Leaving 6-year-old home alone

[Tailfeather]

Would you leave your sensible 6-year-old home alone for 10 minutes with strict instructions of watching tv and not eating or going into the kitchen?

Never.

I want to know where OP planning to go for ten minutes?

Easter holidays brings some strange posts to MN

Not at 6 no.

It depends. Next door to pick up a parcel? (She likes a good chat) Yes, would and have. Outside to weed & mow etc? Yes, and for much longer than 10 minutes. In both cases DCs would know where to find me. Up the road in the car to the nearest corner shop? (I could just about manage that in 10 mins) Nope! Too many variables to go wrong.
I would leave my 8yo for 10 mins to run a car errand though. She's comfortable with it, and we need to build our nerves her independence in readiness for middle school and catching the bus there come September. I currently leave her getting ready for an extracurricular for 15-20mins each week whilst I walk DC2 to Beavers, before returning to drive her to her sport.

My daughter was 9 in December and we have just started leaving her alone for example if it's school holidays but we still need to drop our 3yo to nursery 10 mins away.
Would never leave them together alone.

My 7 year old can't open the door by herself (admittedly a heavy fire door with a higher latch than a PVC front door). There is no way in hell I'd leave her alone with no way out. I was locked in the house regularly as a child and it always makes me feel a bit sick knowing that I wouldn't have had a chance if there had been a fire or some other emergency, I couldn't risk it.

I am aghast at the posters who won't leave a 10 year old alone for short periods of time though

@IForgotMyUsernameAgain maybe each child is different that's why ? I could leave my eldest at that age but my youngest absolutely no way.

Absolutely not.

Yes, just to pop to shop or nursery pick up or to neighbour. Sure why not.

No because no, but also it would take me just as long to go through the instructions than it would to take said child with me for those 10 minutes, if this is genuine

No. It's not 'would they be fine if everything went OK', it's 'would they cope if there was an emergency'. No way a 6yo could cope with a situation like a fire, being unwell, a random stranger at the door or anything else that may crop up.

Surely it depends on where you’re going. A nearby shop on a busy road, of course not. It takes me ten full minutes to walk to the end of my driveway or out to do something animal related though and I don’t mind leaving my 6 & 8 year old DC “alone” in the house as I could still hear them if they called and they can see me the whole time.

10 minutes is a very long time for something to happen 😔

Nope

Where do you live, out of interest?
I find it a little OTT to be honest. I could see her and her me, the car was locked and it was less than 2 minutes. I could get to her faster than if I were in the garden, where the majority of people think is acceptable to be without your child.

australia. some states its technically fine but not in nsw.

Not unless it’s to be at the end of my garden lol . Sorry 6 year olds havent got the maturity to stay alone

For 10 mins - like actually 10 mins? In the daytime, like to drop something to a neighbour, sure, I'd have left my 6 year old.

In lockdown I had to leave my (at the time) 7 and 10 year olds either alone in the house while I went shopping, or alone in the car - eventually I got a second mobile phone, but I felt that they were safer back home (10 minutes away funnily enough) where we could be talking over facetime while I shopped if they were worried, than sat in the carpark with no way to contact me until I was out of the shop (we tried both ways, and the kids also preferred home).

No way!

At age 8 or 9 then possibly 5 minutes would be ok

Age 6 definitely not.

Never

No

I'm pretty laid back for MN but it's too young.

No, too young. My 9yo is very sensible and I would leave her now, but not before.

No. I grew up in the 70s so my parents had, y'know, a more 70s style of parenting. They would never have done this either.

@iwantawisteriathisyear what were they charged with?

Where can you go in 10 minutes? I'd collect a parcel from a neighbour, or drive on my own property if on a farm. I don't count that as leaving alone if a child knows where I am and can come find me easily.