Kids home alone in summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, OP, what you're talking about doing is having the older one being responsible for the younger one for three hours a day for the whole summer. And that's not cool. He's your responsibility, not his brother's.

This, unless he agrees to it and you pay him.

OP here we did this last summer. Sitter would leave around 2. So they were home for a few hours. By that time of day they are tired from being at the pool most of the day and just want to chill. Younger one watches TV while older one plays some video games. It's not like the older one is really "watching" his sibling.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/sites/police/files/assets/images/franconiadistrict/flyers/child-supervision.pdf


You said earlier that you would be home at "5ish." So if your sitter leaves at two and you get home even a minute after 5--you are exceeding these "guidelines" with the older child.

Since you state that your older child isn't watching the younger one, and he should only be home alone for 1.5 hours--you are exceeding the guidelines by 1.5+ hours for him.

They are "guidelines" not law....I guess you can decide how comfortable you are with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do yo leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do yo leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

so at 16 you still hire a sitter for kids?

I mean at some point "kids" are left home alone. when is that point?

Guidelines posted above suggest after age 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do yo leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

so at 16 you still hire a sitter for kids? I mean at some point "kids" are left home alone. when is that point? Guidelines posted above suggest after age 13.

No, but I don't leave them home alone ALL DAY for MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW. Can't you see that? I said it twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, OP, what you're talking about doing is having the older one being responsible for the younger one for three hours a day for the whole summer. And that's not cool. He's your responsibility, not his brother's.

This, unless he agrees to it and you pay him.

OP here we did this last summer. Sitter would leave around 2. So they were home for a few hours. By that time of day they are tired from being at the pool most of the day and just want to chill. Younger one watches TV while older one plays some video games. It's not like the older one is really "watching" his sibling.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/sites/police/files/assets/images/franconiadistrict/flyers/child-supervision.pdf


You said earlier that you would be home at "5ish." So if your sitter leaves at two and you get home even a minute after 5--you are exceeding these "guidelines" with the older child.

Since you state that your older child isn't watching the younger one, and he should only be home alone for 1.5 hours--you are exceeding the guidelines by 1.5+ hours for him.

They are "guidelines" not law....I guess you can decide how comfortable you are with it.

Ok not "watching" as in policing everything he does, but the younger one also isn't completely home alone and older child will be 13 so guideline for 13 no time limit just not overnight.
We get home between 4:30 and 5.

Honestly I am comfortable with 2-3 hours. With Covid we were in that situation a bit last year. Kids were in virtual school and there were days when I had to go into the office so kids were home alone for a few hours between when my husband left for work and when I got home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do you leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

so at 16 you still hire a sitter for kids? I mean at some point "kids" are left home alone. when is that point? Guidelines posted above suggest after age 13.

No, but I don't leave them home alone ALL DAY for MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW. Can't you see that? I said it twice.

I am not leaving town for the month, just going to work from 8-4.

So full-time working parent with a 16 yr old should hire a sitter so they aren't home alone from 8-4 during the summer?

Seriously question, at what age do kids not have a sitter in the summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

Lol. That's what I did nearly every summer of my childhood. I went to camp for two weeks but that's it. That was a big financial sacrifice but my mom made it happen. I slept in, watch The Price is Right at 11am, went to the pool in the afternoons. I read my summer reading books, walked to the library, got a snowball, etc. It was the best!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, OP, what you're talking about doing is having the older one being responsible for the younger one for three hours a day for the whole summer. And that's not cool. He's your responsibility, not his brother's.

This, unless he agrees to it and you pay him.

So I can't leave my kids home alone together, according to some people who have responded, but I can leave them home alone as long as I pay the older one...totally makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

Lol. That's what I did nearly every summer of my childhood. I went to camp for two weeks but that's it. That was a big financial sacrifice but my mom made it happen. I slept in, watch The Price is Right at 11am, went to the pool in the afternoons. I read my summer reading books, walked to the library, got a snowball, etc. It was the best!

My mom left me home alone all summer starting at age 11, possibly the summer before but I definitely remember after 5th grade when I was 11.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

Lol. That's what I did nearly every summer of my childhood. I went to camp for two weeks but that's it. That was a big financial sacrifice but my mom made it happen. I slept in, watch The Price is Right at 11am, went to the pool in the afternoons. I read my summer reading books, walked to the library, got a snowball, etc. It was the best!

My mom left me home alone all summer starting at age 11, possibly the summer before but I definitely remember after 5th grade when I was 11.

When I was 11 or 12 I babysat 2 kids under the age of 4 at night

[Anonymous]

At 16 they will be working. My 14 year old is still doing several weeks of camp. Plus I WFH.

[Anonymous]

Totally fine. My 11 year old will be home alone 2 days a week during the summer and he’ll be fine. We’ve done this for the past few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do you leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

so at 16 you still hire a sitter for kids? I mean at some point "kids" are left home alone. when is that point? Guidelines posted above suggest after age 13.

No, but I don't leave them home alone ALL DAY for MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW. Can't you see that? I said it twice.

I am not leaving town for the month, just going to work from 8-4. So full-time working parent with a 16 yr old should hire a sitter so they aren't home alone from 8-4 during the summer? Seriously question, at what age do kids not have a sitter in the summer?

I can't believe how dense you are. My kids are not allowed to stay home all day, all summer. They need to be doing something. Camp, work, summer school, some combo of the three. A full-time working parent with a 16 year old should have pushed that kid to get a job by the time they were 14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do you leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

so at 16 you still hire a sitter for kids? I mean at some point "kids" are left home alone. when is that point? Guidelines posted above suggest after age 13.

No, but I don't leave them home alone ALL DAY for MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW. Can't you see that? I said it twice.

I am not leaving town for the month, just going to work from 8-4.

So full-time working parent with a 16 yr old should hire a sitter so they aren't home alone from 8-4 during the summer?

Seriously question, at what age do kids not have a sitter in the summer?

16, when they can drive and have a full time job.

You want your kids watching Tv every afternoon for 3 hours a day all summer? Really?? Hire a full time sitter or put them in camps. At 14 or 15 they can be counselors in training. Even at 16, I certainly hope you wouldn’t just let your kid sit around all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically never. They are not allowed to do nothing for huge chunks of time. A day or two here or there? Sure. But for weeks on end? No.

so at what age do you leave kids home without a sitter in the summer?

Depends on the kid, not the season, but they aren’t staying home all day,, multiple days in a row, ever.

so at 16 you still hire a sitter for kids? I mean at some point "kids" are left home alone. when is that point? Guidelines posted above suggest after age 13.

No, but I don't leave them home alone ALL DAY for MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW. Can't you see that? I said it twice.

I am not leaving town for the month, just going to work from 8-4. So full-time working parent with a 16 yr old should hire a sitter so they aren't home alone from 8-4 during the summer? Seriously question, at what age do kids not have a sitter in the summer?

I can't believe how dense you are. My kids are not allowed to stay home all day, all summer. They need to be doing something. Camp, work, summer school, some combo of the three. A full-time working parent with a 16 year old should have pushed that kid to get a job by the time they were 14.

I'm not the pp you are responding to

How do you expect this 14-16 year old to get to the job with a "full-time working parent?" Few places hire 14 year olds--what are the chances that every "full time working parent" and their family live within reasonable walking/biking distance of them?