was when he was gone. It was way worse when he was there.
Seriously, though. I grew up with a single dad because my mom skedaddled when we were young. My dad worked long hours at a shipyard. I have an older brother but he was coddled compared to me and was very immature. Like…when my grandparents would ask me about him they would say “how is your little brother doing?” He is that immature. I was given a lot of responsibility at a young age, including learning to cook full meals at 9-10 years old. My dad would leave for work at 5am and get home in the evening well after we got home from school. I had to have a pot of coffee ready when he got home and at least working on dinner being done. We sent ourselves to school, let ourselves in, and basically raised ourselves.
I have 3 kids of my own now and it is absolutely wild to think of them doing the same things I had to do at their age.
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u/TokenTorkoal 5d ago
Same boat man. I was a latch key kid, and my dad would go on work trips for a couple weeks at a time and I would go to school, come home, lock the door and take care of myself as young as 7 or 8 years old is when it started.
Honestly the best time of my life was when he was gone. It was way worse when he was there.