So my 10 year old has two friends that are allowed to stay home ALONE for short periods of time - 30 minutes or less. When mom needs to run to the store or pay a bill.

I dont know y'all... whats the appropriate age for this?

((((Im asking because I have a job where I may have to make short (very short) delivery's in my neighborhood - just every so often. And sometimes my kids are still sleeping, getting ready for school, etc... when Im phoned to make these quick trips. Its just so much easier to jump in the car and go alone - then load the entire bus full for a 3 minute ride down the street. )))

Gosh Paaula thats a hard question for me to answer...I'm really interested on every ones thoughts on the subject though!!! My daughter is only 6 and I have never left her home alone. I tend to be over protective and it will probably be a long time before she is ever left by herself... I have the convience that my mom lives next door so I call and ask her to keep her for a few short minutes when needed... if not I take her with me. Parenting is so hard and such a guessing game sometimes knowing what to do is really tough!!!

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I was babysitting the next door neighbors babies by this age.. ?? It's definitely a different world out there..

Now that you mention it, I was too! I remember saying once to a girl I was babysitting that she was 2/3 of my age: she was 6, and I was 9. And I'd been sitting for her since before that--the occasion for the comment was my 9th birthday.

You know, thinking back my first babysitting job was at age 11 or 12. I watched 3 girls ages 7, 3, & 1 yr. Now that I'm a mother, I would NEVER leave my boys with an 11 yr old. Is it just the times or am I being overprotective? Do you think some of us are too paranoid with all the bad things we hear about these days? I've started letting my 5 yr old cross our road to get the mail & paper and walk up the driveway be himself....with mommy watching, of course. He is such a big shot when I let him do this and I can see the pride on his face.

Shawn, you said it perfectly....how very true this is!

I always think, I am rearing future adults. Allowing them little freedoms and independence gives them confidence and teaches them how to behave in the "real world."

I think as my kids get older I will have a better understanding and sense of when I can leave them alone. Right now, I guess I'm too out to think about it in real terms.

Whew, this is a tough one. I went to the link about registered Sex Offenders and I'm relieved to find noone on my street listed...that doesn't mean there is no potential for danger, though! My kiddos are 6 and 3, so it's not much of an issue at this point. I would leave my daughter (6) playing outside or next door for 30 min, or even several hours if the lady next door were home and the kids were all together. You know, there are only 2 families on this street that I would actually call and ask for help with the kids...picking up, staying around while I run out, letting them be at their homes for a few hours during the day playing with their kids.

Yep, it's a new day. I was babysitting at age 10, but got super busy with regular babysitting work at 12-13. The girl next door is 12, but I wouldn't leave her in charge of my kids for nothing. If her Mom was home, I would...maybe...I just don't see alot of responsibility in her yet. She's more concerned with herself and yells at her little brothers...

Oy, I'm just processing here.

Paula, I think you should give it a shot, see how he does. Have you tried it yet? Keep us posted.

Man, parenting is TOUGH!!!!! I just want to get past potty-training! LOL

Paula, I think you should give it a shot, see how he does. Have you tried it yet? Keep us posted.

Actually I DID!

I left Marcus(10) and Anne (5) alone for 10 minutes EXACTLY (timed it on the car clock) - Bebe came with me.

The only reason we were ok with doing this was because the kids are so used to these short deliveries - they knew it wouldnt take long.

They were fine - I was fine. No harm done. Truly the beginning of teaching THIS kind of responsibility.

None of us are ready (at this point) for longer stretches though.

These quick 5 -15 minutes errands are enough for now.

This is really a giant step for us.

One more idea...

I think girls are more mature/responsible for these types of jobs then boys are (at this age).

Actually I DID!

I left Marcus(10) and Anne (5) alone for 10 minutes EXACTLY (timed it on the car clock) - Bebe came with me.

The only reason we were ok with doing this was because the kids are so used to these short deliveries - they knew it wouldnt take long.

They were fine - I was fine. No harm done. Truly the beginning of teaching THIS kind of responsibility.

None of us are ready (at this point) for longer stretches though.

These quick 5 -15 minutes errands are enough for now.

This is really a giant step for us.

Congratulations! Gotta start somewhere...

One more idea...

I think girls are more mature/responsible for these types of jobs then boys are (at this age).

I think you're probably right about that. So, put Anne in charge next time.

Starting slow and adding up time is a great thing. Make a list and do mock trials of what happens when if something does happen.

My 19 yr old daughter I could leave alone at any age IF I chose to do so would have been fine - she's always been very mature and knows how to handle things.

No way in heck I would leave my 20 yr old son alone before the age of 13 lol he would have had no clue if someone was robbing us - we tried a couple of times while we ran within a half a mile to the store at the corner. He was petrified to stay alone.

When he was 13 I finally let him stay while we all went to Publix (local grocer) it was a good 20 min drive.

15 min after we left home, I got a call from my alarm company saying there was an intruder and the police were at a standoff with him inside my house OMG !!

We run out of the store with NO groceries and break the speed limit to get to our house, see 3 police cars and tread carefully.. thinking what is this guy going to do with our son.

The police tell us to watch out the guy is standing at the window - we look up and it's our son ROTFL They didn't think he was 13, he was 6' tall and older looking so they thought HE was the intruder.

We had just had our alarm installed and he set it for the silent police notification when we left for the store instead of alarming him if someone came inside! <doh>

We said, what are you doing? he was afraid to go out in case the police shot him so he stayed inside and watched them LOL

Hi,

IN the last two months, I started letting my almost 11 year old get off the school bus and press a code on the garage to get in on his own. He gets home at 5:10 pm and sometimes I dont get home until 20 minutes after 5PM leaving him alone for a grand total of 10 minutes. Last week for the first time, I let him stay at home while my husband and I took my 4 year old to the park down the street in our neighborhood. THis was for less than 30 minutes and even this made me nervous. I am trying to let him grow up a little, but I am very overprotective and even watch him when he crosses the road to go to the school bus stop. I dont think I could have done this any sooner than now, but his friends probably thought I was a little schizo, so I figured it was time to give him 10-15 minutes a day of independence.

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

Hard call to make -- I agree it depends on the kids. But if 12 year olds can care for other kids, can't a 10 year old care for themselves for a few minutes? I think that knowing the rules -- what's allowed & not allowed, and not to leave the house or answer the door are important concepts as is how to use the phone to reach you & 911. If you can trust your child to do those things then I thinkI would do it........

I'm similar to the others here. Around second grade I started getting home from school and would be home alone until my mom got home fom work or one of my older siblings decided to come home from high school and hanging out with there friends. I was always fine, although I do think it helped me gain the weight at a younger age, as soon as I got home it was sitting in front of the tv and eating junkfood until the family got home.

And I also was babysitting prolly around 9 or 10, now looking back on it, it does seem a little crazy I was taking care of kids ages 0-6 when I was still pretty young. But I did take all the health/babysittig classes and was very mature at a young age.

This thread got me thinking of how old I was when I started babysitting. 11 maybe.

I hate turing this thread into horrible babysitting stories, but I MUST tell this one:

I was about 11 and my sister's friend needed a sitter for her kids while they attended her fathers funeral. So I went. I think it was abut the 3rd time I sat for her.

She had a daughter about 2 1/2 yrs old - and her hair was real scragly and long. Unhealthy looking.

So while they were at the funeral, I CUT her daughters hair. Well, it was a trim actually. I snipped about an inch off.

I remeber her calling my mom the next day - crying. My mom apoligizing over and over.

I never babysat for her again.

AND never cut anyone elses hair again.

ok, sorry y'all.

back to topic!

I have left my (nearly)12 yr old girl w/ my 9 yr old son to go to the Grocery store to get bread etc. not shopping shopping. They did fine My son plays on the video games doesn't even miss me. Also I carry my nextel and she can walkie talkie or call me at any time, and She does I get lil beeps saying can I have (whatever) to eat? or Can you buy me some (Blank) while your there etc.

In our old neighbor hood I did see something that really bugged me. We would ride our bikes home everyday and there was a little boy pre-K maybe what 5 maybe 6 yrs old. Left to walk 1 mile (Alone) to our street where they lived and when he got there everyday mom and dad were at work and the used their cell phone as a babysitter everyday. This little boy would be outside playing and his phone would ring and he would take off inside to talk. I figure he was suppose to be inside so he would run to answer the phone. I dunno I just think 5/6 yr olds shouldn't walk a mile home alone to a empty house

I missed this thread originally, but thought I would comment anyway. I was babysitting around 8 or 9, my two sisters, and for a while the boy my parents were trying to adopt. I'm not sure I would ever have a kid that age babysitting, but I think 10ish is probably good for staying home a little if it's quick and the kid seems responsible. Unfortunately I did a fair share of "raising" since my parents got divorced, dad didn't pay child support, and mom had to work alot of hours. I can only pray that my situation isn't similar when I have kids, even though I have no issues with my mom about this, I still think it would be better if things were different.

I think 10's reasonable. I have started leaving my boys (10 and 8) home alone for short periods this year. I might have a hairdressers appointment or something during school holidays, I'd go and leave them at home. Of course we've been through safety and not to answer the door or phone etc.

I've also just this week let them start riding their bikes to school - its 3km there and 3km back. But they have to cross and ride along an 80km/hr 2 lane road, so I walked them to school for an entire term to make sure they were confident and sensible with the lights. They love it and its great exercise for them.

I've just gotten to the stage where I need to be able to do this. Eliza is in daycare so she's safe and looked after but I've so far structred my uni timetable so that I've done all the units that are on at a convenient time for me, but next Semester I've got a 4pm lecture on a Thursday - so I need them to be able to come home and let themselves into the house. I've had to do two units so far where I've been unable to attend the lectures for an entire semester, I did well but I hate being out of the loop like that. Its much easier to just go to the lecture than find the time at home around 3 weeks to teach yourself the course!