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Friday, April 25th '08
Eileen, thanks for writing a SharePost of when to leave a child/ren home alone for a while when they have ADHD or ADD, I have been contemplating on whether or not to let my 9 year son w/ADHD stay home alone for about an hour after he gets home from school cause I don't get off work until 430pm and he will be home from school by 330pm. He will be attending school here in Monroe where we live for these last few weeks of this school year, and hopefully he will be going to the school that's about 2-3 blocks from where we live, he will also be walking home w/a child who lives at the same place we do. There are neighbors that live next door and a couple doors down from us that could keep an eye on him for me until I get home from work shortly after 430pm is when I would be home. I did print off the guidlines that you put in the SharePost and most of the things he can't do but the most important one on there (does the child know what to do in case of an emergency), my son knows exactly what to do in case of an emergency and I know that he wouldn't let anyone in that he doesn't know or who isn't aloud in when I'm not home. He can do most of them I guess by I am still a little bit leary whether or not I want to leave him alone even though it's only for an hour. Thanks Again for this type of SharePost - Heather and Kaleb
Heather
I am glad you found this helpful. It is such a hard decision and as parents, we question our judgment constantly. Remember, you know when it is right. Trust your instincts. If your instincts say your son is not quite ready, see if you can find someone he can stay with after school.
Maybe start with just a few minutes to see how he does, then work up from there.
Eileen
This is a great topic to discuss. I agree with Terry too. Parent should teach kids how to react in case of emergency. Create scenarios that could help your kids remember what to do during emergency and train them well. That is what i did to protect my kids and also I registered them to SafeKidZone to ensure their safety. It's a panic button alert on their cell phone that when they encounter an emergency they will just press it and it will connect them to their trusted friends and family members informing that they are in danger. If needed, the incident will be routed to the nearest 911 with complete information. If you want to check out, this is their site http://Safekidzone.com/
Thank you so much for the tips and tricks in this post.m Not only had I been contemplating this, i have also begun experimenting with my 9 yr old with quick 15 minute trips out the door too.
It is such an agonizing decision. I can't even begin to tell you how much panic i go into just thinking about him being home alone. it tears me up inside at times. But like my husband said, we have to slowly learn to cut the apron strings. So the best thing we can do is arm our kids with the best safe practices and instructions. and learn by trial and error as time goes by.
i still get panicky when i do this. And I only leave mine for 15 minutes at a time.
i do realize that in time, he and i will both grow and adjustment to the new routine. and wesll both learn this journey together.
I needed to read this today. thanks so much for everyoness insig ht.
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Great topic!!
In my case, since my daughter has a tendency to forget safety rules, I'll quiz her, role play and make up various scenarios to reinforce what she should and should not do while I'm away from home.
Thanks for posting this-
Terry