Kids today…

I remember back in my day, my parents let us run free and just told us to be home by dinner time.

That was it!

But times sure have changed…

Check out this mom’s story and see if you think she did anything wrong when she let her son and his friend hang out at a beach by themselves.

AITA for leaving two thirteen year olds alone?

“Yesterday there was no school, but my husband still had work, so I was alone with the kids.

My oldest, 13, has this friend I think is something of a latchkey kid. He often shows up with no prior notice, and yesterday was one of those days. He rode up on his bike just before eleven.

We had plans to go to the beach, but I said he could come with us. My son loaned him some trunks (I think it’s gross too, but they don’t care, so whatever) and he tagged along.

The beach is about a fifteen minute walk from our house, and we got there around 11:30. Just after two my younger kids were wiped and I decided it was time to go home.

Sure, see ya later!

My son and his friend wanted to stay at the beach. I said fine, but be home in time for dinner. In time for dinner means in time to shower before dinner and that means factoring in the walk time.

They said they understood, so I left. Around five o’clock the mom of my son’s friend calls and asks if her son is at my house. I said he was, but we went to the beach and they’re still there.

At first she was confused, so I explained that he came to our house and then we all went to the beach and he and my son are still there. She asked why the kids were there without supervision.

Well…

I said she let her son ride his bike on a busy road without supervision. She said that was different. I said that if she had called ahead to tell us he was coming over I would have been able to tell her our plans, but she never does.

She said she has to work, but he should be able to go out and play with his friends, and if we didn’t want him around we should tell him. I said I have no issues with her son being around, but if she has preferences for what he is and isn’t allowed to do she should have called and told me at some point.

She’s never reached out to me about anything to give me emergency contact information in case she isn’t reachable, to tell me about any restrictions for him or even just to ask if it was okay for him to show up unannounced.

This argument was going nowhere.

She said I’m judgmental, but I’m not judging her, I’m just saying if you have preferences you need to communicate them. She asked me what beach they were at, and I told her. Then she hung up.

My son showed up forty minutes later and said his friend’s mom came to the beach, yelled at her son and then took him home.

AITA?

If he’s old enough to be alone riding a bike, he’s old enough to be alone at the beach.”

Let’s see how folks reacted on Reddit.

This person said she didn’t do anything wrong.

Another individual shared their thoughts.

This reader chimed in.

Another Reddit user spoke up.

And this reader had an interesting take on things.

What we have here…is a failure to communicate.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.