Home alone?

[houseelf]

I know that this is in the archives, but I'm too lazy to look it up. At what age did your kids start staying home alone? I have left my 7 y.o. at home while I ran around the neighborhood for thirty minutes with my cell phone on. (NO, I would not leave the two year old with him. She's a handful for even me or her dad to manage. )

I told this to my mom and she freaked. Then I reminded her that I was a latchkey kid every day after school for two hours from the age of seven. She was like, "Oh, yeah, I forgot". I am also fully aware that leaving him home like this was illegal in our former state.

Anyone? Anyone?

Kelly

[peggyfromwastate]

The Maryland law is 8 to be left home, for brief amounts of time, and then 13 to be able to "supervise" anyone younger than 8.

Kate stayed home for brief amounts of time in a lockdown mode when she was about 8.5. She can not answer the phone, the door (obviously), and has to stay out of sight of the windows, etc.

[planet]

I don't know the law, but our neighbor has her 12 year old watch the 9/10 and 7 year olds while she works 4 days/week. They do leave the 9/10 (not sure which it is) year old home alone. I think it would depend on the child. It sounds so young to me right now.

[Sheherezade]

I have left my 11 year old alone for a few hours starting this year. Previously, I only left them to walk the dog up and down the block late at night.....and they watched me from the apartment windows. Oh, the joys of single parenthood. :>

I think it depends on the kid and the environment. I'm more comfortable here with neighbor moms at home all day than I was in the city. I suppose that's an advantage of the burbs.

I was staying home alone at 8 -- no sibs to watch and my parents were a ways away. There was always a neighbor around that I could (and did) call if I needed something.

Now? I'm not sure. If I was going next door for half an hour, I would probably leave my 7 yo old alone, assuming I could see our house while I was there. I do talk to the neighbors in the street while the kids (not the baby) are in the house.

My two oldest are 10 and 8 and I've never left them home alone, but I was wondering about when I should start. Anyone know the law about this in Ohio?

The times surely have changed. I was getting paid to babysit the neighborhood toddlers when I was 8.

We leave the boys in the house while we're next door (outside). They're always welcome to come out with us, but if they're tired, cranky, or being punished - they're in the house.

[mommax3]

I just started leaving my 11 (now 12) year old alone for brief periods this year, like if I needed to run to Target or the grocery store for an hour or less. If he and his brothers were zonked in front of the tv, I would leave all of them, but more often I would take one of the younger ones with me. We have left them while we take walks since the oldest was 9.5. I think it depends on the kid and the neighborhood, obviously, and I also think that in a world without cell phones, I wouldn't have ever left him alone yet. Aren't they wonderful?

I almost forgot.....I left all three of them alone yesterday morning (they were just waking up as I left) while I had a two-hour breakfast/chat-fest with a friend. They called me *four* times to report various infractions, ("x is being annoying......y put his feet on me.......z is being bossy") but mostly, it went well and the chance to have an adult conversation......priceless.

Sally

[PrincessFiona]

I left Andrew for the first time when he was in 5th grade....and occasionally, I left him there with Alex (who was 7 at the time)....I wasn't sure what the age restrictions were for the State of MN. I also left Amanda alone for the first time this past year in 5th grade.

Though I was slow to warm to the idea of leaving my kids to their own devices, we have begun allowing the older kids to babysit the younger ones now.

We started out cautiously...while at a card game in the neighborhood...but we've now gone out to dinner and have had Andrew (12 1/2) and Amanda (11) babysit Alex (8), Aidan (3 1/2) and Zoe (16 months). It works out better than using a *real* babysitter.

In the State of MN, you are legally allowed to babysit your own siblings at age 11 and other people's children at age 12. I was babysitting at 11.

In our house it works like this: Amanda makes lists of what they *have* to do and then the fun things that they *can* do. She gives the list to Alex and he checks off the fun things that he wants to do, and they do them....and she takes super care of Zoe. I can say a lot of things about Amanda when I'm angry, but she is a wonderful babysitter for Zoe! Andrew takes care of Aidan and they usually "play Zug" (trains) and then watch a movie together.

We only leave for about 2 hours.....maybe 2.5 max....and we pay them for their work.


kris

[Meenah]

I think it was around 11. By age 13 they were babysitting for someone else. The first two years they babysat I always stayed withinn reach, because I was worried something might happen that they couldn't handle. Now that I think back, those people should have paid us both, they had my daughters and me (an ER nurse at the time) babysitting. I couldn't go out and relax if they were babysitting, but the other people could! Just not right

[DCJenn]

I'm pretty sure that Nikolai will be 21 when he's left alone, but that's because he's 3 going on 13. already he's getting pissy when he's in his room by himself- "no mommy, you GO." which makes me spy all the more.

Jenn

who is crossing my fingers daily that my parents buy the house down the street- we're going to need a tag team effort...

[planet]

It looks like there's no age limit here:

http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/faqchildabuse.html