Would you leave your 17 year old home alone for 2 days over the weekend?

[Anonymous]

My parents did. I'd just turned 17, was a senior in HS and my dad was in the hospital and my mom wanted to stay with him. The hardest part was driving home from the hospital by myself - I had to pull over on the expressway and cry for a few minutes. Other than that I was fine, and didn't have anyone over, went to school, ate all my meals on the couch in front of the tv, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would and did.

Plus one. I had my daughter invite one of her nerdy friends to stay over.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure you have nearby neighbors she can call if necessary and will also check on her (make sure no strange cars in driveway, etc.)

[Anonymous]

With her older brother nearby, absolutely.

My kid was still 15 at the beginning of junior year and my biggest worry about them being alone would be actually getting up in the morning to get to school.

Do YOU actually want to go on your husband's work trip? If not, then just dont go.

[Anonymous]

My parents left me alone for a week when I was 16. I did have a small house party with coworkers, but I moved all the breakables and special things into my parent’s room and locked it up. After the party and at the end of the week I deep cleaned the house and replaced everything exactly like it was - without a crack in the glass egg. 😉

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH has a work trip that he’d like me to attend a few hours away from where we live . DD17 doesn’t want to come along. I’m not sure if we should let her stay alone. She’s not a partier so I’m not worried about that. But, we’ve never left her alone overnight before. She’s willing to stay alone and is responsible. I guess I’m just overly anxious. So considering all this, should we?

In many states kids can live on their own at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: She did just turn 17 and is a junior not senior. I have a 25 year old DS who lives very close who can check up on her and is close by in case of an emergency, or if I still don’t
comfortable with her being alone, she can stay with DS or he can come over to stay with her.

I am in the exact same boat. Both DH and I need to be gone for 5 nights. 20 yr old DS is also 30 min away (an hour with traffic), so she can stay with him on the weekend, but she has to be in school the other two days so she has to be home. DD said she would be fine, but I don't feel comfortable with it as she has anxiety and panic attacks. Yes, she's on meds. She just turned 17. I might call her aunt to stay with her for 2 nights, so DD would only be alone at night for 1 night.

I mean this nicely, but don't you think you're sending her the wrong message if she says she can handle it and you send the aunt over?

[Anonymous]

With my daughter, yes we did. With my son, no we didn't. Both good kids but DS definitely would have taken advantage of the situation.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we did it this summer and will again when we go to parents weekend at older kid’s college.

He must respond promptly to our texts, no driving and be home by curfew.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you ask your 25 year old son to stay over?

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Yes I think so. I’d leave my 16yo Junior home alone for the weekend if the need arose. I’d let our next door neighbor know, and also my a long time friend who lives down the street (who I have done the same favor for).

[Anonymous]

My 17 year old is going to London at the end of September to start college. We started leaving him alone at home for a few days at a time a few months ago. That way, he will come out of his room and enjoys his home because otherwise he stays holed up in his room. He has a summer job so that gives him some daily structure.
The fact that he is going abroad for college expedited the process of giving him more responsibility. I'm not worried about what he does at home; I'm more worried about the deep drinking culture in the UK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 17 year old is going to London at the end of September to start college. We started leaving him alone at home for a few days at a time a few months ago. That way, he will come out of his room and enjoys his home because otherwise he stays holed up in his room. He has a summer job so that gives him some daily structure.
The fact that he is going abroad for college expedited the process of giving him more responsibility. I'm not worried about what he does at home; I'm more worried about the deep drinking culture in the UK.

This just sounds incredibly sad. Your son is going off to college in another country in a few months and instead of spending a lot of time with him or traveling together, you leave him for a FEW days alone repeatedly? And the only way he will come out if his room is if no one else is around his home?

[Anonymous]

No, my kid comes first and I would not go.