Almost 9Yr. Old Wants to Stay Home by Her Self.

I think the way things are now 9 is way to young to stay at home by herself. But if you husband dosnt agree with you look it up on the cps website. I dont believe they recomend leaving a child under 11 alone. I could be wrong but I think thats the age.

I did not leave my kids at home alone until they were 10. At that time (given the same rules you have when you're in the shower), I would run an errand, but was never gone more than an hour or so. Once my youngest was 11 and oldest was 14, we would leave them in the evening for a few hours, but again, the rules about not opening door, etc. So, I think she's still a bit too young. Also, I would not let her walk to school by herself - with a group of 3 or more kids would be fine. But, my younger son is 12 and I won't let him walk the dog by himself even - they're still just too vulnerable and if he were a girl, like you I would be more concerned. The statistics do show that girls are more likely to be targets (sadly).

I was a latch key kid and made it fine BUT that was way back in the day!

I have a 13 yr old and I let her stay home while I ran a short errand or something like that around 9-10. We do have the RULES......the basics of not answering the door, responsible on phone, no cooking and at the time I did not let her go outside. Now on the outside part....we live on a heavily wooded lot with an 85 acre heavily wooded area behind us which is full of wildlife (bobcat on my deck, snakes, etc). She is now allowed more freedom because she is more mature, older and always has her cell phone on her. She also stays alone longer now and enjoys it. We have 3 dogs which let us know if anyone or anything is around and she is a black belt as well.

There are websites that you can put your address in and it will pinpoint where sex offenders live. I forget the site name.

It is hard watching these little darlings grow up and branch out. The middle school where my daughter goes is too far for her to walk as far as I am concerned so I always take her and pick her up. She does go to the neighborhood park where the kids hangout but only with a buddy. A rule we have is....if she does not answer the cell phone or home phone, I am coming after her.

Good luck....it is hard letting go..and watching them grow. It happens TOO fast.

Susan

T.,
I say no to walking alone, too. She needs to be with other children or be older. I live 2 blocks from school but my guys never go alone. It's taken me baby steps to get to where I was comfortable letting them stay home. I would do trial runs to the grocery store, something quick, and test him. I would call while I was gone, teach him how to read the caller ID and make sure he didn't open the door to anyone. Even if it was grandma, he had to call me on my cell before opening the door. As he learned and I got more comfortable, I can leave him for longer lengths and he calls me if he needs something while I'm out. I had to feel comfortable with it and confident in his safety, otherwise, it didn't happen. But, I'm not sure 9 is quite old enough to react to a situation. Kids today, even mine, are so protected, they don't deal with situations as well as we did at that age. And it also depends on having neighbors, at least one that you can trust to help her if she needed it. Just my opinion, for what it's worth, lol. Best Wishes!!1

I think it is up to every parent to make their own decisions. When my oldest- now 13- was 7, he had a friend that was a latch key kid and as sweet as he was, he wasn't what I called responsible. His mom was a single mom and I suppose that was her only option, so who was I to judge her??

Personally, I still have problems leaving my 13 yr old home alone. He is a good kid and very responsible but I guess I am over protective. I just don't know about 9. I would have to feel very comfortable about our neighborhood and her abilities. I have to watch out the window to make sure he gets on the bus in the morning because what if someone snatched him? I wouldn't know until school was out.

Maybe you could try some short trips. Like while you run an errand. If you were able to talk to her while she walked home on her cell phone or something like that.

We started letting my oldest son stay home while we ran errands at about 11. So that is my age that I would suggest it, and a lot depends on the child too.

Absolutely no to walking alone. Your instinct is correct on that one!! Legally, in the state of Texas, a child must be 11 years old to be left alone at home, in a car, etc.

I would say no to walking to school--but staying home alone behind a locked door, then yes--especially if you feel she is mature enough. You know your daughter and if you trust her and she know s what to do in all emergencies, then that is great. It would be even better if she knows nieghbors close by just in case. Good Luck!

I don't know if this will help, but I do agree with the way things are now. When I was a child my parents let me stay home alone when I was around 10. However, my neighbor was watching and she made sure I was in the house and she would call to make sure I locked the door. My parents were home shortly after that. I would be overwhelmed to about the park. Maybe try to get her to focus on something else like cooking dinner for the two of you. Or make her feel like you enjoy taking her to school and like the fact that you all could have "girl time" when you take her to school and when you pick her up.

I say no to the walking , maybe in another year or two if she is walking with others but never alone. As far as leaving at home, my daughter turned nine last August and I left her at home for about 20 - 30 minutes the other night finishing her homework while I took the two year old twins and went through the drive through at Whataburger for dinner. Since this is still kind of new to us, I called her when I got to WB so she would have an idea of when I would be back. She did fine. It's tough to start letting go in those little ways, just do what you feel is the best for her. I feel I need to clarify that my daughter only answered the phone because she could clearly see that it was me :-)

First, no, no, no to walking alone. Just "no".

As far as staying home alone. If you have a neighbor next door that is a friend that you trust, you can certainly leave her in the house to run out for a short errand, under an hour. I used to do that and I'd ask my neighbor "Are you home for the next hour? Okay, I'm going to the store, the kids are alone, they know you're number. Please call 911 if you smell smoke." It worked great.

However, I don't think it's legal to leave her at home unsupervised for a longer period of time. I think in Texas kids have to be age 11, but I might be wrong.

Giving her a little freedom to be independent is a good thing, as long as she's not in danger.