kids watching other kids

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
Do people really take their 7yos with them while they are outside
gardening
... Not to help, but because they can't be trusted indoors on their own?

Not that I know of! I wondered about that, too.
Marie

"Marie" wrote in message
...
"Chookie" wrote in message
...
Do people really take their 7yos with them while they are outside
gardening
... Not to help, but because they can't be trusted indoors on their
own?

Not that I know of! I wondered about that, too.
Marie

Not here -- we definitely consider being in the yard as "at home".

I'm surprised at how many people would leave their 8yo for an hour or
more though. My son is 8, and I just can't imagine leaving him here
by himself. My daughter was much more mature at 8, but I still didn't
leave her alone until she was 10, and that was only for 1/2 hour or
less. Now that she's 11, she's allowed to stay at home for a couple
of hours, but not all day. Her brother is allowed to stay with her
for those short 20 minute trips to the corner store, but has to go
with me if it's for longer. My mom said she didn't leave me alone
until I was 12.

What I don't get really is the whole daylight/nighttime thing. We
haven't had occasion to leave her later than 8:00, but I don't feel
any less comfortable when it's dark outside than when it's light.

Bizby

wow, reading these replies scares me...
I have a 13 yr old Ive only JUST in the last 2 weeks been leting stay home
for an hour or so while I duck to the shops.
and I thought she was too young and I was a bad mum letting her.!
Guess I need to rethink
She is a mature 13 yr old too, but I have other children, maybe thats the
differnce. I waited till she was 13 and could look after her 11 yr old
brother and 8 yr old sister.
They have strict rules when I leave them for that time. NO answereing the
phone, we havwe a machine and if its me they can hear.....NO answering the
door. TO ANYONE even people they know. To do homework, or be quiet in that
time. NO COOKING, NO HEATER....Im scared stiff of fires.
I dont know, I still think an 8 yr old doesnt have the thinking ability to
handle a problem and should be left alone at all. But so many here seem to
think its ok. Maybe Im wrong, but I think if my daughter was alone, I still
would have waited till teenage before letting her stay alone for and hour or
so.
I guess its an individual thing. And only you know your child and your
circumstances.
All the best
Fiona
"Stephanie" wrote in message
news:lN47h.3413$%U.993@trndny07...
At what age would you leave kids alone in the house for a trip to the
store? More to the point, what is the youngest age that this would be
conceivable?


Thanks

Stephanie

"Stephanie" wrote in message
news:lN47h.3413$%U.993@trndny07...
At what age would you leave kids alone in the house for a trip to the
store? More to the point, what is the youngest age that this would be
conceivable?


Hunter is 7yo and I haven't left him yet. I imagine that I might leave him
for up to 30 minutes next summer. It feels weird to think about it but I
think he'd be fine. I would not leave him home with Luke as he is more
impulsive and they would be much more likely to break rules together. Luke
might have to be more like 9yo before I'd leave him.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06

Stephanie wrote:
At what age would you leave kids alone in the house for a trip to the store?
More to the point, what is the youngest age that this would be conceivable?

This is one of those things that seem to just gradually happen. We
would leave our 6 year old alone for the 10 minutes or so it would take
to run up to the post office. Gradually we would work up to 30 minutes
(a run to the school to pick up his brother for instance). He is now
11 and can stay home for a couple of hours alone. When his older
brother was 12 and the younger was 8 we would leave them for the
evening (like to a movie or something). Now at 15 and 11 we are
considering let them stay home alone overnight while we go away.

Chris

"bizby40" wrote in message
...

I'm surprised at how many people would leave their 8yo for an hour or
more though. My son is 8, and I just can't imagine leaving him here
by himself.

It depends on the child. My youngest is 8 (will be 9 in a few weeks) and
he's perfectly capable of staying home alone for half a day , four hours or
so. He can use the phone , IM me , make himself a snack, amuse himself, etc.
I work 5 minutes away.
He's rather a mature and self-sufficient kid, however, being the youngest of
three boys (the older ones are 17 and 13). The older two have occasions to
not be home (active school and social lives) so sometimes the youngest is
here alone, and he's fine.

My daughter was much more mature at 8, but I still didn't leave her alone
until she was 10, and that was only for 1/2 hour or
less. Now that she's 11, she's allowed to stay at home for a couple
of hours, but not all day. Her brother is allowed to stay with her
for those short 20 minute trips to the corner store, but has to go
with me if it's for longer. My mom said she didn't leave me alone
until I was 12.

When I was 12, I was left in charge of my three younger brothers ( 11, 9, 9)
for several hours after school until my mother got home, and all day in the
summer when school was out. We did some bad stuff, but we're still alive and
have fun stories to tell.
My mom was a lot more hovering and distrustful at Little League, riding
lessons, art school, etc. She trusted us alone a lot more than she did
leaving us in the care of other adults.

"Jen" wrote in message
...

"deja.blues" wrote in message
news%x7h.753$gJ1.142@trndny09...

"bizby40" wrote in message
...

I'm surprised at how many people would leave their 8yo for an hour or
more though. My son is 8, and I just can't imagine leaving him here
by himself.

It depends on the child. My youngest is 8 (will be 9 in a few weeks) and
he's perfectly capable of staying home alone for half a day , four hours
or
so. He can use the phone , IM me , make himself a snack, amuse himself,
etc.
I work 5 minutes away.
He's rather a mature and self-sufficient kid, however, being the youngest
of
three boys (the older ones are 17 and 13). The older two have occasions
to
not be home (active school and social lives) so sometimes the youngest
is
here alone, and he's fine.

My daughter was much more mature at 8, but I still didn't leave her
alone
until she was 10, and that was only for 1/2 hour or
less. Now that she's 11, she's allowed to stay at home for a couple
of hours, but not all day. Her brother is allowed to stay with her
for those short 20 minute trips to the corner store, but has to go
with me if it's for longer. My mom said she didn't leave me alone
until I was 12.

When I was 12, I was left in charge of my three younger brothers ( 11, 9,
9)
for several hours after school until my mother got home, and all day in
the
summer when school was out. We did some bad stuff, but we're still alive
and
have fun stories to tell.
My mom was a lot more hovering and distrustful at Little League, riding
lessons, art school, etc. She trusted us alone a lot more than she did
leaving us in the care of other adults.

I'm confused! A while ago people were shocked that I didn't let my 10
year old hang around with friends, or alone or whatever, when she's *not*
home. But some people won't even leave them at home at that age. I would
of have thought it would be a lot safer behind closed doors, and in
familiar surroundings.

I know! My neice had a babysitter up til this last summer.. she just turned
13.. I was babysitting a baby at 12.. I think my mom left us alone for an
hour or so starting at maybe 8-9.. the rules where no cooking with the
stove, no opening the door to strangers and if the phone wrang (no answering
machine, precaller id) we COULD answer it but if I didnt know them then I
was to tell them that my mom was busy and could not come to the phone. We
also had code words for safety. If someone didnt know the code word we
wouldnt go with them.

Tori

"deja.blues" wrote in message
news%x7h.753$gJ1.142@trndny09...

"bizby40" wrote in message
...

I'm surprised at how many people would leave their 8yo for an hour or
more though. My son is 8, and I just can't imagine leaving him here
by himself.

It depends on the child. My youngest is 8 (will be 9 in a few weeks) and
he's perfectly capable of staying home alone for half a day , four hours
or
so. He can use the phone , IM me , make himself a snack, amuse himself,
etc.
I work 5 minutes away.
He's rather a mature and self-sufficient kid, however, being the youngest
of
three boys (the older ones are 17 and 13). The older two have occasions
to
not be home (active school and social lives) so sometimes the youngest is
here alone, and he's fine.

My daughter was much more mature at 8, but I still didn't leave her
alone
until she was 10, and that was only for 1/2 hour or
less. Now that she's 11, she's allowed to stay at home for a couple
of hours, but not all day. Her brother is allowed to stay with her
for those short 20 minute trips to the corner store, but has to go
with me if it's for longer. My mom said she didn't leave me alone
until I was 12.

When I was 12, I was left in charge of my three younger brothers ( 11, 9,
9)
for several hours after school until my mother got home, and all day in
the
summer when school was out. We did some bad stuff, but we're still alive
and
have fun stories to tell.
My mom was a lot more hovering and distrustful at Little League, riding
lessons, art school, etc. She trusted us alone a lot more than she did
leaving us in the care of other adults.

I'm confused! A while ago people were shocked that I didn't let my 10 year
old hang around with friends, or alone or whatever, when she's *not* home.
But some people won't even leave them at home at that age. I would of have
thought it would be a lot safer behind closed doors, and in familiar
surroundings.

Personally I've let both gradually happen around the same time, she now
hangs out a little bit, and occasionally, if she doesn't want to go for a
walk to the shop, I'll leave her at home, while I go.

Just wondering

Jen

"Jen" wrote in message
...
I'm confused! A while ago people were shocked that I didn't let my
10 year old hang around with friends, or alone or whatever, when
she's *not* home. But some people won't even leave them at home at
that age. I would of have thought it would be a lot safer behind
closed doors, and in familiar surroundings.

The problem is that there is no real consensus, and in many places no
real laws that give people a guideline. There are also very wide
discrepancies in kids' maturity levels, and in their circumstances.
So there is no real guidance in this area for people. When I told a
friend that I'd decided my 10 year old could stay by herself for short
periods, she actually told me that I'd better not tell anyone because
if Social Services found out I'd be in trouble! It set me on a frenzy
of research before I was sure she was wrong.

The other problem is that there is a period of time when they'd be
just fine at home as long as everything goes okay, but you don't know
for sure how they'd react in a real emergency situation. You hope
they never happen, but...

As for my 11YO, I'd let her watch her brother for longer periods
except that the two of them don't get along. I trust her to keep him
and herself alive, but I don't trust them not to spend the whole time
bickering. I'm not going to leave him alone with her for long in
those circumstances.

Bizby

"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
"Stephanie" wrote in
news:lN47h.3413$%U.993@trndny07:

At what age would you leave kids alone in the house for a
trip to the store? More to the point, what is the youngest
age that this would be conceivable?

if you live in the US, you might want to check with your state
Division of Family Services to see what they say.
my mom left us briefly (no more than half an hour) when we
were 8 or so, but by then we'd been walking to the store &
back alone for at least 4 years...

So it's not ok to stay home alone, but it is ok to walk out where there are
strangers. Gee, that's logical.

It depends on the kid and where you are.

So kids are ready to be left alone for various times when they are 5 or 6.
Some not unitl they are teens.

In some areas, even if there are not adults in the house, the kids aren't
alone. The kids can go to the neighbors.

It also depends on when and why you are leaving the kids alone. And with
cell phones, are they really alone? And don't forget web cam for when they
are older.

Jeff

it depends a lot on the child & how responsible they are & if
you expect them to be responsible for a younger sibling.
in my state the Red Cross offers babysitting courses for 12
year olds, but the DYFS frowns severely on leaving a kid less
than 14 alone, never mind watching other little kids.

lee
--
Question with boldness even the existence of god; because if
there be
one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of
blindfolded
fear. - Thomas Jefferson