Exh left kids alone - handhold

[userfriendly55]

NC for this.

my 2 children have just got home from a weekend with their dad. My eldest who is nearly 10 told me that their dad left them in his house to go to the Tesco express in his village. It is very close to his house but by the time he would have got there, done the shopping and got back I estimate he’d have left them for a good 25 minutes. our youngest is nearly 7.

He has done this before a couple of years ago. I went mad and exh promised not to do it again. Yet here we are. I know they are older now so I’m not quite as angry but I’m still a bit angry and upset. Our youngest is very accident prone. The irony is is that my exh is supposedly very risk averse and hasn’t been taking them out of the house much because of the storms, but thinks it is ok to leave a not yet 7 year old home alone!!

I have started to leave our nearly 10 year old for short periods to build up independence but I have NEVER left the younger one too.

AIBU to be angry still? I just don’t know what to do or say. If I message ex we will end up just arguing and I’m not convinced it will achieve anything.

Can’t be trusted? You’d stop him seeing his own children because he popped to the shops? 😂🤣😆

As for the aforementioned 7 year old not being able to dress herself and crying her eyes out when pp popped to the chemist 10 mins away, what the actual hell? People need to stop babying their kids or they’ll all grow into incompetent adults.

I did. You’re just horrible HTH.

I leave my now 14 year old alone with his 10 year old brother for a short period of time (half an hour) and have done for about the last year. But I wouldn't leave my 10 year old alone, I think that's too young.

Jesus Christ

The 10 yo is ok-ish but definitely not the 7yo. Also unfair to leave the 10yo with the responsibility of the younger sibling. Lazy parenting.

Jennyathemall

Or maybe just my lunatics 😅😅😅

I wouldn't leave a 9 year old babysitting a 6 year old but I would leave both a 9 year old and a 6 year old home alone (depending on course on the personalities of the children). My oldest regularly stayed home alone at 6 (where as my youngest has not at 6, because different personality).

OP - were the children ok about being left? That's the important thing to consider here, if they were upset or scared then they should not have been left but if they were ok being left then it was a parenting decision that their dad had the right to make.

I wouldn't do this. Surprised so many would!