To leave 16 yr old at home alone for 2 weeks

[FanGurlll]

For various reasons DS, 16, doesn't want to come on holiday this year.
Would you leave your 16 year old home alone?

Well I did it with my nearly 17yo and he was fine. The circumstances weren't the same but he was home alone for almost 2 weeks.

He had support from adults close by, we were in almost constant contact online, I could see comings and goings via the video doorbell, and he had a financial incentive to keep the house nice.

He went to school, work and sport and I returned to a clean and orderly home.

I would be much, much more worried about leaving his 18yo brother alone, he is nowhere near as trustworthy.

Blimey, why of course and the face-palm? . My sister refused to come on holiday with us at 14 and happily stayed a fortnight at home back in the 70s
You do know 16 year olds can legally leave home altogether?

Yes I would if it was my daughter but no if it was my son.

I lived alone at 16!

I would but my child is very trustworthy and sensible!

Send them to their mates or a relatives for 2 weeks.

Probably not. It's too long. I would be worried about school or someone on MN calling SS. Ds1 would be fine though. Not scared, can cook and clean. All those posts saying their child couldn't cope, wouldn't cook and clean, you should ask yourself why not, and why your parenting is so poor that they couldn't cope.

Oh yes, absolutely. I have failed my child because he’s been 16 two months and hasn’t been left alone. Get a grip you absolute clown

That isn't what I said, at all, but having read your subsequent posts I don't think I'll bother getting dragged in, "petal". 🤨🙄

My parents went on holiday for two weeks, leaving me alone. I had a friend to stay, we did a lot of cooking and baking, IIRC. I had good neighbour's, if anything had happened. But I was born sensible 😂

I left mine for a overnight with family close by, she wouldn't have wanted to be on her own any longer, when it was two nights she had a friend to stop.

It depends on the child, I'm sure plenty would be fine, mine was trustworthy at that age, but wouldn't want to be left that long. I'd be concerned they'd like it for the first couple of days and then get bored or lonely and you're away and your holiday is ruined.

I think if you have to ask the answer is probably no.

I don’t think it is always a no though, I was left alone at that age for that long and was perfectly happy with the arrangement. I had no interest in having a party, kept things tidy (actually I was more tidy than my parents!) and nothing was broken / trashed.

No way
Tell him he is coming
Or he can stay at his nan's house.
No compromise

I’ve got this with my DS - it’s so frustrating !
We’ve decided not to go away because I don’t trust him.

I would have been fine at this age, I hated being told off and getting in trouble with my parents.

My brother did not give a shit, he would not care about being told off.

So it depends

Repeatedly using the word petal rather than having any other substance to your argument, no debating skills whatsoever, is irritating.

I think it depends on the teen and on the circumstances.

My DS(14) is currently pretty sensible, if he was the same in 2 years time I probably would but only because my SIL/BIL live in the same street and PIL live on the next street over. So he has people on hand to check in on him/in an emergency.

Plus I'm fairly certain he'd go to PILs every night anyway because MIL would love cooking for him and doing his washing (he's a Nannas Boy!) 😁

Also - I moved out and in with now DH when I was 16 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why am I not surprised that there is more than one poster on this thread saying their 16 year olds lack basic life skills to be able to look after themselves......

Some of the stuff I see out in the wild makes sense now 🤦🏽‍♀️

Not a chance in hell! 16 is definitely too young to be left for 2wks.

I'd happily leave dd1 (17 in 4 months) for a week I think, but not two. She wouldn't want to be left that long either probably.

Dd2, 15 now (but thinking to when she is she is is 16 )I struggle to leave for two hours never mind two weeks! Mishap follows her a round and I wouldn't trust her not to have immediate parties.
Depends on what sort of kid you have really.

2 weeks feels like a long time alone with nothing to break it up. The summer I did my GCSEs, at 16, I went on the family holiday for 1 week, then flew home alone, and spent the second week home alone. I had a job in a pub lunchtimes and early doors, so I wasmoderately occupied most of the time, and met friends and just chilled out the rest of the time. There were helpful neighbours around and parents of friends, if anything went awry. I could already cook and look after myself reasonably well. It was a nice compromise as 2 weeks was too long at that age to be on holiday with my parents and no other young people etc. But 2 weeks alone might have been a bit lonely too. You say there is no option to come home early though, which is a shame (i also loved flying home alone at that point!).

I was left for fortnight at 17. Loved it! Pub every night, people back to mine til the small hours of beyond.

A friend stayed with me most of the time (her mum was a friend of my mum's too) - and my grandparents were only a couple of miles away and had to be placated periodically.

I enjoyed the responsibility of all the cooking, shopping and pets. And I cleaned the whole place from top to bottom before the family returned and changed all the bedding (had too, as we'd been using every bedroom in the house to accommodate friends!).

If he absolutely can't come home part way through, but like going to granny, why not 3-4 days home alone, 4-5 days with granny, a couple of days with a friend and a couple of days home alone?

It's the long stretch of 2 weeks that makes it feel a bit much, but if you break it up with a couple of other things, it's not a choice between a 2 week holiday or 2 weeks home alone, it can be a mixture.

I was house sitting when I was 14

DD2 - not a fucking chance! In fact when she’s 30 I imagine the thought of her home alone will still make me nervous. Not only is she calamitously accident prone but she can turn anything into a party

I've got one of those, too. She's 18 and there is no way I would leave her unattended at home even for one night.

OP, if you are having to ask MN, I'd say it was a no and that you need to rope in Granny. But don't cancel your holiday!

Astounding the amount of DC who have never been left alone, even for 30mins never mind overnight.
That's not being a good parent, you need to encourage independence, life skills, resilience, not pandered too and infantilised young adults.
For those saying it's not like when we were young in 70s,80s, it should be easier they can contact you instantly, everything is the press of a button away.

No I wouldn't, and I'm regarded a pretty relaxed mum.

We started leaving DS overnight for the odd night (with us less than an hour away) just before he turned 17. He's now 18 and the longest we've left him is a long weekend. We're leaving him for a week at the end of the month - although we're only 1.5hrs away and he's planning to drive up and see us for a couple of days (when he's not working)

2 weeks at 16 just feels too long, I don't even want to imagine what he'd get up to...