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laura
Lv 4

Is it unreasonable for a 6 year old....?

Is it unreasonable for me to expect my 6 year old daughter to spend an hour or an hour and a half (max) playing independently or being on her own within our home? (example....if i wanted to lock my bathroom door and take a long bath then read a few minutes....) She ALWAYS wants to be with me.......and there are times I just need a break... What are your thoughts? Mean mommy?

6 Answers

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  • 10 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    It isn't a bad thing to need 'me' time, but you should probably be doing things like taking an hour and a half for a bath after she has gone to bed. Locking the door against her is sending her the message you don't want her near you, and if there is an accident of some sort while you are in there it will be hard for you to get to her as fast as you need to. Having said that, she should be starting to learn how to entertain herself on her own for brief periods of time, so you should start giving her activities she can do by herself.

    Get her a new coloring book and crayons, or any similar quiet activity and set her at the table to do it. Set a timer for 10 minutes and tell her you would like her to color a pretty picture for you and that she needs to do it quietly and by herself because you need to do a grown-up activity that needs your attention.

    If she chases you, take her back to the seat and tell her you will be with her when the timer dings, and go back to what you were doing. She probably will not like it but after the timer dings she will be proud to show you what she has done, and you can praise her for doing it all by herself.

    Get her in the habit of doing this every single day, and after a set amount of days, increase the time she sits by 5 minutes until she is on her own for maybe a half hour, or what ever time you would like to have as quiet time.

    One thing I don't suggest is using the tv as a babysitter while you have your quiet time. There are plenty of activities she can do without resorting to that.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    10 years ago

    Would you leave her home alone for an hour and a half? Most likely not. Its fine to have her play on her own for an hour, my kids have independent playtime, including my three and five year olds, which lasts for about an hour a day while me and my husband get some things done when we get home from work, it also teaches them to use their imagination and learn to entertain themselves, but locking her out of the bathroom for an hour and a half isnt okay, you can have your "me" time while still supervising her. Have quiet time where she plays a quiet game on her own, whatever she wants to do, while you lay down in the same room as her and read or do whatever. Save the long baths for after she goes to bed.

    Source(s): Mother of 5
  • 10 years ago

    I guess if she's watching a movie on her own then an hour would be okay... BUT otherwise I think it's a little unreasonable.. she'd probably get bored easily. Plus, in that amount of time anything could happen.. and if you're locked in the bathroom how would you hear if say she knocked something down, or hurt herself? Not sure it's a good idea. Maybe just wait until she's in bed asleep... or ask someone to look after her for an hour

  • Anonymous
    10 years ago

    Since your daughter is still pretty young, she may still want her mother. You shouldn't leave her alone for too long, god forbid something may happen, but you shouldn't constantly be with her every minute of the day. Eventually she needs to become more independent, but i don't think that time is until a few years from now.

  • 10 years ago

    my nephew is 6 and his mom leaves him alone while she takes a bath but she only leaves him alone for 20 minutes.

    Before my sister is in the bath she puts on a movie and sets the coloring book and crayons down then tells him to watch the movie and color while she is in the bath. NEVER LOCK THE DOOR.

  • Anonymous
    10 years ago

    its neglect

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