Anonymous wrote:I'd get a sitter.

Many 13 years olds are sitters. I would be comfortable with this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, I’d do it and not think twice. I was 12 years old and babysitting an 8 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old. No cell phones, no immediate way to reach parents. Lay the ground rules, let a neighbor or friend know what’s up, and go.

My DD is almost 12 and is nowhere near responsible enough to do this. I’d be ok with. Her being a mother’s helper but not babysitting. It’s great you did it and everyone survived but that doesn’t mean it should be the norm.
OP I would only do this if I had a trusted neighbor/friend/family member close by. 2 hours away is too far.

There’s also a big difference between 11 (the age of your kid) and 13 (the age of OPs oldest). You’re basically comparing a rising 6th grader to a rising 8th grader, when your 6th grader starts MS next year you will understand the gap between those ages better.

We left t of our sons home alone one summer day when they were about those ages. We spoke to each one separately and gave them a list of do/s and don'ts. We then gave them the conditions of what needed to happen in order for them to earn $$. One of the conditions was not telling the sibling about getting paid to "watch" the other one.
Then we sat them down together and went through the rules and expectations again without the bit about paying them each separately. We offered Chick-fil-A for dinner if all went well.
It worked well. They are now 19 and 15 and have let it slip that they both found out the other was getting paid. They bonded over it, worked together to earn dinner and $$ and were excited to be independent for a day.
They had neighbors to call and we do have exterior cameras on the house.

Anonymous wrote:Yep, I’d do it and not think twice. I was 12 years old and babysitting an 8 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old. No cell phones, no immediate way to reach parents. Lay the ground rules, let a neighbor or friend know what’s up, and go.

My DD is almost 12 and is nowhere near responsible enough to do this. I’d be ok with. Her being a mother’s helper but not babysitting. It’s great you did it and everyone survived but that doesn’t mean it should be the norm.
OP I would only do this if I had a trusted neighbor/friend/family member close by. 2 hours away is too far.

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. I left my boys 8 and 12 home from 5pm to 12am the other night. We were two hours away (like 30 minutes) but they were fine? They took showers, ate dinner, watched a movie and then went to bed. They even brushed their teeth and finished their homework.

I don't know 12 years old is a reasonable age to babysit kids. 13 is even better. I mean it depends on the kids but I have basically done this (minus the 2 hours). My kids have a way to call me and they know what to do in the case of an emergency.

Sorry meant to say we were NOT 2 hours away

Hmm. I left my boys 8 and 12 home from 5pm to 12am the other night. We were two hours away (like 30 minutes) but they were fine? They took showers, ate dinner, watched a movie and then went to bed. They even brushed their teeth and finished their homework.

I don't know 12 years old is a reasonable age to babysit kids. 13 is even better. I mean it depends on the kids but I have basically done this (minus the 2 hours). My kids have a way to call me and they know what to do in the case of an emergency.

No. I would never even hire a 13 yr old babysitter for 7 hours. Add to this they are siblings, parents are 2 hrs away, hard no.

Anonymous wrote:Yep, I’d do it and not think twice. I was 12 years old and babysitting an 8 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old. No cell phones, no immediate way to reach parents. Lay the ground rules, let a neighbor or friend know what’s up, and go.

I think being siblings complicates this though

I would arrange a play date at friends house for each of them to break up the day. That’s a long time to be stuck at home with your sibling.

My two kids are closer in age but I think I would totally do this, assuming they had people they could call. I am surprised more have said no than yes.

Depends a lot on if your kids are calm or wild. (Non sexist version of what a sexist PP was trying to say.)

Can you get an adult with them for a few hours?
A neighbor or friend?

That will make it much easier to be alone the rest of the time, with frequent video call checkins and a nearby adult on call.

I've got a 12 and 9 year old, and we'll go to dinner in the neighborhood, at a place they know well, without them for about 2 hours. I think 2 hours is where I would be comfortable at this point. And not at night. 12 year old also has a phone.

Are they 9 or 8? I have a 13 and 10 year old and I would not do it because of the length of time and distance away. You will be nervous the whole time. Just get a sitter.

Get a sitter for the 9yo