What age can I leave my children unattended?

[LdiJ]

Heck...I will give another one....

In my state its completely legal for a 12 year old to be left home alone.

I used to own a restaurant. I struggled with it financially.

There was one night a week when it wasn't practical for our daughter to be with me at the restaurant, and that same night a week her dad couldn't be with her. We jointly decided that she was responsible enough that one night a week she could be home alone. I had an extra car at the time and the keys hung on a hook in my kitchen.

One really bad night at the restaurant, when a server called in sick, I was waiting tables and managing at the same time. One of my neigbors called me and said...hey, your little blue car just took out of here like a bat out of heck...and the another neigbor called me and said the same. I tried to call my daughter and couldn't reach her.

I was terrified. I called my parents and my neighbors all rallied and everyone went looking for my daughter and the car. They found it and my daughter (and thank GOD she wasn't the one who drove it, another child with a learners permit drove it) at the local mall.

I shut the restaurant down and took the bankruptcy...that was IT for me.

[CourtClerk]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

Let me give you a real life example of something that can go wrong. When I was 11 about to turn 12, with siblings who were 10, 8 and 4 my mom took a summer job. My dad's office was only a couple of blocks from our house and I was VERY responsible, so they decided to leave me in charge.

The very first day I decided to discipline my sister by locking the screen door and not letting her into the house. She pounded on it until she broke the glass and cut a huge gash in her arm. While I was on the phone screaming to my dad that my sister was bleeding to death, my brother decided to take his cat for a ride on his bicycle...he then came screaming into the house that he killed his cat.

When my dad came roaring up in the car (leaving a client sitting in his office) all four of us were in hysterics. Dad got my sister bandaged up and then went outside to deal with the alledgedly dead cat. The cat was NOT dead, the cat was merely extremely ticked off because its tail was caught in the spokes of the bicycle....and the cat pretty much shreaded my dad's arms while dad was extracting said cat. In the meantime, dad's client left, never to return.

Needless to say....mom and dad paid one of the neighborhood mothers to watch us for the rest of the summer.

I'm sorry, but this story is freaking HILARIOUS.

[CourtClerk]

Why parents drink

The boss wondered why one of his most dependable and valued employees had not phoned in sick one day. Having an urgent problem with one of the main computers, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper.

' Hello ?'

'Is your daddy home?' he asked.

' Yes ,' whispered the small voice.

May I talk with him?'

The child whispered,
' No .'

Surprised and still wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, 'Is your Mommy there?'

' Yes .'

'May I talk with her?' Again the small voice whispered,

' No .'

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, 'Is anybody else there?'

' Yes ,' whispered the child,

' a policeman '.

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, 'May I speak with the policeman?'

' No, he's busy ', whispered the child.

'Busy doing what?'

' Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman ,' came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'

' A helicopter ' answered the whispering voice.

'What is going on there?' demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
Again, whispering, the child answered,

' The search team just landed a helicopter .'

Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, 'What are they searching for?'

Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle...

' ME .'

[Nativity]

I was going to post this earlier but since it was in New York I decided against it but will now:

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- A young girl is in critic condition after a fire at a Congress Street building. Schenectady Police say the fire started around 4:30 Saturday morning.

Crews found the 10-year-old girl on the second floor of the building. She was taken to to Ellis Hospital with smoke inhalation and then taken to Westchester Medical Center.

The girl's 34-year-old mother, Tamara Bell was arrested accused of leaving the little girl home alone. The mother was not there when the fire started. Schenectady County Child Protective is investigating the case.

Further reading:
[url=http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/474675/fire-leaves-10-year-old-critical/?RegionCookie=12]Capital News 9 | 24 Hour Local News | TOP STORIES | Fire leaves 10-year-old critical[/url]

[stealth2]

And regarding those "sissy" bike helmets... I spent most of my time at work last night rearranging the weekend's work schedule to cover hours of an associate whose stepson fell off his bike when he hit a patch of gravel and hit the ground headfirst - he's 12, and on life support. If he'd been wearing a helmet, he likely would have just been scraped up a bit.

There but for the grace of God.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by CourtClerk

I'm sorry, but this story is freaking HILARIOUS.

It actually is pretty darned funny, in retrospect. We chuckled about it for years.