~Susan~
Pearl Clutcher
You need to check your boobs, mine tried to kill me!!!
Posts: 3,259
Jul 6, 2014 17:25:32 GMT
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Post by ~Susan~ on Nov 8, 2018 21:07:24 GMT
I was a "latch key kid" from the age of 10 on up. So yes, I had a house key and still do....somewhere, lol.
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Post by littlemama on Nov 8, 2018 21:20:27 GMT
Yes, we each had a key. When I was an adult and my mom remarried, I did not have a key to her house, but once my stepdad passed away, I asked her to give me one. My mom has always kept our emergency key for us. MIL is offended that she doesn't have a key to our house (she NEVER comes to our house and acts like we live in the middle of the lake - we are 15 minutes from her. Like NEVER comes to our house), so she refuses to give us a key to hers.
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Post by lisae on Nov 8, 2018 21:21:51 GMT
I also grew up out in the country but the main reason I didn't have a key is that someone was always home. My parents had a business adjacent to their house that was open 8 am to 8 pm 5 days a week and several hours on Saturday. If no one was at the house, there would be someone at the shop.
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Nov 8, 2018 21:24:24 GMT
My parents always locked up, so I had a key. My DD does not now - and neither do I! We put code locks on the main doors, though I do have a spare stashed in the garage in case the locks stopped working or in case I needed to unlock the patio door with a key.
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Post by MichyM on Nov 8, 2018 21:49:33 GMT
My parents split up when I was 9. I don’t remember having a key to my mom’s house. I moved to my dads house when I was 12, and yes, I had a key as I was coming home from school to an empty house.
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Post by librarylady on Nov 8, 2018 22:03:06 GMT
I doubt there was a key to lock the home of my childhood.
It was built in 1917 and I don't think it was possible to lock it.
We were in a rural area with no need to lock a door.
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Post by papersilly on Nov 8, 2018 22:12:19 GMT
we were latch key kids so of course we did. walked back and forth to school by ourselves too. different times, i guess. but yes, we had a key. forget the key and we had to shimmy through the dog door. thank goodness we were all skinny enough to fit so any one of us could get in and open the front door.
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Post by Linda on Nov 8, 2018 22:18:51 GMT
I was a latchkey kid once I started Jr. High...and I had a very hard time keeping track of my housekey...I learnt to jimmy the lock of the backdoor of the garage (this back before deadbolts) when I got locked out.
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Post by vpohlman on Nov 8, 2018 22:39:20 GMT
Nopd, no key! We also lived in the country and our house was never locked.
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twinsmomfla99
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,248 
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Post by twinsmomfla99 on Nov 9, 2018 2:38:35 GMT
So I asked Mom about house keys this evening when I called her. She said she doesn’t remember ever carrying a house key on her key ring. She doesn’t remember locking the house unless we were gone for more than a day, which probably only happened three or four times during my school years.
Except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As we talked, we recalled locking the door when we drove to my grandparents (almost 2 hours away), I guess since that was a common time for break ins and since everyone and their brother knew we wouldn’t be home. I think we may have locked up when we drove a few miles down the road to visit my other grandparents on Christmas Day.
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FurryP
Prolific Pea
To pea or not to pea...
Posts: 7,797
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 19:58:26 GMT
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Post by FurryP on Nov 9, 2018 3:53:21 GMT
I don't remember not locking the door. Maybe we didn't, but my mom was a SAHM, so it did not really matter too much anyway.
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jayfab
Drama Llama
procastinating
Posts: 5,748
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Post by jayfab on Nov 9, 2018 4:02:54 GMT
Nope, I don't ever remember our doors being locked back then.
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Post by femalebusiness on Nov 9, 2018 4:31:16 GMT
Nope. My mom was usually home. On the rare occasion she was delayed, we just climbed in through a window. We lived in California with no a/c, someone's window was bound to be open. Same. So. Cal. Many times as a kid I crawled in through the bathroom window. |
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,890
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Nov 9, 2018 4:34:20 GMT
No key. I don't recall the doors ever being locked. Probably if we left for a week or something but I seriously don't recall ever seeing a key for the house let alone anyone using it.
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Post by AngieandSnoopy on Nov 9, 2018 4:50:18 GMT
Yes, starting at age 10. At that time, my mother and POS step-father might not be back from town 35 miles away on Wednesday's. I always had a purse to carry my glasses in so my key was in the purse at all times. My younger sister and I rode the bus the short ride home and if they weren't back, I'd let us in. It was a small town but we did lock the doors at night and when we left the house. I had that key until we sold the house when I was in my late 20's.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:31:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2018 6:22:22 GMT
The only time our house was locked was at night when we were all asleep. Mom had a nighttime routine of locking all the doors after everyone was home. But once someone left the house in the morning that door was left unlocked even if no one was home.
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Post by bc2ca on Nov 9, 2018 6:34:08 GMT
I'm not sure when I got a key, but definitely had one by the time I started babysitting around age 11. My parents locked the house when they went to bed and I would be coming in several hours after that.
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Post by anniefb on Nov 9, 2018 8:16:09 GMT
No not until I was in High School. My Mum was always at home when we got home from school.
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Post by JoP on Nov 9, 2018 9:01:52 GMT
Yes I had a door key from about age 11
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:31:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2018 9:48:00 GMT
Not until I was about 15 yrs old. My mum was always at home when we came home from school. I think I must have been given one at that age as my mother went back to work part time when I was about that age.
I still have a key to her house now though and to my sisters, in case of emergencies. My sister also has a key to my house.
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MZF
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,517
Location: No. CA
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Post by MZF on Nov 9, 2018 10:59:22 GMT
I don't remember, probably not. Someone was always home, usually my mom.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:31:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2018 11:03:12 GMT
Yes. We lived out in the country and few people locked their doors. However we did due to my dad's job. And my parents are just very safety conscious people in general, so we always locked our doors. The front door was locked all the time, home or not. The back door was left unlocked sometimes if we were home and going in and out for playing, yard work etc but was otherwise locked.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,849
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Nov 9, 2018 11:33:05 GMT
Our doors where rarely locked but if the door was locked the key was just left in the letterbox!
i had a key once in high school - we must have got security conscious for some reason and kept it for the rest of my mum's life. I then returned it to my brother who had lived with her.
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama
I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,412
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Nov 9, 2018 11:40:24 GMT
From age 11.
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Post by ferblover on Nov 9, 2018 13:47:42 GMT
From 2nd grade on I had a house key. My parents both worked and I was to go straight home and call my mom to tell her i arrived. She worked at the hospital and the same lady always answered on her floor ( I still remember the phone number!) and we would chat for a few if she knew my mom was with a patient. If she knew it would be awhile she would tell me to go get a snack and she would let my mom know I was home. Her name was Linda, she was so kind to me.
My parents have moved twice since then and I have been given a key to each house. However, I keep forgetting to give them a copy of mine and it has been 6 1/2 years lol! I should do that for Christmas.
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Post by Merge on Nov 9, 2018 13:51:08 GMT
I and one then and I still have it now - and my parents have been dead for over a decade. I’m assuming the people who bought the house have long since changed the locks. ☺️
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janeinbama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,257
Location: Alabama
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Post by janeinbama on Nov 9, 2018 15:32:09 GMT
Never had a house key as house was always unlocked and my Mom was at home. If we had ever gotten locked out, we would have gone next door and stayed until someone got home.
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Post by FrozenPea on Nov 9, 2018 15:42:51 GMT
Nope we never locked our doors. When we move to the house we live in now we didn't lock out doors for the first 5 yrs or so that we lived here. Now we lock it and have security cameras. sigh I miss the old days!
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marimoose
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,282
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Post by marimoose on Nov 9, 2018 18:16:22 GMT
I had a key. We lived in the country, but always locked our door. We were robbed a couple times (they used the spare hidden key), so we stopped hiding a key (I still won’t as an adult). We always locked the house and had an alarm system. We never had a hidden key when I was a child and never as an adult. I needed to leave a key out one time for my daughter who had forgotten hers and it made me so nervous. I just don't trust it. My neighbors have always left out a hidden key and not so hidden in my opinion. It has always been in a little magnetic box attached to the drainpipe on the front door. To me it is in clear view. They have housekeepers who use it and anyone paying attention can watch them go get the key, why else would they be touching the drainpipe then opening the door. They started doing this when the husband was out of town and the wife wasn't going to make it home early enough to care for their dog. They called me to ask if one of my kids could crawl through an unlocked window?!?!. We did but the glass cracked because of the window being stuck. Good news is we made it in and took care of the dog. Soon after they added the keybox AND gave us a key. Honestly I am shocked they have never been robbed. |
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