So, our family consists of Yuki's mom, Yuki, Sunshine, and Cuddly Bear. Yuki's mom is an accountant, and she works full-time.
During Yuki's summer vacation, Yuki's mom tries to take days off from work as much as possible so she can spend time with Yuki and go to places with him to enjoy his summer vacation. Yuki also visits his Grandma in Kyoto and his Great Grandma in Okayama during his summer vacation and spends several days with them.
But guess how he spends the rest of his summer vacation?
Well, he spends it home alone.
In Japan, it is okay for kids to be alone without their parents' supervision just as long as their parents make sure it is safe for them.
When kids enter elementary school, they are expected to go to school and come home from school on their own. Up until Grade 3, there are after-school daycares, which are run by the government that kids can go to if both their parents work. However, after Grade 3, kids are generally on their own after school until their parents come home from work.
This day, Yuki and Tag came to visit Yuki's mom at work during her lunch break. Yuki's mom works 40 minutes away from home by 2 trains.
We all had lunch together. We had some Korean foods!
After lunch, Yuki's mom went back to work. Yuki and Tag went to watch Pokemon movie before he went home.
In Japan, they have free movie flyers for movies that are coming out in theaters, and Yuki has been collecting those flyers since he was 5!
Tag says he really enjoyed this new Pokemon movie... Yuki and Tag couldn't stop talking about it when Yuki's mom came home!
Wow, we are amazed that Yuki can do so much traveling around the city on his own! He must be very responsible to do that.
ReplyDeleteHere in the U.S., if both parents work they either have to pay a daycare or a babysitter or find a family member to watch after children. We don't usually allow a child to stay home alone until they are at least 9 or 10. Tyson and Audrey are old enough to do that, but not my younger two.
Where we live, we don't have access to public transportation like you do- no trains or buses! We have to drive our car everywhere we go, which means that my kids can't go anywhere on their own unless they are just walking or riding a bike to a friend's house in our neighborhood. Most of the areas around where we live don't have sidewalks, so it would be dangerous for them to walk, because they would have to walk on the road or on the side of the road, and we don't want to get hit by cars!
Thanks so much for sharing more about what your life is like there in Japan. It's so interesting to learn about a life that is so different from ours here in the U.S. :-)