How long do you leave your teenager?

[redwinelove]

Sorry I know this has been done to death!

My son was 13 in December.
He is an only child.

He has been left for a maximum of hour and half. I'll leave him to pop to the shop but if I knew I would be more than a couple of hours I would make him come with me. According to him I'm a wuss and can leave him for longer.

My partner agrees with him.

How long are you comfortable enough to leave them for?

I posted earlier in the thread. I remember that when I was 15 ( in 1993 ) my mum and dad went away with my dad's work to Germany for 4/5 days and left me!
Looking back it was crazy but I was old in the head, i loved school and was always cleaning up so suppose they felt I was trusted. We had a party and my dad found a bong behind the sofa and his whisky had been watered down so they weren't happy with me when they got back.

Disclaimer- my 2 younger brothers would have been 13 and 6 and they stayed at nan and grandads house in the same village so I did have people near if I needed them but I look at my ds the same age now and know he wouldn't cope for one night, let alone 4.

15 is a lot different to just turned 13 and we live in different times.

I’ve never left DS alone overnight but I did leave DD alone overnight (two nights actually) when she was 16. DS was on a residential school trip and it was the first time in 16 years that DH and I went away together without children. DD was a very sensible and capable 16 year old.

I feel comfortable leaving dd (almost 14) for a the day at home but in all honesty it doesn't happen that often. She has babysat for her siblings (8,5 and 4) one evening and I will leave her in charge for half an hour while I drop dd2 at her tutor.
I made my own way home (two buses) from the age of 11, let myself in and waited til my mum got home around 6.30.
I remember when my friend was 15 her mum moved to London during the week for work (single parent) she used to leave her money for food and check up on her by phone. We lived in Manchester so not around the corner.
The mum has been on the tv a lot recently and has done well in her career but I just couldn't have done what she did.

I would never leave my 12 year old alone in the house and he doesn't go to town/cinema etc with friends. He is too young and it isn't safe

That’s good you have options 1shot
Lots of people don’t. I leave my dc since starting highschool. He is a sensible boy and is perfectly safe. I have no other option

I had no other option either. My dc was not too young to stay home at 11, though some children are 'younger' than others of the same age. Luckily, we live in an area where it is safe for secondary school aged children to go into town and meet up with friends as well.

All day if I need to work. Sometimes I’ll get my mum to pop in.