THE age at which it’s acceptable to leave your child home alone has sparked debate for years.
In a Reddit thread called, ‘‘Leaving a 5 year old at home’, which featured a screenshot of the woman’s issue; the stay-at-home mum named Tarin, who is believed to be from Australia, explained her situation.
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She wrote: “I am 34-weeks pregnant, I have a five-year-old son (and) my fiancée works six days per week. This makes it extremely hard for me to leave the house.”
Tarin added that “it’s a pain being pregnant and having to get my son ready and in the car”.
She explained she usually leaves him at home – without her fiancée’s knowledge – and asked for “no judgement please.”
However, today the mum revealed that she “got caught”.
The pregnant mum explained she was having a particular craving so she made a controversial decision.
Her son’s lunch of chicken nuggets was cooking in the oven, and she figured she had enough time to race to the local shops to get her food.
Tarin also figured that as her son was toilet trained and “just plays games on his iPad/watches TV,” he’d be set for the hour she estimated she would be absent.
But her fiancée, Zach, did not agree. He arrived home, and immediately sent Tarin text messages querying the appropriateness of her decision.
He wrote: “Why the f*** is Brent here all by himself, are you crazy? How do you not see this is wrong?”
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Tarin responded that she had the situation under control. But in the Reddit post, she told the group she was upset at being spoken to by Zach in such an angry way.
She wrote: “My question is would you guys be mad if your significant other spoke to you this way? I feel degraded and belittled over nothing.”
“A five-year-old is perfectly capable of fending for himself for an hour. I’m honestly about to pack my bags and never let my son see his father again as well as when this baby is born.”
But online commentators did not agree with her point of view.
“Given the gravity of the situation, I’d say he’s pretty composed,” wrote one.
Another said: “I mean I might argue a kid can handle themselves for a bit, but a whole hour, with the oven running, no food ready, while she is out at a mall?”
A third wrote: “She knowingly left her young 5 year old kid at home alone unsupervised with the oven on. That’s insanity. She has no right to say anything let alone have a tone with her husband who is justified in his response.”
UK law doesn’t give a set age on when it is legal to leave your kids at home alone.
But the law does state that you shouldn’t leave little ones alone at home or in a car if they could be exposed to risks.
This means parents can be left to decide if their kids are mature enough to be home alone.
It is thought that because mums and dads know their youngsters best, they can make the best decision on whether they can manage on their own.
