Ideal Age for Errands

Considering the responses of parents who have grown children; what is the ideal age for a child to begin running errands?
Errands like helping out with house chores or with younger siblings.

As soon as they can drive they can run errands. Getting milk when we run out is now their job. They can pick up baby brother from band practice. They can even take grandma to pick up her medicine. If they are responsible enough to drive a car then they better be responsible enough to run errands and help out.

My children have been helping out with house chores since they were little. They had their standard chores to do like keeping their toys put up as well as their shoes and coats. As they got older they were in charge of picking up dirty clothes and taking them downstairs to be washed. I taught them how to load the washer and put in the detergent as well as how to run the dryer. This was their chores for a while because of my back problems did not allow me to bend and lift anything. Some would probably say that they were too young for this but they actually did a good job. They also had to carry the clean clothes back upstairs.

Now they help out with dishes and cleaning the floor. I find the more unusual the chore the better they are about doing it. Sometimes, it is a chore just to get them help with chores.

darkchild said:
Considering the responses of parents who have grown children; what is the ideal age for a child to begin running errands?
Errands like helping out with house chores or with younger siblings.

I'm not sure if you mean real errands (like away from home) or regular household chores. For the chores, I started my daughter slowly with what she was able to do. She always enjoyed helping me, so there were a few little things she begged to do even at age 2.

I just added more "advanced" things as she got older, so that they were more age-appropriate.

Now, if you mean errands like going off to the neighborhood store or something by themselves... well there my answer would be much different. Maybe 15 years ago I would have had a different answer, but things have, frankly, gotten very scary in this world of ours. Back then (like when we were growing up) a 10 or 11 year old could easily be sent off to the store alone for bread or something. But now... not so much.

Helping with younger sibs while you're there, probably 6 or 7 could be a lot of help. If you mean actual babysitting while you're out, I've always thought that 13 was a good time to start that. I'll look forward to seeing the other answers you'll get and varying views on the subject.