I leave my 7yo home alone to go for a run; it’s not selfish, I need to keep fit

“I left her a note in case she woke while I was out,” the mum justified.  

Debbie* has a lot on her plate. 

Working full-time and raising her seven-year-old daughter as a single mother, she barely gets enough time to stop and think for a second.  

Recently, the mum-of-one has been meaning to get back into her fitness routine, but she’s struggling to find the right time to get it done. 

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Debbie goes for a run every morning while her 7yo is home alone. Picture: iStock

Mum leaves 7yo home alone to go for a run

The woman works full-time and usually leaves the house at 7:15 every morning to drop her daughter off to school. 

By the time she returns at 5:30pm, she has to drop everything and make dinner for herself and her 7yo. 

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This is “barely having enough time for dinner, bath and homework before we start the bedtime routine,” the woman wrote on Netmums. 

Although she doesn’t have a lot of time to get her exercise in after work, the busy mum has decided she’d try to get it done before they leave in the morning.

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However, this would mean leaving her 7yo home alone for more than half an hour every single day. 

“This week, I went for early morning runs, leaving my daughter in bed,’ she said. 

The next time she went out in the morning, her daughter woke up before she went out and “stayed in bed and read a book or played on her tablet”. 

But the third time, her daughter was fast asleep when she left the house, leaving her all alone while she completed her run. “I left her a note in case she woke while I was out,” she said. 

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“Two minutes or 20 minutes, anything could happen”

People were mixed with their advice for the fitness fanatic, sparking a debate about the right age to leave a child home alone. For some, the child was “far too young to be left alone”.

One person wrote: “In my opinion, a seven-year-old being left alone for 30 minutes is way too young and frankly, [I] think you are being selfish.” 

“For goodness sake, this child is seven years old,” said another. “I just can’t believe you are even considering it. You are entitled to a life too, but your child is the most important and precious consideration.” 

In many parents’ eyes, this was an accident waiting to happen. “Two minutes or 20 minutes, anything could happen, and they say the worst accidents do happen in the house,” someone said. 

“Nine times out 10, you would probably be okay leaving them, it's still a huge risk,” another agreed. 

However, others thought Debbie’s daughter was more than ready to be left alone. 

“Personally, I don't only think it's OK,” a concerned person wrote. “I think children should be left alone (at home and outside) to develop into responsible and independent human beings.” 

“I think if she’s a responsible 7yo, then I don’t see the harm in leaving her for half an hour whilst you go for a run,” said another. 

In an update, Debbie explained her daughter had a nightmare about the house burning down, leaving her terrified of being alone. 

To this, her mother told the internet forum: “Running will have to wait until she is feeling more confident again”. 

*Names have been changed

Originally published as I leave my 7yo home alone to go for a run; it’s not selfish, I need to keep fit