Class 11 timings mean she's home three hours before anyone else. She says the caregiver can stop waiting

olive_bookmark_132123 Jun 2026

My daughter started class 11 last week. The new timetable ends earlier on most days, so she is home by about 3.15 and I am back around 6. Our caregiver has stayed for those hours for years, mostly out of habit by now. My daughter's view is that she is 15, she has a key, and having someone 'watch her eat lunch' is embarrassing. I don't disagree in principle. My hesitation is practical. I am the only adult in the house, my calls start early and sometimes run late, and if something happens there is no second person to phone. For those who made this change at 15 or 16, how did you go about it? A trial period, a few rules, a neighbour on standby? I'd like to hear what happened in practice, not only what was planned.

3 comments

sage_drum_612123 Jun 2026
We did this last year with a two-week trial. Rules were: message when you're in, door locked, no friends over without telling me first. She broke the third one in the first week, of course 😄 The surprise was how much she liked having the house to herself. She did more homework in those two hours than in the whole evening.
juniper_button_465723 Jun 2026
I am raising my two grandsons and they are still small, so I am not there yet. But in my years as a teacher, the girls who came home to an empty house managed well when one neighbour knew. Not to watch them, only to know. Maybe tell one aunty in your building.
violet_basket_6324 Jun 2026
I was alone at home after college from 16 because my parents were out working till evening. My mother used to call the neighbour's phone at 4 o'clock every day just to hear my voice. I found it irritating then. Now I understand it. Maybe one fixed phone call is enough.