Would hyou leave a nearly 11 year old alone in the house for a short while?

[lisalisa]

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[Kewcumber]

no - I would the 11 yr old alone but not with a 2 year old. Far too much responsibility for her. If anything happened, she would never get over it even if there was nothing she could do (IYSWIM). Not fair on her.

[lisalisa]

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[Tinker]

How longs is short while? I have 10 year old and a 2 year old and I might consider it if 2 year old asleep and only for about 5 to 10 minutes.

[fryalot]

I think I would, tbh.

If you feel that the 11 yo is fairly responsible. It is extremely unlikely that she will have to do anything, it's not like you're going to the pub for the night and leaving her looking after the entire family.

The only other thing that you may not have thought about, is what if you have an accident while you're out. At what point does she start to panic, and what should she do?

[serenity]

I would have done tbh. I've left my 9 YO alone for longer than that (he was ill, and I didn't want to drag him on the school run) I've left all 3 (so a 3, 6 and 9 YO) and run over to my sisters to grab something (she literally lives over the road) TBH during holidays and at weekends they are awake and up a good hour before I am anyway, and apart from making a mess they've never done anything dangerous/stupid/life threatening then, so I would guess that they wouldn't suddenly discover anything of that ilk in the 5 minutes I was out of the house. My flat is fairly childproof.

[WotsZePoint]

with squonk...at the back of my mind "what if something happend to me and I couldn't contact her, then she would be left and not know"

[lisalisa]

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[unknownrebelbang]

I'd consider it. But I'd definitely go through the drill of what to do if blah blah blah happens.

My biggest worry would be me not getting back, rather than anything else, but since I've left my eldest, he's had a list of numbers/neighbours he can call if there's a problem.

[dollyk]

no I wouldnt

[Kewcumber]

for 7 mins I think I would be tempted. y "something" I really do mean anything - something that could happen with you there, fire, burglary, choking. All not very likely but not sure its fair to expect an 11 yr old to cope. Having said that 7 mins isn;t very long...

[edam]

Yes, I would, without worrying about it. Based on my own childhood experience. I was about that age when the au pair failed to turn up one morning, mother had to rush to work assuming she would turn up. We had a toaster fire and I coped!

[tori32]

Yes, I would, so long as you aren't far away and you can be contacted in an emergency and its during daylight.

[jellybeans]

no I wouldn't

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

yes as long as you could be contacted.

[StarryStarryNight]

No I wouldnt.
11 year is not, according to social services, old enough to be left on her/his own at all in the evening.

[southeastastra]

yes

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

err starry - this was the morning though....

[WideWebWitch]

I would, 7 mins, yes, absolutely. With a mobile phone number.

[WideWebWitch]

There is no law on leaving children alone. Social services (if they say anything on subject) prob do say not wise all evening but 7 mins? Doubt v much SS would be interested.

[NotAnOtter]

prob would yes - prob have for a quick one like that yes

[Tortington]

no - if something went wrong - i wouldnt want my other child thinking it was her fault for the rest of her life

[wildpatch]

yes to op

[ronshar]

I have left my 7 nearly 8 dd at home while I took dd2 to nursery. Approx 15min journey. I left strict instuctions that if I didnt return by a certain time to phone grandma.
I trusted her and she didnt let me down.
The only problem is now she want s to be left all the time

[lisalisa]

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[WideWebWitch]

What about being connected to dd via calling the house on your mobile and having it on loud speaker the whole time?