In Illinois the minimum age is 14? That seems crazy.
I am in IL and read up on that, and the "unreasonable amount of time" is usually considered to be 24 hours or more, and doesn't refer to running errands. Thank goodness because I am NOT waiting until 14 to run a simple kid-free errand!
Post by lilmissladybug on Aug 14, 2016 23:22:44 GMT -5
DD was 8. DS will be 8 in November but I don't feel like he is ready. I will leave both kids for up to an hour if I have to leave for work and DH is on his way home from work or if they get home from school before one of us is home from work. I only feel okay with that if DD is with DS. She will be 11 and has a basic phone to call/text when they get inside.
Just this past summer, so almost nine heading into fourth grade. But since he was about seven, DH or I would leave him "alone" on weekend mornings when one would be sleeping and the other would run out. He wasn't technically alone if there were emergency, but he was unsupervised if he felt like eating all the cookies.
It says they have to be 12 in CO, which is literally ridiculous to me.
Idk when I'll think L is ready, but I can guarantee it will be before she's 12.
Actually, there's no minimum age in Colorado; it's left to the parents' discretion. Twelve is the recommended age, since that's the age they can legally babysit, and obviously a babysitter can be trusted to stay alone.
This is the wrong thread to talk about the time my mom left my 8 year old brother and me when I was 5 for like 20 minutes and we managed to start a fire by turning on the heater for the first time of the season and she came home to us gone (at the neighbor's) and a ladder fire truck outside her house. I got the animals out! And my brother called 911 while I was screaming at him that we were supposed to call from someplace not on fire.
But we survived and this was 1989 so no one called CPS.
So, this reminds me. When my older sisters were 11 and 12 my parents went out on a date for a few hours in charge of watching my brother and I- ages 7 and 8. They weren't really actively watching us.
My brother decided this was a good time to test his superhero skills. He jumped out of an upstairs window twice and broke his leg 😑
DS is 7 and somehow he knew that the recommended minimum age in our county was 8. He came to me like a year ago with this information and has been "proving" his responsibility since. I think I'll wait till he can correctly wipe his own ass though.
I started leaving my oldest at 11...and about 6mo later let her babysit her younger sisters too. She's a month from 12 but I won't leave her/them much longer than an hour until she's a bit older. DD2 is 9 and I've probably left her a time or 2 but only for a few minutes to drop DD1 off at school less than a mile away. DH & I are looking forward to the day we can walk to a movie or bar (2 blocks) and have a date night without having to find someone...i see the light at the end of the tunnel! We are getting cameras and the super fancy security system soon too for a little more piece of mind since we live in an urban area.
We started letting Jackson stay home this spring/summer for 30 minutes or so if I had to get Scarlett somewhere and would be right back (or had to run to the grocery) or if MH was on his way home or would be home shortly. He's 9, will be 10 in October.
It's fine. He sits there glued to whatever it was he was doing (iPad, TV, computer).
An hour or two during the day when DS was about 10. His psychologist agreed that he was ready for the responsibility.
10 is a common cutoff here. My BFF left her kid alone to run half a mile to the store after alerting the neighbor she'd be gone. The kid qas 9 1/2 and triggered the alarm which brought the police who gave my friend a stern lecture and warning.
Honestly I could leave Jack in front of a video game and he would be fine for hours lol.
There are times my 7 year old is playing a game and I'll go outside to water plants/pick at the weeds/pick up dog poop and I'll be out there for a least a half hour. I'll come back inside and announce that I'm back and he'll reply "Oh, I didn't even know you left."
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Post by textbookcase on Aug 15, 2016 9:35:53 GMT -5
When C was 8-9 (so k was 6-7) I would leave them for short periods of time if I had to run across the street to the store or something when I knew it wouldn't be longer than 10-15 mins. Then cambria started babysitting Bonnie for longer periods of time when she was 11.5-12. She is 12.5 now and I leave the younger 2 with her for a few hours occasionally. There are apparently no age guidelines in my state. Also, totally kid dependent. I wouldn't leave K (almost 10) alone now without C. Just different maturity levels. Plus K has super high anxiety and I know she wouldn't be able to handle herself in an emergency situation without freaking out.
DD is 8 and we'll leave her for 15-20 minutes now. With the states that have higher minimum age requirements, what do parents do if their kid gets out of school at 2:30 and they have to work? Most day cares won't take older kids!
Post by deanlicker78 on Aug 15, 2016 10:47:01 GMT -5
I think with my oldest it was about 10. When I've had a run scheduled and no one is home to watch Ava I will turn on Minecraft and do laps around a couple of blocks and stop to peek in a window at her. She's 7. I wouldn't go any further that yet, but might in the next year or two.
However, Lucas (age 9) will need to be, at a minimum, 42 before I will leave him unsupervised. Maybe not even then. He is incapable of good decision making on any level.
Just this past summer, so almost nine heading into fourth grade. But since he was about seven, DH or I would leave him "alone" on weekend mornings when one would be sleeping and the other would run out. He wasn't technically alone if there were emergency, but he was unsupervised if he felt like eating all the cookies.
I leave DS " alone" like this all the time. Meaning I go upstairs to fold the laundry and end up taking a 15 minute nap. He is 4.5. If he needs something he comes upstairs to get me. I mean I am still in the house, I am just laying there with my eyes closed for awhile or watching a show while folding laundry in my room.
Sometimes he comes upstairs and snuggles me while I am sleeping. It's cute.
I wouldn't do this type of thing if he was a kid who got into trouble unsupervised EVER. He just needs some extra " alone" time, as do I.
My DD is 8. We plan on waiting till age 10. She is a nervous nelly so I wouldn't feel comfortable now. Plus we don't have a home phone so it will have to wait till she has some sort of cell phone of her own.