sleepyshopper Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 This year my 10 year old son wants to go BF shopping with me.....and I agreed he is old enough to go, but I would have never taken him any other year.....It is just to cold and to much to take little ones, not to mention all of the weirdos that come out that day. I would recommend just skipping BF all together and see if someone else could pick up your items for you. Your Child(ren) are way more important then any deal.
BDF Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 My daughter is 12, turning 13 in Dec. She has never been to a BF, doesn't even know what it is I'm sure. I left her at home last yr, and I plan on leaving her home this year. last yr was the 1st yr I didn't go by my self, my sister went, so we left both kids at home.. 12 and 6. My shopping district is less than 10 minutes from my home, Walmart 3 minutes. Now is the perfect time to "hire" him to babysit. Take your cell phone, so you can call. Hopefully the younger kiddo's will sleep til you get home. Start talking to them now, and let them know that your oldest will be in charge on a certain and time.
Turtle Mommy Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 I have a 12 yr old and a 5 yr old. My 12 yr old gets to stay home for 1.5 - 2 hours after school. Our office is about 10 minutes away. I dont think he is old enough to care for the 5 yr yet. If it was me I would stay home. You have a lot of time to try and find some one else. Do any of your friends have older children that can come over and watch the little ones? I hope it works out for you and you are able to go!!!
EYGLE Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 It is early so if they would be sleeping leave them home with your 13 year old. If you take them take a 2 way radio and give one to the oldest in case they need you.
Adamtanderson Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 I wouldn't thake the to camp out all night but I would take them if I was going somewhere that I wasn't going to stand in line all night.
clh1231 Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 IMO I would leave them home if I was completely comfortable knowing that the 13 yo was mature enough to handle the younger children...and only you can answer that. The stores are far too crowded and crazy to take young children shopping on BF, especially for the early deals. Outside of the store the world is even more crazy, so I wouldn't suggest leaving them in a car.
hbopper Posted November 3, 2006 Posted November 3, 2006 if you decide to leave them home do some trial runs where you start leaving him home with the lil ones for a short amount of time and work your way up to longer amounts of time.
TMKLBMT1 Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 I skipped ahead an didn't read all posts..so I'm probably just repeating what someone else has already said...but I think it all just depends on your kids. You know if your 13 yr old can babysit. Our daughter has since she was 13, but some families the siblings would kill eachother! They can't figure out how we can do it. We had to lay it out so our younger 2 knew that when she was babysitting they were to treat her the same as they would another babysitter...when she is watching them...she is the boss! The same goes for her- they are not the annoying brother and sister, she plays games, has a movie night..all the things she does when she sits other peoples kids. She gets paid or a reward for her work (she loves those cell phone downloads!). It works just fine for us. By the way..we've had alot of sitters over the years...our opinion is that a mature 12 -13 year old is a much better sitter than alot of 15-16 year olds who are really just wanting the money and would rather be on the computer or the phone! This year our daughter (14) will be in charge until we get home. Grandparents will probably check in with them (phone or stop by) and she can of course reach us by cell. It maynot fall into the "things you need to get done" catagory...but for us we look forward to BF every year as one of the only things that my husband and I do just the two of us! Next year we will probably go back to G-ma for BF since my daughter really thinks she wants to try it out herself! Black Friday and Vegas trips...the two things we do not think we'd enjoy with our kids along!
able Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 if you trust them in the car,trust them at home...leave them home alone.IF the 13 year old is mature enough,and just have someone check in on them.,
ilalynch Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 Well thanks for that suggestion..DUH my 13 year old can watch the kids here at home. Yes here in PA...A 13 year old can be at home alone. He is very mature and he can take care of the little ones. Thanks again for understanding me LOL My 14 year old has been watching my son for the last couple years. She thinks its the easiest babysitting job ever. I leave and they are asleep and by the time I have gotten home neither one of them was up yet. My husband works on BF. I usually have someone on call if my daughter has any problems and needs someone ASAP!
Guest JeepMom Posted November 4, 2006 Posted November 4, 2006 I would never recommend leaving your children in the car, not even for BF......If I see children in the car I call the police. It's extremely dangerous for many many reasons. It's not worth a few dollars to put a childs life at risk.
nikkilugi Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 I took my daughter last year - we stood in line at the Wal-Mart Supercenter for the gameboy SP's. We were inside and dressed appropriately as well. She will be going with me again this year - she is a momma's girl. I agree with the majority - you are the one that knows your 13 year old. If he/she is mature enough then go for it. I have had my cousin who is 14 babysit a couple of times and let me tell you - she is tough, LOL. The car thing would have been tough because no kid wants to sit in their carseat when the car isn't moving and that would be the only safe way to contain the younger kids - home is perfect, they will probably sleep the whole time anyway. Just start practicing the morning routine with your 13 yo now to have him/her ready. I understand the need to get out and get the good deals. I know some have said that there will be more sales - but BF have the BEST sales with some items at the cheapest prices they will be for the season. The fact is that some of us NEED those cheap prices to be able to spread our cash to provide for our kids & family.
noehlp Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 If you do plan on leaving the kids at home w/your 13 year old, I also suggest telling one or both or your next door neighbors to keep an eyeball on the house for you or maybe they could even swing in on them once or twice. Another idea - College Kids. Whether you have a local college in your area or whether someone's college kid is home for Thanksgiving you could ask them to watch the kids. Personally I would invite them to spend the night at your house the night before and buying pizzas and movies. Good luck with whatever you decide. Oh, one last thing. If you do plan on leaving the kids home alone, go now to the stores that you are planning on hitting and make sure your cell phone works INSIDE the store (ie. you can call out and someone can call you). For me, my cell phone does not work inside either of our Target stores, why? I have NO idea.
crazymommy17801 Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 You still have plenty of time to place a ad in the local paper looking for a sitter. If you do this now you will have time to do interveiws,trial runs,and all that other stuff that goes with hiring a sitter. And you never know,,,If you find one you really like you could use her/him all the time when you just need some "mommy time". If you have a "YMCA" near you they offer babysitting courses that you could call and get a referal from them on the kids that just took the course.
Kellylumbard Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 I would have the 13 year old watch the little ones. Honestly they will be sleeping most of the time you are gone wont they?
kjunea Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 This is the one day of the year that my hubby DARE not say "no" to me on babysitting the boy! (Or else, he gets to go shopping for everything and he gets nothing for Christmas from me!!) But I am usually up and back by 10:00 AM, so he goes into work late, if he doesn't take off that day anyway. I'm lucky in that he's a CPA for a Medical Center and his job isn't mandatory on that day. In fact, last year, they MADE him stay home to help the bottom line! He would rather go in that day late because it is quiet, since there are very few surgeries planned for that day, etc. June
cleverbffool Posted November 5, 2006 Posted November 5, 2006 When I first read the title I read it as WWJD if you didn't have a babysitter. But back on topic I would hopefully do it all online.
lilac100 Posted November 6, 2006 Posted November 6, 2006 My oldest is 15 now but when he was 13 he watched my little one for 2-3hrs at a time. He always knew where I was, when I'd be home, who to call in an emergency, and that if he did good he would get some extra allowance. Mind you I live in a small area outside of town and my in-laws live less than a mile away. I am still always worried when I leave them home together but my son is responsible and I trust him. If you do leave them home together is their a neighbor that could maybe keep an eye on them, not babysit but check in from time to time? My neighbors do that every now and then for me. Good luck I hope your mom can babysit for you.
tsmurphygirl Posted November 7, 2006 Posted November 7, 2006 Add me to the list of taking my kids. Not a sob story, but last year my husband was deployed and i had my 2 yr old and 4 mo old. They were fully clothed with my 2 yr old in her stroller and blanket, 4 mo old was in the Baby Bjorn. We waited in the car at TRU until the line started growing, they opened the store early, so we were only outside for 10-15 minutes...it was not as busy as I thought it was going to be. I would not wait outside for hours though with little ones. Mine was a quick, go to a couple stores, and go home. The kids did great (the 4 mo old slept pretty much the whole time) and the 2 year old LOVED it, chatting everyone we met. She didn't want to go home *ha* This year my husband "should" be around, but I haven't seen anything yet that would get me up early this year.
baraginfinder Posted November 7, 2006 Posted November 7, 2006 I take my daughter with on BF. She's 8 years old and I usually have most of my shopping done by now thanks to Target clearance deals. So on BF we go shopping and she picks out some extra things she likes and we shop for other people. Then we go to Borders for their gourmet hot chocolate. It's a lot of fun for both of us.
mychza Posted November 7, 2006 Posted November 7, 2006 If you trust your 13 yo, it's fine to leave them in charge for a couple of hours. People do that all the time. Plus they'll most likely be sleeping and you'll get back soon after they wake anyway. Just let them know who's in charge and make sure your oldest has your numbers and wakes up before the youngest ones.
Onyx Posted November 8, 2006 Posted November 8, 2006 I took my 9yo with me to CC last year - it is not in a major shopping area, and so I parked right near the line where we could see each other and had a bunch of warmed- up blankets and snacks and drinks and her gameboy in the car (The car was already hot and it stayed that way - she thought it was too hot LOL didn't have it running) and we had 2 way walkie talkies. I stood in line and we talked with the radios. When it was getting about time to open the doors she would get out of the car and come into the store with me. Unfortunately I didn't get a ticket for the laptop so we left, and I wouldn't have done it if she was younger, but doing it that way worked for us. It was a bitter bitter cold BF - no way I would have let her stand outside with me.
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