for agreeing with something printed in the Daily Mail!!!

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

Firstly before I get stoned for reading such a crap paper let me explain it was the only free one in supermarket cafe where i was eating toast with DD. Anyway , I am rubbish with computer so can't do link but the column was about how old do our children have to be before you can leave them "home alone" for short periods. The writer argued that many parents are too scared to admit to leaving their children for fear of being seen as bad parents/neglectful etc etc. BTW we are talking about children aged 11 and upwards not toddlers. She also argues that we should see children as individuals and not make blanket rules for everyone. As someone who has left hr 11 year old at home for up to a couple of hours at a time as I know he is pretty sensible I actually found this article quite a refreshing perspective but also quite sad to think that parents are too scared to admit to knowing what is best for their own children for fear of being pilloried. What do other people think?

I agree with emkana while it might be ok to leave an 11 yr old for a short time, they shouldn't be in charge of two 9 year olds.

Woolly though the official guidelines are, I think they have to be. Because we have to be able to make these judgement calls ourselves as parents according to the maturity of our kids, and sometimes circumstances will dictate. For instance, not long ago we left our 11 and 13 year olds alone for the evening when we went to a friend's house. We were a few minutes away and they were excited and keen to be trusted, and didn't want to tag along with us and amuse themselves in someone else's house. But on Hallowe'en night, we wouldn't leave them for the same trip out, as the doorbell would have been ringing all night and who knows what might have been kicking off.