Unfortunately, I get the feeling that you're gonna get alot of "depends on the kid" responses.

So I'll go first....depends on the kid.

I have a niece and nephew - 12 and 15 - who stay with us routinely. We wouldn't leave the oldest home alone 'til he was 14.....still don't trust the niece enough yet. They're not even able to watch our two little ones under any circumstance.

I'm hoping that our two youngest will earn our trust much earlier. That being said, I'd still have to wager that it would be at least 10.

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Dan DeMaio
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Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein

Well, you can always do what my dad did with me...run with your kids. One major difference is that my dad would always run after work but I waited all day with anticipation for those runs (pre Sony Playstation days). I started at about 4 or 5 years old with 1/2 mile runs, my dad would run circles around me. Then by 6-7, it was 1-2 miles and by 9 I was running my first 5K. Run with your kids when possible. My dad and I still go to races together, he is 64 and I’m 32. As for when is the right age to leave your kids alone, I think it really depends on your kids. From about 8-12 years old, as soon as my parents left the house I went straight for the lighter and the starter fluid, those were my 'pyromaniac days'.

Dave in VA

I've got 10 kids ages 1-17 and most in between. Leagally in our area you can't leave a kid alone until he/she is 8 (which seems pretty young) and a older sibling has to be 13 to watch younger ones. So first of all you might want to check that out. At this point I have plenty of babysitting age kids for when my wife isn't around and I want to workout. But when I didn't My wife and I normally wait until they are 10 but it also depends on the kid. Some are a whole lot more responsible then others.

Comforting...thanks!

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Dan DeMaio
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Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein

How close are your neighbors? We live in a pretty tight-knit neighborhood and some of my neighbors will leave theirs kids, who are around 10-12 years old at home as long as one of us other neighbors has agreed to run over there to their house if there's a problem. 6 and 9, not sure I'd leave them at home alone, but yeah, depends on the kid I think.

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

My oldest is pretty responsible, but she's also prone to freak out if not completely comfortable with a situation. I'm probably going to have to wait a bit to do this. I'd hate to have her wake up and need something, only to find me gone. I think the joint workout thing is a good idea. While I probably wouldn't want to run with my kids, they love to ride their bikes around the neighborhood while I run with them.

Even at 6 and 9, you should be able to run with your kids especially on recovery runs. My children love to ride their bikes with me on my runs. As long as I'm not running a tempo or fast workout, they have no problems keeping up at even a 7:30 pace. I just suck it up and make sure I buy them good bikes that fit and with gears. it's wonderful father/children time. Seriously, you'll love it.

Track workouts are easy because they can play in the infield. Tempo runs are really the only runs you'd need coverage for and that's only once a week.

I know this doesn't directly answer your question, but it is a way to solve the problem.

- john

IIRC, in Colorado you can't legally leave your kids alone until they are 12. Mine are 12 and 8 and I think I started when she was 11.

I occasionally went on morning runs while my daughter was 8 years old. I would go while she was still sleeping, and would aim to get back before she woke up. She is now 9, and I feel pretty comfortable doing it, and do it in the afternoon also. I don't do it much, but maybe once a week type thing. I think by maybe 8, and 9, a kid should be able to look after themselves for an hour, if they are confined to inside the house. But I'll qualify it with a BIG it "depends on the kid", and your neighborhood.

Key is to make sure you let them know the before hand what you are planning to do, and make sure they can occupy themselves with TV or eats, if they happen to get up before you get back.

With two young ones, it might be different, depending on their dynamics. Two can get into and create mischief a lot more than one can. Depends on them though.

My 6-year-old loves to ride his bike but has always hated running. He quit soccer after he told us that he liked to walk to the ball, but when he got there, the ball was already gone.


By the way, for those CO parents, I looked up the the left alone age requirement and found that 12 is the generally accepted guideline but it depends on the kid. See http://www.cdhs.state.co.us/...e/LeaveKidsAlone.htm.

I think the hard part for my kids ( 5 & 9) would be remembering that I wasn't going to be there when they wake up. You might want a big sign on their door. It also depends on whether your local police reports involve bad dogs or bad guys. Around here, the police spend a lot of time with bad dogs.

 

"Run with your kids when possible."

Best advice I've seen on ST in a while.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say they are definitely too young. Even seemingly responsible kids can make a bad choice and you'll want to be there to either prevent it or deal with it when it happens. Mine are 6 and 9 as well and there is no way I'd leave them alone in the house. The risk just isn't worth it.

I have no issue running while they are sleep, however, I just stay pretty close to the house, like withing five minutes. At first I thought it was tedious, but music helps and I have done as much as an hour running in two or three minute loops.
Chad

I'm a single parent, and I solved that problem with a treadmill. Not my favorite place to run by a long shot, but it was important to me to be able to stay in the house when she was little. Especially if she was asleep.

10 kids?!? Wow...now that's impressive.

#11 is due end of August (it's the 4th sport), 4 weeks before my first IM. Should make for an interesting summer ;)

Clearly we know where you spend most of your saddle time... ;)

Really....I can't imagine.

In fact, I've considered having a second vasectomy....you know, just to make SURE.

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Dan DeMaio
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Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein

<< #11 is due end of August (it's the 4th sport), >>

What sport, football? You've got enuff for an entire team, if everybody plays both ways ;-)

Surprised your wife hasn't bought you a keg of Lubriderm and a cable modem and told you to stay the F away from her with that thing when it's loaded ;-)

YOU sir are an IRONMAN!!!!


I got nuthing for the OP. They're too big for a Burley trailer, and too small to actually run for real with you. I hate to say it <shudder>, but mebbe a treadmill is a part of the solution?

Only other thing to try is getting up stupid-early, so you are back before they are awake.
Of course there are no guarantees that they won't wake up before you return....

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float , hammer , and jog

I don't even think it's legal (at least in Washington) to leave them alone, even if they're asleep, until one of them is 12.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

I posted a link above -- it's actually not illegal; 12 is merely a guideline in Colorado, not a mandate. Looking at my own kids, 9 is too young; I'll re-evaluate when she's 10 1/2 or 11.

So I guess the take-home message is to check with the relevant state laws...

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/