Wedding—leave them home alone all day?
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Anonymous
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We have been invited to a local wedding. The actual ceremony is at 3pm, and the reception begins with cocktails at 5pm, with the couple arriving later. My husband has been asked to be in the wedding, and pictures will be taken in the time between the ceremony and the reception. DD14 has not been invited.
I’m torn about what to do. She will begrudgingly stay home for all that time (I would assume what would be from about 2:30-10pm or later) but I hate doing that to her, because she gets lonely and I was “that kid”, too. Would you skip the wedding and just go to the reception? Or am I completely overthinking this? |
Anonymous
| I would not leave my only child alone that long. Can they have a friend come over, or better yet go to a friends house for at least part of the time? |
Anonymous
| This is ridiculous. It’s one day that’s not about her. Tell her to clean her room, watch Netflix and FaceTime lonely relatives. She can put other people first by age 14. |
Anonymous
| I would have my child stay home and I would call and text throughout the time I was gone. I do think you're overthinking this. She needs to learn to be independent. I would make sure she has stuff to do. Like if she was into any sort of craft, I'd buy it. Or I'd buy a new book for her. |
Anonymous
| See if she can visit a friend..but if not she should be fine. Let her know you will be checking your phone and if grandparents or aunts/uncle are local she can call them. |
Anonymous
| My DD16 doesn't like being home alone so we never leave her alone but she also does not like going outside alone because of a weird kidnapping fear, so if your DD is fine with it then it's completely okay. |
Anonymous
| Your title asks about “leaving them” alone all day but your post only mentions 14 year old DD. How old is/are your other child/children? That impacts whether you should leave them alone. |
Anonymous
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A 14 year old should be able to be alone at home for the entire time under the described circumstances.
I would be concerned that your daughter is not emotionally able to be alone for 9 hours, especially when you are nearby and reachable by text. |
Anonymous
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She's 14! Most kids love to have some time to themselves at that age and younger. Helps them to learn some independence and responsibility, as well as learning to be by themselves some.
Great opportunity. |
Anonymous
For a 14 year old? You’d call and text multiple times?! Why? And you’d buy her crap? Let kids mature! At 14 mine has a part time job and babysits. |
Anonymous
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At 14 she’s old enough to be the babysitter for other people’s young kids while they are at a wedding all day and night. I don’t under the concern.
If she’s not comfortable being home alone, have her ask a friend to come over for the day. No, you don’t invite her to go to someone else’s house. That’s rude. |
Anonymous
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She's 14. She can stay home, ffs.
The fact that this is even an issue for you seems strange to me. |
Anonymous
At 14? I babysat other kids at that age. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't go to a wedding if my kid wasn't invited. I think it's rude for them to not invite your child. |
Anonymous
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My 14yo (my youngest) would be just fine alone for that time frame. Not even a question. His older siblings were the same. Especially since you will be local. They’d watch movies and eat junk etc.
If the issue is loneliness…Could your 14yo make plans with a close friend for some of that time- either hang at their house, or go to a movie etc- asking friend’s parents to drive both ways this time? (we do a lot of the driving and would reciprocate both ways next time so would not be a big deal) I actually don’t like the idea of 14yo having a friend over for long periods when we are not home, so that isn’t something I’ve ever allowed at that age. Just a personal thing for me, probably. |