kids watching other kids

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:
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?

Two?

Just kidding. I'm inclined to say 11 (which is when I took the Red
Cross babysitting course), depending on the individual child. But
since mine is so young and I don't have any direct experience with
this, maybe I'm underestimating.

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

About 8-9 years old to be left alone in daylight. About 11 for after
dark. Practice by leaving them inside, alone, while you're outside
(gardening or whatever), then while you walk down the block, and
gradually increase the length of time and distance.

Where I live the state law says a child must be 8 to be left alone, and
12 to take care of a child under 6.

Do teach your kids about what to do in various situations, including
people knocking at the door, calling on the phone, and how to deal with
the commonest emergencies.

--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

"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...
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

"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?

I have been leaving my 11 year old and 9 year old alone for up to an hour
for a couple of months now. I also have a 4 year old, but I take her with me
and do not have the older ones babysit.
I know someone whose 11 year old daughter babysits her 6 and 5 year old
siblings AND another 4 and 5 year old all at once. I would NEVER approve of
something like that. That is for hours at a time.
Marie

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?



I started letting my daughter stay home alone for, say, an hour, when
she was 8. She's now 10, and I leave her for longer, but not much more
than a couple of hours. I would not leave her to look after her
4-year-old brother yet; I'm guessing she'll be 12 before I allow that.

Clisby


Thanks

Stephanie

"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?

I haven't ever really been where a trip to the store would be as short
a trip as a half an hour. Also shopping at the commissary (which I
did) in the old days meant the children could not come in with you,
but there was a nursery available on a walk-in basis.

Most of the time when I was ferrying the older kids around, I carted
the little one(s) with me. This was extremely inconvenient in some
cases - like when dd#3 went to pre-school at age 4 and ds was a baby.
I had to drive half an hour in each direction in the morning to be
there at 8:30 and again to get her at 11:30.

I left dd#1 with her two siblings (3 and 1 year) when she was 10+ for
the half hour between the time I left to take dd#2 to swim team and
the time dh got home from work. She also had the directions for
starting dinner so that when I got back with dd#2 we could all have
dinner. (This was mostly putting a casserole in the oven and turning
it on, and cooking frozen vegetables, although dh did teach her to fry
chicken.) She also babysat with a neighbor's infant at about 11 years
old - at night. But I was home and was only 4 houses away.

In article ,
(Beth Kevles) wrote:

Practice by leaving them inside, alone, while you're outside
(gardening or whatever),

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?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

"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

If I really was going out to the store for one thing I might leave my 6 year
old. BUT it would have to be light, she happy to do it, and going for one
thing only. The shops are just over the road, and if there was a queue I
would come straight back without geting it.
I wouldn't go any further, or get anything that would take more than 5
minutes in total. For example I've done this to post a letter (the post box
being just opposite our house,) but I wouldn't let her stay when I was going
to collect a prescription because sometimes you have to wait while they make
it up, although I can see our house from the chemists the whole time.
I wouldn't have done this 6 months ago.
Debbie

On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 21:32:01 GMT, Stephanie wrote:
At what age would you leave kids alone in the house for a trip to the store?

Well, that's a pretty open ended question, since a trip to the store
could be 10 minutes or 2 hours.

For a relatively quick trip of a half hour or less, 6 years old is fine,
as long as the child is reasonably responsible and has access to external
help; i.e., they know how to call 911, have neighbors around, etc.

For a longer trip outside the house - say, two hours - nine or ten
would be perfectly fine, under the same conditions as above.

More to the point, what is the youngest age that this would be conceivable?

Again, that's open ended. There are a lot of totally whacked-out parents
who refuse to give their children any age-appropriate responsibility or
the opportunity to grow outside the ever-present gaze of Mom and Dad. Other
whacked-out parents leave their three year olds alone at home while they're at
work. Hopefully most people fall somewhere in the middle. ;-)

- Rich

--
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.