I’ve looked in so many places to find an answer to this, but there doesn’t seem to be a definitive one, so I thought I would ask for opinions here!
Basically, I want to be able to go to the gym a couple of times a week for about an hour or so, but I’m a single parent with three kids, who are aged 14, 11 and 9, and I have no one to look after them. I wondered if it would be okay to leave them at home alone while I go. The gym is 10mins away by car and I would plan to be there around an hour. I often leave them to nip to the shop, but to do something for myself seems really selfish. We have rules about not answering the door when I’m not there and not having friends over. I always lock the door but leave a set of keys in the back door so that they have the ability to get out quickly should they need to.
Some background, I work from home (50hrs pw) and have no free time to myself during the week. The younger two go to their dad’s every second weekend, and every Weds (but by the time I finish work, I only have 1.5hrs before I pick them up). Their dad lives 15miles away and we have a very tense relationship, so I can’t/won’t ask him to help out more.
We live in a safe neighbourhood and we know all of the neighbours, although I wouldn’t want to ask any of them to babysit because it would be a regular thing, and I feel would be too much to ask of any of them. My teenager is pretty mature and sensible and the younger two are mostly sensible too. I feel like they would just sit on their tablets anyway and not even notice whether I was in the house or not!! 😂 I would be contactable by phone and we have cameras in the house, which are really to check on our dogs, but I can chat to the kids through them.
The other idea I had, was for my 9yr old to sit in the car outside the gym (it has big windows and I can see into my car from pretty much everywhere in the gym), but I don’t know if this is a better or worse idea than leaving them at home with their siblings.
What’s the general consensus? I would definitely appreciate honest opinions and wouldn’t be considering this if I didn’t feel like I could trust the kids on their own.
Thanks for reading!!