Question For Parents

[movingex]

At what age would/did you leave your kids at home alone for a couple of hours at a time?

I have a 10 and 11 year old and I have not gotten to the point that I will, but I know other parents who do with their kids that same age.

I know it may have a lot to do with maturity of the kids and one's particular situation, but I'm just asking in general.

2ND QUESTION
If your kid (same age group) was going on an school/summer camp outing to some place like Celebration Station for a couple of hours how much spending money would you give them? Again I am just asking in general as their are several determining factors here as well.

Just curious.

Thanks

[KobraCarry]

11 years old by self for half the day after having her take a CPR and babysitting course. 12 hours watching the little one for a few hours.

[Noe]

11yrs and 8yrs - girls. They stay at home for an hour or two sometimes. Not that often.

As for spending money, it depends how much money they have earned during the week. From the money they earn they spend half and save half. So it's up to them how much they can take.

[JohnT]

In this day and age with all the creeps, freaks, and outright crazies looking for opportunities to harm young children, break-ins, and home invasions, I would never leave my kids of that age alone at home. Overly-protective? Maybe, but better safe than sorry. There really needs to be an adult present.

That's my two pennies.

[bands321]

In this day and age with all the creeps, freaks, and outright crazies looking for opportunities to harm young children, break-ins, and home invasions, I would never leave my kids of that age alone at home. Overly-protective? Maybe, but better safe than sorry. There really needs to be an adult present.

That's my two pennies.

That!

[lscottpht]

1st, I've left my 10 y.o. for maybe 20 minutes, only b/c he was throwing a fit. I do not feel comfortable leaving my kids at home, even when they are 13. My daughter didn't stay at home alone until she was probably 16 or so lol, but I am just paranoid.

Second question, $10.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by lscottpht

My daughter didn't stay at home alone until she was probably 16 or so lol, but I am just paranoid.

Not at all. You're just a protective mother as you should be.

[Digigeek]

Started when the oldest was 10 and the youngest 8 for no more than an hour when we would be close and only if it was daylight. Now at ages 13 and 11, we leave them for an evening out, but we are never more than 30 minutes away and almost always home by 10:00 or 10:30.

Alarm is on, windows are closed, they do not answer any door or the phone no matter who it is unless it is one of us. They have both earned some trust and confidence.

I used to be worried about bad things happening, but have come to the realization that you have to let them develop some comfort and confidence in being on their own. Start slow and work your way up. Otherwise, they'll be 16 (edit - no offense Leslie) and have never stayed home alone and won't have a clue how to handle it.

As for money, depends on what for and where. Drink and a snack, maybe $5-10 at most. Souvenier from a special event, maybe an additonal $20. We get the change back.

[Brains]

Oldest is 11, but we don't leave him alone much at all, and only for short periods. Not because he's irresponsible or anything like that, but again - the worries about bad things in the 'hood.

When he goes with friends and such, it really depends on what we expect he'll need. Usually 10 or 20 bucks for most places is sufficient.

[Redneck]

Isn't it a Texas State law that you may not leave your kids home alone under age 12?

Anyway, our daughter was totally different than our son. I would have had no trouble leaving her at home when she was 12. Different story with our son. He's almost 15 and I'm still having a bad feeling about leaving him alone.

[Digigeek]

Originally Posted by Redneck

Isn't it a Texas State law that you may not leave your kids home alone under age 12?

No.

[miffed67]

Originally Posted by movingex

At what age would/did you leave your kids at home alone for a couple of hours at a time?

I have a 10 and 11 year old and I have not gotten to the point that I will, but I know other parents who do with their kids that same age.

I know it may have a lot to do with maturity of the kids and one's particular situation, but I'm just asking in general.

2ND QUESTION
If your kid (same age group) was going on an school/summer camp outing to some place like Celebration Station for a couple of hours how much spending money would you give them? Again I am just asking in general as their are several determining factors here as well.

Just curious.

Thanks

When mine were that age, I didn't leave them at home alone for more than an hour, and I usually had a neighbor on standby to check on them. I'm paranoid, tho. My youngest is 15 (girl) now, and I don't like to leave her home alone for too long because there ARE crazies out there, but also because there are BOYS in the neighborhood. I've made it a practice to never tell her how long I'll be, just so she'll think I could walk in the door at ANY second. I do tell her where I'm going, tho, so my ruse is probably not working all that well.

My son went to Six Flags with his running team when he was in 6th grade and I gave him $30 to take with him. Stuff is expensive at Six Flags, AND they were going to be there all day, so I felt justified because of that. If it had been a place that wasn't that expensive, or a shorter outing, I'd probably have given him $10 or so.

[diente]

Originally Posted by JohnT

In this day and age with all the creeps, freaks, and outright crazies looking for opportunities to harm young children, break-ins, and home invasions, I would never leave my kids of that age alone at home. Overly-protective? Maybe, but better safe than sorry. There really needs to be an adult present.

Sounds like a tough neighborhood. Are these creeps and freaks watching your house constantly, just waiting for an unguarded moment to slip in?

Just wondering, do you still check your kids' homework in high school?

Sorry for being so snarky........I apologize, I apologize, i apologize......

[janikphoto]

18 months worked for us. At least until we got home and saw CPS waiting on our porch...

This is a joke, by the way.

[miffed67]

Originally Posted by diente

Just wondering, do you still check your kids' homework in high school?

I know this was meant snarkily, but I do check my daughter's homework.....or at least check that she DID what she said she had for homework. I'm hopeless in math and she's a math genius, so there's not much checking going on there. But, she better be able to show me some paper, with numbers, lines, squiggly drawings, whatever on it, that she intends to turn in. I'm not militant about it, it's more of a "spot check" deal, but yeah. Keeps her honest! Sometimes I ask her to explain stuff to me, even tho I know I have NO chance of "getting" it (the math, that is), just to see if she's paying attention in class and knows how to do the homework.