Staying home alone

[kaylene99]

Hi soc,

We currently have my stepkids for part of the summer.  Recently, in their quest for us to let them stay home alone rather than go to the caretaker we've arranged for them while we go to work, they both stated that they have been staying home alone after school.  The kids are 11 and 9 years old respectively.  I believe the elementary schools in their county end their day around 2 pm.  Their mother doesn't come home from work till 5:30 pm or so, so that leaves the kids home alone for 2-3 hours.

Ex-wife has not discussed this at all with my husband and impressed upon the kids that she doesn't like a lot of people knowing about this (hmm, I wonder why).  My husband had since brought up the issue with her and stated that, although he's a bit liberal on the topic, this is really something that she needs to discuss with him.  Of course, she denies that the kids are left home alone on a daily basis and that she's only left them once for an hour or so.

Anyway, I, on the other hand, am against leaving them home alone on a daily basis for any significant period of time (1 hour or more) at their current age.  I feel that having them attend an after-school care would be much better for them.  They used to attend an after-school program before so why change?  They are great kids but they do fight with each other physically so they still need adult supervision.

What are your thoughts on this?  We're not looking to take the mother back to court but I would like this legally documented somehow.   BTW, we are all in Florida.

Thanks as always for your insights/advice.

[socrateaser]

>What are your thoughts on this?  

You could write a letter to the other parent, stating that the children have informed you that they are left unattended from the time that they return home from school, until the time when the other parent returns home from work, that if she needs help, that you would like her to consider _______________ (fill in the blank) as an alternative, and that if you don't receive a response from her in 10 days, that you will ask Child Protective Services to investigate.

This will force her to respond. She may deny the entire thing. If so, you will have to decide whether or not to go forward with an investigation. If not, then you have proof that the mother is potentionally placing the kid's at risk, and that could get you to a new custody hearing.

"But, watch out for in your ear," because ithis could also get the court to award more money for child care.