My husband and i are going away for 2 days 1 night.....?

Question

and we have nobody to watch our kids. They are 13 and 16. Would you leave them buy themselves. They would have to get off to school, make dinner and go to bed all by themselves. They are very responsible children, but would you leave them alone??

In that matter i will pospone our trip until we can find someone to watch them

My son does drive and has his own car

Answer 1

You should be able to leave your kids along for a night. I would leave a 16 year old alone for one night, but I wouldn't fly across the country or anything, I would be in driving distance. Just call and check a couple of times, and ask a friend to just drive by late the evening you are gone. If you can't trust your 16 year old to stay at home with the 13 year old for one night, then why does he have a license to drive? It is much more likely for him to get in trouble out in his car with friends than with his 13 year old brother who might tattle.

Answer 2

Is your homeowner's insurance paid up?

Just kidding.

Look, everybody wants to believe that THEIR kid is special. That THEY would never do anything they weren't supposed to. Well, here's the bad news...somebody's doing it. And most likely, if given the opportunity, your kids are going to do it too.

So the real question is, not whether you should leave them alone, because that already seems like a foregone conclusion. The question is, will they be alright while you're gone. Will they be safe. Will they (or their friends) get hurt? Will they burn our house down or get arrested.

If you've raised your children well, you'll come back to kids who did what they were SUPPOSED to, have a party. And if you're lucky, they'll be safe and sound too.

This is probably a good time to test their character before they head off to college and you lose all control.

It is every healthy teen's job in life to defy their parents as that is an integral part of becoming an individual. Hopefully though, they can do this without getting carried away or making such poor decisions that everyone winds up regretting.

In the end, I think you know what you need to do. Don't use this medium as the place to justify what you want to hear. Do the right thing.

Good luck from the parent of teenagers too.

Answer 3

my parents left me alone over night starting at 15, (anytime they'd go on like an adults only vacation there was a snowballs chance in you know where until i was like 16 or 17, i don't really remember, only child and being a girl home alone...) but that was during the summer so i didn't have to worry about school. My school had an automated thingie where they would call whatever number given to the school on emergency cards to say so and so didn't show up, so anytime i skipped, my parents were home to greet me haha.

are they well behaved when you and your husband go out for the night?

If your son drives and you know he's responsible with his car, I wouldn't see why not, just leave numbers they can reach you at, cell, hotel, etc, etc just in case if something were to happen.

Make sure a neighbor knows, and then give your kids their number as well so they know that so-and-so is next door and is keeping an eye on the house.

As for dinner, maybe you could make them something the night before that just needs to be rehated in the mircowave, less chance of leaving something on the stove or the oven on all night long.

Answer 4

I am glad you have responsible kids, but YOU (or other responsible adult) are the encouragement to keep them that way. What is that saying? Oh, yea, while the cats are away the mice will play. Leave a 16 year old alone, maybe, but not with having to care for a younger sibling.

I agree with most of the other comments, but I have to tell you, if you felt awkward enough to post the question, then I would say most likely, you aren't comfortable with the situation.

As for the legality, the 16 year old can be left alone. The 13 year old cannot. There has to be an assigned adult guardian until a person turns 16. A older sibling cannot care for younger siblings until he/she is 18 years old.

Postpone your trip, it is better to live knowing your kids are safe then regret if something horrible happened.

Answer 5

Does the 16 year-old drive? If not I would not leave them alone. If they drive then, yes, just overnight, if a neighbor can keep an eye on things (Like no parties), and they can go to them in case of an emergency, then it is fine. Just make sure that they have a phone # for you and that your neighbors have a # for you, and maybe a cell for your 16 year-old. Kids should be trusted until they give you a reason not to be trusted. This was my parent's motto and we never gave them reason not to trust us. A 13 year-old and a 16 year-old are old enough to use a stove and oven. My parents both worked full-time and my dad worked a part-time evening job so from 7th grade on I mostly did all of the cooking for dinner. Roasts, casseroles, desserts. I made food service my career for over 20 years because of this. I am actually thinking of going back to school to become a chef once my son starts school.

Answer 6

I, too, am amazed at how many negative responses there are. Everyone here seems to think that every teenager alive boozes it up, has parties, wrecks the house and are basically irresponsible.

You know your kids. If you feel they are responsible, go for it. 16 yr olds babysit other peoples kids all the time, often till very late at night, what on earth is wrong with them looking after their own siblings?

My mom used to leave us alone on weekends. My brothers were 16 & 14 and I was 12. Nothing ever got wrecked (a few plants may have died though LOL) Were we perfect - no. But we learned from our mistakes.

Answer 7

wow, I am surprised at all the negativity in the responses so far!

When I was 16 my parents actually left me home alone for an entire three day weekend...during the summer! They had planned a camping trip and I wasn't able to get the time off from my summer job to go along. I had a fine time, they left me a reasonable amount of money for pizzas and "emergencies", they left a list of emergency contact numbers on the counter, and they made sure at least one of our neighbors (Who they knew and trusted) would be home in case I needed anything. I enjoyed some time alone to catch up on movie watching, ate a bunch of pizza and went to work each day. I didn't have any wild parties or trash the house lol

You are the only person who can decide if your children are mature enough to be left home alone. If your oldest has proved to be trustworthy and responsible, and they both get along with each other...why not??

Answer 8

No, this is not a good idea. Part of being a parent is not only enjoying the great times our children give us but also the many times we have to postpone or cancel dinner dates, or short trips, or just an opportunity to be alone with our spouses because as parents our first responsibility are our children.

If you don't have a family member (grandparent, aunt) that can come and stay with them, perhaps they can spend the night at a friends house.

They can go home with their friend after school and since you only have an overnight, you should be home the next day by the time they come home from school.

T.

Answer 9

I'd still get a babysitter - someone at least 18 or 19, to stay with them overnight. I leave my three alone - ages 19, 17 and 15, but only in the last year or so. And they did have a party the first time. And were not very good at hiding the evidence.

Answer 10

Do you want a trashed house when you come home? Do you want to find out they had a party? If so sure if not don't. This could also be a good way to threaten them. Tell them that if anythig happens while they are gone that you will hire a baby-sitter for them when they are still 18. I don't know 16 sounds good if only the 13 year old was 14 or 15. I don't know do what you think if best.