Home Alone

This morning the girls and I went to their swim class. Then we hit the library, the grocery store, and the Calvert Marine Museum. We went to the museum to place the 14 cents that I had left over from last month's grocery money in the Vortex to help feed the river otters. The girls love watching the coins swirl around and around. The library was another big hit and the girls were allowed to browse to their little hearts' content. The only rule is, you can't get more books that you can personally carry. How can this be? Oh -- we've finally worked out a system where a special small bookcase in the living room is Library Books Only. Three shelves, one per child. Put Your Library Books on This Shelf!!! You lose it, you pay for it. I can't even tell you how difficult the library things has been for us over the years since I have hundreds of children's books of my own and many of them are ex-lib, so the usual rules about protective plastic or back pockets don't apply... it could easily still be one of our books. The real library books gets mixed in with the others and aren't found for months. For a long time, we didn't even go to the library because the quality of the books there (not so great) weren't worth the hassle (HUGE). Now we have a New System and I have my fingers crossed that it will work. My two older girls are into chapter books so I no longer have enough to feed their hunger.

Interestingly, I saw a sign at the library that got me thinking. It said you can leave toys alone but not your kids. It had a picture of some sad looking dolls on a shelf and was posted prominently by the entrance/exit door. Yes, I know I can't leave my kids unattended. Duh! But at what point can Natalie ride her bike all around the community or walk to a friend's house? Surely there is some age where she can explore the woods, take a walk on the beach, or decide that she doesn't feel like going along with what we are doing and would rather stay home and read. What if she wants to go draw with sidewalk chalk on the tennis courts? So I looked it up when I got home.

Here's what I found: Latchkey Kids Age Limits Listed By State. Interestingly, most states don't have laws about the age that a child can be left unattended. Maryland does, pursuant to the Maryland Unattended Children Law. And the legal age for leaving children unattended in my state? 8 years old. So, although this doesn't mean that I'm booting her out into the yard to fend for herself, it is nice to know that she is legally old enough to take a walk.