A big milestone

It's around 15 months since I wrote one of my most-read blog about independence for pre-teens and younger children, and today feels like it was the next step.  K & M are 11 and 10 and for quite some time have been allowed to go out either on their own, which is usually when the trip is tasked based such as going to the shop or the library, or together, which could also be to play in the park.  They also sometimes go to the park with friends and whenever they go out to play someone has to wear a watch and there is an agreed time that they have to be home by.

Last week I had a conversation about with a friend about just this topic and in fact said that I didn't think that K & M were ready yet to use the bus on their own, and in fact when I asked them they confirmed this.

This morning came around though and the perfect opportunity to find out whether that really was the case arose.  When I came downstairs for breakfast, I found that A had left his phone (a work one) on the side in the kitchen.  I asked K & M if they thought they might be able to and want to deliver it to him, his office being in town, close to a couple of bus stops and somewhere they could find their way to pretty easily.  They were both a bit nervous of the idea but, even when I made it very clear that it wasn't something that they had to do and it was entirely their choice, decided that they would go.

They have a travel card, know which buses are options and which bus stops they could use.  So we phoned A together before they left.  M had already decided that she was going to buy elevenses for everyone from the Co-op on the way, which she duly did.  I said that they should go directly to A's office to deliver the phone, but that they could have a short paddle in the fountain in Market Square before coming straight home.

It all went extremely smoothly and they arrived home, just as I was starting to get a bit impatient but well before concern would have kicked in, both looking very pleased with themselves.  I don't think that it's something that will happen particularly frequently, but the confidence that they will have gained by managing their little adventure is, in my opinion, definitely a good thing.