At what age can kids go out sledding by themselves?

[Anonymous]

Both DH and I are expected to work fully today from home. Obviously kids are home with no school. Can we let them go out and sled by themselves? They are 6, 9 and 11. Can the 11 year old watch them? Sledding hill is about 0.75 miles from the house. Other kids will be there as well. I can’t drive them there because we haven’t had a single plow come by here so they would have to walk.

[Anonymous]

You do you, but I didn't let my 6 year old go that far away with an 11 year old.

[Anonymous]

There’s a sledding emergency at our local hill every year. (Broken arm, head injury, sliced open ear, etc). Consider if your 11 yo should handle that. How will you get there to help quickly?

You can’t take 90 minutes out of work?

[Anonymous]

Honestly depends on the temperament of your kids. How responsible is the 11 year old and how wild are the younger 2?

And if you do have the 11 year old supervise, I'd find a way of rewarding them for it. It's a pretty big ask given the distance and conditions and their ability to enjoy themselves sledding.

[Anonymous]

what kind of roads are they crossing? The sidewalks are impassable in many spots. We had to walk on the street yesterday to sled, and there were cars driving on the secondary road, which was plowed.

Is it all side streets/cutting through a park? I’d be more concerned about the walk than anything else. My 7YO got pretty tired yesterday trudging through the snow to go sledding about the same distance. I wouldn’t want my 11YO to be solely responsible for cajoling him home.

[Anonymous]

Op - kids could cut through a wooded area and get home if necessary. But would have to cross a stream (we did it yesterday so they know the way). I think the stream is pretty frozen by now.

Unfortunately I have calls all day and cannot take 90 out of my day to take them sledding.

[Anonymous]

It is really icy today so the injury potential is a bit higher today. That's something you really need to think about.

[Anonymous]

I definitely wouldn't send the six year old and would think hard about the nine. Your situation is hardly unique. Between you and DH, you really can't take an hour to go sled? If not, then they should play inside or closer to your house.

[Anonymous]

In 6th grade there was a small hill down the street to sled if you weren’t driving to the big ones. A kid slammed into me and the pain was awful. I ran home crying. I had broken my collarbone.

If there’s no plows in your area that means they would have some heavy snow to trudge through. If someone sprained their ankle or broke something it would be tough for them to get home. Almost a mile is too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I definitely wouldn't send the six year old and would think hard about the nine. Your situation is hardly unique. Between you and DH, you really can't take an hour to go sled? If not, then they should play inside or closer to your house.

Op - DH is a lawyer and I am a director of a big group. We both have demanding jobs and lots of work today since “snow days” don’t apply and we have to work from home even if our offices are closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s a sledding emergency at our local hill every year. (Broken arm, head injury, sliced open ear, etc). Consider if your 11 yo should handle that. How will you get there to help quickly?

You can’t take 90 minutes out of work?

Please take time off work to be with your kids. You won’t regret it. You may regret letting them go sledding without supervision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - kids could cut through a wooded area and get home if necessary. But would have to cross a stream (we did it yesterday so they know the way). I think the stream is pretty frozen by now.

Unfortunately I have calls all day and cannot take 90 out of my day to take them sledding.

Can your partner take tjnd gif the kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely wouldn't send the six year old and would think hard about the nine. Your situation is hardly unique. Between you and DH, you really can't take an hour to go sled? If not, then they should play inside or closer to your house.

Op - DH is a lawyer and I am a director of a big group. We both have demanding jobs and lots of work today since “snow days” don’t apply and we have to work from home even if our offices are closed.

Why don't you have a nanny. Who is making lunch and dealing with the inevitable questions from your kids while you take all your calls?

Hire a neighborhood high schooler to take them.

With such important jobs, surely you can figure this out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely wouldn't send the six year old and would think hard about the nine. Your situation is hardly unique. Between you and DH, you really can't take an hour to go sled? If not, then they should play inside or closer to your house.

Op - DH is a lawyer and I am a director of a big group. We both have demanding jobs and lots of work today since “snow days” don’t apply and we have to work from home even if our offices are closed.

Then have them play at home. I'm a pretty free range parent, and I wouldn't have my 11 year old supervising a 6 year old sledding on an icy hill or crossing a partially frozen creek alone in weather where being wet quickly becomes an emergency, and where you couldn't jump in a car and rush to them if they called for help, because you say the roads are unpassable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely wouldn't send the six year old and would think hard about the nine. Your situation is hardly unique. Between you and DH, you really can't take an hour to go sled? If not, then they should play inside or closer to your house.

Op - DH is a lawyer and I am a director of a big group. We both have demanding jobs and lots of work today since “snow days” don’t apply and we have to work from home even if our offices are closed.

Why don't you have a nanny. Who is making lunch and dealing with the inevitable questions from your kids while you take all your calls?

Hire a neighborhood high schooler to take them.

With such important jobs, surely you can figure this out.

Op - because they are all in school. We don’t need a nanny for 3 hours a day. That is insane. Our kids wake up at 7am and we leave by 7:30 for school. They do after care and I pick them up at 5:30pm.

Anyway I can look into a high schooler for today but from what I saw yesterday no older kids are even willing to go outside and make a buck shoveling.