Home Alone

[MichiganJFrog]

How old should your kids be before you leave them home without a babysitter when you go out?

 

[crippli]

They should have proven themselves as reasonable, educated and trustworthy. Same goes for the servant.

This age of this maturity would be individual. This is in an urban setting. In wildlife I'd let them explore unmonitored sooner.

 

[MichiganJFrog]

They should have proven themselves as reasonable, educated and trustworthy.

Jeez, I totally had my parents snowed.

 

[crippli]

Jeez, I totally had my parents snowed.

Snowed?

 

[MichiganJFrog]

Snowed?

Fooled, bamboozled, hoodwinked, deceived...

 

[crippli]

That works too

Of course, the same goes for the parents. What I proposed isn't going to work if it goes just one way.

 

[lucky12]

Only if they can dodge a ball.

 

[snafupants]

I would say up to fourteen usually requires a babysitter. They might bitch about this setup but that's because they would very much like to smoke weed, or perhaps crystal meth for our friends in Florida, in the basement. Between fifteen and twenty, I would enlist the help of a neighbor or friend to check up on the heathens. Get them out of the house after college. At any rate, I may watch Home Alone, with the highly esteemed Macaulay Culkin, before Christmas.

 

[MichiganJFrog]

Of course, the same goes for the parents.

Yeah, they had me snowed, too, come to think of it.

Flimflammed, benighted, conned, duped, rooked, snookered...

Home Alone, with the highly esteemed Macaulay Culkin.

Good film. A reasonable facsimile of what can happen when a preteen is left to fend for himself, made palatable for the masses.

 

[snafupants]

Good film. A reasonable facsimile of what can happen when a preteen is left to fend for himself, made palatable for the masses.

Yum, tastes good!

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

I was allowed home alone at 8. Not recommended for more than a few hours though. (But by 12 I was fine).


I should also add, from personal experience, that leaving them at home in a house with a gas stove and/or fireplace is not a good idea

 

[Solitaire U.]

2 kids. Eldest is almost 13 and his brother recently turned 9. My eldest son started expressing an interest in being home alone when he was 9 years old. I was perfectly comfortable leaving him home alone for short periods of time at that age (his mother was a bit less comfortable though), but looking after his then 5 year old brother wasn't something I felt he was sincerely capable of at that time. Hence, opportunities for him to be left home alone were few and far between, since his younger brother was almost always an 'accessory', except for the rare occasions when younger bro had a doctor's appointment or something.

Started leaving them home alone together when eldest was around 11. Other than the time they played with the water hose and then tracked muddy water into the house, it's worked out well.

I think it really helps when there's more than one kid. Keeps them bouncing off each other instead of expensive, breakable home furnishings. Temporarily lifting Playstation time restrictions for the duration of home-aloneness also helps enormously to keep them occupied and out of harm's way. They know the rules and have pretty good sense. They are well-aware that we only allow them to stay home alone for as long as we totally trust them to stay out of trouble.

 

[Affinity]

Me and my brother were left home alone for extended periods of time around age 6 or 7. I could recall a few mishaps throughout the years but nothing that was too crazy. Looking back, I wouldn't say this was ideal since in the early years, there were times where it was just scary not having a parent around. Odd noises, late nights, and strangers knocking on the door. It was definitely much easier that I had a sibling around.

I think children at this age being left to their own devices for short periods of time would be fine and a good way to ease them in to that independence and perhaps around 9-10 would be a good age to have them stay home alone for longer periods of time.

 

[Adrift]

If I remember right my parents started leaving me home alone at 9 or 10. It may have been earlier but I know it was no later than that. It really just depends on the child's maturity/intelligence level. Trust must begin somewhere.

 

[EmergingAlbert]

My mom didn't start leaving me home alone until I was 14. I don't just mean for a long time. I mean if she had to run to the gas station, I had to go with her.

Maybe it was 12, but I think it was 14. I know it was in the double digits though.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

I was left alone at night without a baby sitting at the age of 10.

 

[MichiganJFrog]

Is there a particular time of day when it would not be okay to leave kids home by themselves?

 

[Oedipus]

We were allowed to do that at night when I was 11 and my brother was 13, I think. I guess the later in the evening it is the less okay it seems, though I don't know how much of a difference it actually makes.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

Is there a particular time of day when it would not be okay to leave kids home by themselves?

For me, 12 was okay to do 24-36 hours, but I wasn't okay with an entire week until 14 (until I was a competent cook). Personally I'd be hesitant to leave anyone under 14 past 10pm though, because... that sh*t can be scary

 

[snafupants]

Comb Alone. Starring Tim Burton.

The guy needs something to tame that disheveled and unruly-tufted hair.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

The guy needs something to tame that disheveled and unruly-tufted hair.

This is what I look like on a daily basis, minus the goatee and ever-increasing amount of neck fat. I actually haven't combed my hair in... 9 days or so