I have 3 children, a son age 13, a daughter age 11 and another daughter age 8. The older two get home from school at 3:00 pm and the youngest gets home at 4:00 pm. I am off on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so I am there when they get home. My wife works Monday thru Friday and gets home at 5:30 PM. Is it legal (in PA) for the oldest to watch his two siblings from 3:00 to 5:30? We have let them stay home alone together (for short periods of between an hour and two) this summer. The woman who watches them now is getting married and getting out of the daycare scene (We will miss her dearly) We have also set rules in place. The answering machine handles the phone calls, they can not answer the door. We have cell phones and the neighbor is home next door. Is this a bad idea?