{"id":1479,"date":"2015-07-16T14:43:50","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T21:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2023-06-13T04:17:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T11:17:35","slug":"leaving-child-home-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/leaving-child-home-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Child Home Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Like many of you, I have a special place in my heart for Kevin McCallister, the young protagonist in the blockbuster series \u201cHome Alone\u201d. That kid is resourceful like no other. He masterfully keeps his house safe and effectively outwits the villains using creative and imaginative methods that would elude most adults. All turns out for the best in these movies and his parents are none the wiser. That\u2019s Hollywood, of course, and not the situation that many parents face now that summer is in full swing, some with no viable options for daycare.<\/p>\n<h3>When is it okay to leave a child home alone?<\/h3>\n<p><!--more-->The short answer is \u201cit depends\u201d. Washington does not have a minimum age requirement, although most experts agree that age 12 is a good place to start. A parent must also consider a child\u2019s maturity, appreciation of danger and risk, and ability to reach out to safe adults in the event of emergency.<\/p>\n<h4>Ask these questions before leaving your child home alone:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li data-canvas-width=\"612.0666666666666\">Does \u00a0your \u00a0child\u00a0 express fear or apprehension about being left at home alone?<\/li>\n<li data-canvas-width=\"453.24\">Does \u00a0your \u00a0child\u00a0 typically be trusted to follow \u00a0your \u00a0instructions \u00a0and\u00a0 rules?<\/li>\n<li data-canvas-width=\"401.0066666666665\">Is your child typically truthful with you?<\/li>\n<li data-canvas-width=\"322.51166666666666\">Would your child be able to keep calm in the event of an\u00a0 unexpected \u00a0or \u00a0emergency \u00a0situation?<\/li>\n<li data-canvas-width=\"322.51166666666666\">Would your child know how to dial \u00a0911, \u00a0give \u00a0their \u00a0full \u00a0name \u00a0(and \u00a0yours), \u00a0street \u00a0address \u00a0and \u00a0phone\u00a0 number, \u00a0and \u00a0explain \u00a0the \u00a0situation?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Parents who have a parenting plan should first determine whether there are any restraints on leaving a child alone or other requirements before doing so. Leaving a child home alone may not be right for every child, but in some cases, can be a valuable learning and developmental experience for both parent and child.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/contact\/\">Call us<\/a> now if you have questions about whether your parenting plan limits your ability to leave a child home alone or contains other requirements for supervision.<\/p>\n<p>A great family law attorney will walk you through the changes in your life with skill and compassion. At Tario &amp; Associates, P.S., we have been practicing family law since 1979 and have helped thousands of Bellingham families settle their legal needs. Please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/contact\/\">contact us<\/a> today for a free consultation. We are here to help!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like many of you, I have a special place in my heart for Kevin McCallister, the young protagonist in the blockbuster series \u201cHome Alone\u201d. That kid is resourceful like no other. He masterfully keeps his house safe and effectively outwits the villains using creative and imaginative methods that would elude most adults. All turns out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[512],"tags":[567,568,569,565,566],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7690,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions\/7690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tariolaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}