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School-age child care programs only go up to age 13 here. If your daughter is 12, going on 13, in less than a year, child care wouldn't even be an option (unless you hired a nanny, or something). My oldest was in the school day camp until he turned 13. My youngest was done before he turned 12.
For me, it would probably depend on how they behave together. Is there safety in numbers, or do they bicker when they are together? You might let the 12 year old stay home and put the 10 year old in a camp, or something.
ETA, for mine, their summers are pretty full between trips with us and their grand parents and sports camps. They don't usually spend all day, every day, for 6-9 weeks home alone. It is more like 3 week the whole summer.
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Originally Posted by CGab
I worry about the contractors; not because they are contractors, but because they can see that I leave at the same time every morning leaving the house vulnerable.
Yes, they would have restrictions. No friends over, no playing outside (unless in the backyard which is fenced) and no answering the door. I also feel bad as we are getting a pool installed this year and I wouldn't allow them to swim until I get home.
In my observation, contractors seldom work alone. So they're not going to break into your house, typically. They're at work together. Typically, contractors are the ones who know whose lost dog that is there, and can inform police whether a car drove down that street recently.
You know your kids, and if you feel your kids are reliable and responsible it might go well. I would never have done that with my kids, because they were curious and adventuresome and they'd be in the pool with their friends after a few weeks of being left at home unsupervised.
I wouldn't be thrilled about leaving 10 and 12 home alone for that length of time, but the reality was that I did leave my 12 year old home for the day. He went to daily day camp the previous summer and HATED it with a passion. And there were not a lot of options once he got to middle school, except for very $$$$ specialty camps. So I ended up doing a mix - a few weeks of specialty camps and a few weeks of time at home. The time at home included some days here and there at "Camp Grandma" where she'd pick him up and take him to the pool or a movie or something, and a few days over the summer where I could take a day off as well and we could do something fun.
I will add that my son is a big introvert and being home - with me or on his own - is his favorite place to be. So I knew he wasn't bored and complaining about things, he was completely content. That helped. He's an only child so for better or worse, he was on his own, no sibling to play with but then again, no sibling to squabble with! lol!
I'd probably go for it, but try to find something they can do at least some of the time, whether that's a week of camp here and there, or a day once or twice a week where they have an activity, whether it's spending the day with a friend (if you can coordinate those for different friends on the same day, of course) or maybe a part time summer nanny who is really more of a big sister who can take them for some fun field trip to local activities and attractions.
You know your kids best, but perhaps consider using spring break as a trial run? We’re in a similar boat, in that my kids are 13, 10, and 7. The oldest is too old for day camp, and the middle kid doesn’t want to go every week. I can’t afford $1000/week to send the youngest two to camp all summer, so my oldest will be home all summer, my middle kid will be home with every other week, while my youngest will be at camp every week (with the exception of the week I take off and the week my husband takes off.
I’m sure I’ll be panicking every second, but they’re a text away, and I can always have a neighbor check in on them if needed.
Op, I think you are fine. You can get the amazon echo show and “drop†in on them any time. Get the Ring doorbell so you know who enters, exits or knocks on the door. Try it. If after a week or so, you don’t feel good, then hire a sitter. But I think you will be fine.
My oldest is 10.75 years old. When he comes home from school (4:15pm), I am not home. I am at the aquatics center (1 mile away) watching his 6 years sister’s swim practice. The moment he gets home, he has to FaceTime me. I know by the Ring doorbell when he gets home. We get home at 4:50. This is him at 10. At 12, I would be more than comfortable leaving him home alone during the summers during the day especially since they are already home. They’ll probably sleep in until 10 or 11 anyway.😬
5-6 hours seems like a really long time for that age. When mine were that age, I never left them for more than two or so hours.
I agree. My children had a wider age span, 12 and 8, and I rarely left them for more than 30 minutes.
We sometimes hired a babysitter for the 8 year old and allowed our 12 year old to be "on his own". However, that did not always work out well as the babysitter was sometimes only one or two years older than our son.
Now when they were 13 and 9, it was a lot different and we left them for up to four hours alone. We never had a reason to leave them for a longer period of time.
Children are different. Even at age 12, my nephew couldn't be left alone for even an hour or two as he would get into some type of mischief. And, he certainly could not be responsible for caring for his 9 year old sister.
OTOH, some 12 year olds are mature enough to be babysitters themselves.
Even when my parents were in the house, I was home alone. So I had plenty of experience in functioning with no adult supervision, from the youngest age. I built a secret passage in and out of my room through the basement and would go where I wanted, without being missed. The secret was to stay out of trouble and give no one cause to complain about me.
In my state, you leave a 10 year old home alone for up to two hours.
Just because you legally can leave a ten year old home alone for two hours, it does not mean that every ten year old is mature enough to be left alone for that long.
Just because you legally can leave a ten year old home alone for two hours, it does not mean that every ten year old is mature enough to be left alone for that long.
Agreed! There is no age requirements here, but just not sure about leaving my 12 yr old home alone for that long.
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