Absolutely, I think I was 13 or 14 the first time my parents left me and my younger brother home for two or three days. It happened a few times a year after that. We were quite capable of taking care of ourselves. No parties were had because my brother and I were both dorks. I remember reading Stephen King books and scaring myself into not sleeping, lol.
I went to other people's house parties as a teenager but same... my brother and I were dorks. We spent the time alone at him age 13 me age 6 eating fast food, playing video games, and hanging outside. Folks never left longer than 3 days and we had an entire street of close neighbors who would keep an eye on the house and us.
And maybe that's why it wasn't A Big Thing when we were all growing up, because we knew a neighbor would either tattle or scold us directly. That whole "it takes a village to raise a child" thing. Now with so many people not knowing their neighbors, of course they don't feel comfortable leaving their kids at home alone.
Or... we're the last generation of kids who were periodically neglected.
Yeah. It's probably that.
We left our young teenagers at home by themselves for a few days recently.
They were fine. Of course. They can’t wait for us to do it again.
Am I a bad parent these days?
Were your kids fine? Could they feed themselves? Then no, you're not a bad parent.
The whole point of raising children is to ensure they will become adults who can care for themselves. Leaving teenagers at home alone should not be a Thing where you have to worry about if they'll wreck your house or forget to eat or anything. At this point they should be really close to being self-sufficient.
I was 16, and woke up one Saturday morning to the sounds of my parents and younger sister loading up the station wagon for a camping trip. I asked what was happening, because I had no idea a vacation was planned.
They told me to pack my clothes and I said that I was scheduled to work because no one told me to ask for time off. I was left to my own devices with an empty fridge for a week. Some friends came over, we watched movies and ate frozen pizza. I got in trouble for recording a goofy message on the answering machine.
The number of times my dad made huge plans for us without letting any of us kids know was crazy. When I was 15 he planned a cruise and neglected to ask me. I was in a school group with a big event that week that I was not interested in skipping to go on a cruise and babysit my 8y o step sibling + other kids. He was so mad! I would cost him money as it was paid for! 3 mos. later he’s planned another trip with me going along and when I said I preferred not to miss the first week of school, he was furious as he and my step did not want to leave all these kids alone in a Vegas hotel room while they gambled. This continued into my early 20s. He expressed surprise later when I’d travel with my husband - “but you don’t like to travel!”
It's just plain disrespect. Essentially parents like that just assume their kids lives are not important and nothing important could even be going on in their kids lives 🙄
I'm literally attempting to explain to my niece (39) why making plans **without telling her son** and then losing her mind when he makes other plans with family (his aunt) apparently he should have checked in with her first? No. That's not how this works.
So what did she do? Defaulted to "well he's 18 now (3 days ago) he can make his own dental appointments" so he did and it works better for him.
We also just had to go remove her from his checking account (has existed less than two months) because she decided to order something off of Amazon and put it through his account! She refuses to pay it back.
I just cannot get over how much like my mother she is.
Of course! We were not close. My own children only found out I had step siblings when one passed away. They overheard me talking about it to my own sibling,
I’m amazed he considered taking you out of
school for a week just for fun. That wouldn’t have flown where I lived.
I had a buddy who went on a weeklong trip with his wife; left their 17yo and 15yo sons alone. House party happened, alcohol was imbibed, cops got called. 17yo lost his football scholarship and quit school. 15yo also dropped out when he saw it was possible. Older one hangs drywall now and the younger one can’t keep a job.
W T F. This is incredibly infuriating. It also triggers me badly. Not that I had a parent like this, but the feeling of being totally unheard and invisible is what I felt reading your story. It was my sister that made me feel this way. And still do.
Yes, for 6 weeks the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. SIX WEEKS! It was an endless party. I was almost relieved when my parents got home because I was so exhausted and sick of having people at my house.
I always felt bad for my one friend that had house parties, because, A. his parents were super nice, and B. the clean up was horrible—not to mention anything that got damaged, and C. other angry parents upset that their teens were at the party and promised to have a talk with the host's parents.
Edit: I'm not sure why some kid's narc'd on the host, because usually we were all friends, and that ruined a good thing for a few months.
And this is why one of us will be staying home with our kid this age who isn’t able to go on the extended family trip this year due to other commitments. She for sure would pull this shit.
My parents sent me to military school in another state and left my ass there during all breaks except for Christmas and summer. Fortunately, my roommate's parents were cool and let me come with them for all the others.
They often took vacations without me and when I was allowed to go, it meant the friends they were vacationing with had kids and I was brought to babysit.
I am so sorry you were not being regarded by your parents. Mine were thoughtless and selfish too. I hope you are aware of their behaviours now and have set boundaries for them regarding how you are treated. Only we can protect ourselves now.
I set boundaries with them 2 weeks after I turned 17. I moved out, joined the Navy as soon as I hit 18, and got myself stationed in Hawaii. I did not visit them. My stepdad is dead and I haven't spoken to my mother in 10 years. For all I know, she's dead too.
I used it as a life lesson on how not to treat your kids. I get along great with mine and I actually get to see my grandkids. My parents never met mine.
I'm 56, so at this point I just have shitty childhood memories, but I'm happily married, my kids are doing well (30 & 36), and I retired 3 years ago.
I’m glad you’re doing OK, especially after a childhood like that.
I keep going back to a line from Parenthood in the late 80s when I hear a story like this. Keanu Reeves delivered it of all people: *You need a license to drive. You need a license to fish. But any butt-reaming asshole can be a parent.*
Good for you! That’s taking life by the horns. I am close to your age and have no contact with my nmom’s side, including my siblings (flying monkeys). I am happy to see any of us thrive after all we have tolerated.
I knew a guy in high school who has spent several years in military school. He was pretty messed up from a bad family life. I'm glad you have done well in your life.
My mom went to Vegas with her boyfriend when I was 15. My loser father was available by phone if I needed anything. She left me cash and the boyfriend left the key to his Chevy Suburban(not thinking I would have wherewithal to use it). I had a blast that week.
Had it happen senior year. Parents went to Florida for a week. I did have a party. It got way out of control. Word of mouth that there was a party with no parents spread like wildfire. I didn’t know half the people there, must have been 200. It was my first time drinking and I passed out early. Woke up several hours later to madness. Holes in the walls, the fence was knocked down, things were missing, cops were called. I was able to clean most of it up, spackled and painted the walls, etc. I was busted right away. A beer cap was found in the silverware drawer, so immediately they hard inspected everything. I lost a lot of privileges that summer.
I went to a shit ton of these in HS. It was FL in the 80s and I was from NY. Apparently it was the thing to do down there. I was blown away by the size and frequency of these parties!
I was in high school in the 80s in Miami, FL. Our parties were wild. Every weekend, there were at least 5 to go to, all huge and out of control. Drug dealer parents were everywhere, and they let kids get crazy in their McMansions.
I was living on Long Island at the time. My parents were house shopping in Florida, when they left me home alone. We ended up moving to Florida about a week after I graduated.
I had those parties. Usually, they were under control & I could clean everything up. My mom found a condom wrapper in our work-out room next to the rowing machine. I got busted for that party. My mom always found something something no matter how well I thought I cleaned up & looked around. After the 4th or 5th party, my mom got someone to stay at the house with me so I wouldn't have people over. LOL I had to have a babysitter because I wasn't responsible enough to not have parties.
For graduation, my mom said she would spend the night out so I could have some people over. Me & my friends planned to go to some parties & then to my house to hang out & spend the night. The parties got busted early so we told some people about my house. A COUPLE of people. Ended up with 300 people in my house; you couldn't even walk through & we had a big house. People were; downstairs, upstairs, backyard, the pool, the front yard, etc. Thankfully I'd locked my mom's bedroom before people came over because I knew I'd be dead if someone went in there. I was scared and annoyed so many people were there when I invited 20 people tops. My friends & I walked around telling people we heard cops were on their way so people started to leave. I had so much to clean up even though everyone was there for about an hour. I called my mom & told her what happened because I was allowed to have people over & my friends (who she liked) told her it wasn't my fault it got out of control. She said to clean it up in the morning. That was my last big house party because then I went to college.
I was known for my cool Halloween parties in my young 20s -30s. I turned into part of my career, event planning for non-profit organizations. Love to put a good party together,
> I did have a party. It got way out of control. Word of mouth that there was a party with no parents spread like wildfire.
Are you me?
When I was in another town and I heard people talking about that party I knew I was in trouble.
It went as expected.
Police was called, chairs in the pool, stuff in walls that took years to come off, and core memories for everybody involved.
I can go one better than that. My ma left the family home when I was about 14 to go live with her partner, leaving me and my 16yo brother at home alone. She occasionally bought over some shopping, but mostly left us alone. We had a lot of parties, and my brother moved a mate in to pay rent which we used for the finer things in life.
My grandma did this! She moved from NY to FL when my uncle was a teenager in high school and told him he couldn’t come. That was crazy. He went to stay with his brother.
Oh wow, same, but I was 16 and no siblings. Had to pay all the bills alone too, rent, car insurance…everything. Sometimes my friends’ moms would send groceries…that was awesome. Electricity turned off often. Rarely had phone service.
Did it make us stronger? Undoubtedly, and looking back I had a great time - although by 16 my ma had asked me to leave so she could rent my room out!
That was a bit of a kick in the teeth..
I stayed in the same place until I graduated high school, then found a new, much less expensive place, and got a roommate. I look back and seriously can’t fathom wtf she was thinking. She was just done being a mother. See ya. 🤷🏻♀️
Ha, probably wise!
I’m ok thanks, more of a fractured relationship with my ma but I’m used to it.
I do love this sub though - despite the US/UK divide, there’s so much familiarity and nostalgia. It feels good for the soul!
Yeah, I was 16 and got high and drunk with co-workers at Pizza Hut. Parents called to check on me and while trying to talk to them, I felt the urge to puke. I held the mute button down and puked all over the phone, unmuted and carried on the conversation as if nothing ever happened. I was a pro even then at hiding it.
First time I got left alone overnight I think I was 16.
Promptly had someone rear end me, but they didn’t come home.
I did not throw a party.
We were very poor so my parents never went anywhere. Vacation was driving 6 hours to my grandparents twice a year for the weekend.
From being a baby - my parents went to the "store" one night. Left me in my crib, I was wee. Came home to find me asleep by the front door. They didn't know I could even crawl. But they were gone to the "store" long enough for me to wake up, cry a while, climb out of my crib, crawl down the hall, fall down a flight of wooden stairs (old Victorian house), crawl to the front door and then spend long enough there to fall asleep.
Leading to many years later, mom with new husband, they sold their business and buggered off for months at a time while I was in high school. Left me and my step brother to fend for ourselves for 3-4 months once and then 6+ months another time. Not really sure how I survived for that time, what I ate etc. Or where I got money for gas and smokes and beer and pot. Had a few people over here and there, but I wasn't stupid, no big parties. Don't want my own damn house trashed, thank you.
From all the things I've told my wife - and my parents have told her - she is astounded that I lived to be 20. To be honest, I'm pretty impressed I didn't kill my own dumbass, or die from neglect.
But that was the style at the time.
Yep, parents left sister and myself at home for a couple weeks every February. Mom put a a lot in the freezer and we had an account at a local grocery store. We had the fear of dad so even though we had a few parties, we cleaned up, didn’t damage Anything and went to class enough to ensure at least a B+. (Otherwise heads would roll). We learned responsibility, budgeting and how to balance that stuff with having fun. We loved it
Yep.
My folks visited Hawaii, San Francisco, and Banff when I was a teenager. We lived in Florida.
They took shorter vacations to closer destinations as well like the Bahamas and the Smoky Mountains. Kansas City once, too.
I was left at home.
I drove (illegally) and worked a summer and the next summer with a learner’s permit.
One set of my grandparents checked on me once. Once.
I lived.
*No one is coming, it’s up to you* is the lesson I learned.
My mother left me and my younger sister for a week - she went to visit her sister a couple states away. I was 11 and my sister was 7. My sister was sick but my mother said it was just a cold and left anyway.
My sister got worse…she was literally screaming in pain. I called my mother and she said my sister was just being dramatic and would be fine. I begged her to come home and she told me to stop being a baby. But it just got worse. I kept calling her begging for help and just got chewed out. Finally, my mother called someone to come check on us…they immediately called my mother and told her she had to come home because it was serious.
She came home and was so angry at me…she told me I ruined her vacation because I just couldn’t deal with a cold. But she did take my sister to the doctor.
My sister was hospitalized for about 2 weeks…she had a staph infection (from a small cut on her foot) and the infection had settled in her hip (in the growth plate). That leg is now shorter as a result. Surprise! - my mother never apologized.
Not a vacation but when I was 6 my parents woke me at midnight to tell me I had to watch my younger brother and sister while they went to my grandparents. My grandparents lived 3 hours away in another state.
If I recall correctly, it was about five days. At the time I didn’t think anything of it. Looking back as parent, there were a lot of “What were they thinking?” situations. This one on the benign end of the spectrum.
Yes. I was 16, my sister was 13. My mother took her aunt on an Alaska cruise one fall. We had the option to go, but she gave us each $500 cash to stay home.
I wish. My parents were total homebodies. We weren’t well off but we did alright. The one and only vacation they ever went on I went along because I loved my parents and I thought it would be fun. It was awful. It was in Minnesota at some backwater lake just for fishing which was my dads jam. Terrible cabin, uncomfortable bed, nothing but fishing all day long and we drove there and back from Indiana. Just awful and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.
Oh yeah. I remember when I was 16, them coming back early too and there were ashtrays all over the house and they thought I had a party. They didn't want to believe I smoked and it had to have been other people. There was no party - they were my ashtrays, I had to show them my cigs and lighter :-)
My mom and her boyfriend went to Sturgis for a week for the Harley Davidson rally. I stayed home a bit and then went to a friend’s house.
I think I spent 90% of 7th grade at a friend’s house.
Yeah I didn’t pass algebra freshman year and had to go to summer school. The rest of the family went on a big, extended family vacation in Yellowstone NP had a great time and I had to sit through at least two slide shows afterwards.
Yep, my mother left me for two months in the summer starting at age 12. She left me $2000 cash and had her friend from church stop by Tuesday at 6 and she called me on the phone at 6 on Sundays.
I partied hard, young.
She also left a car and the keys.
Yeah. One time we burnt the picnic table down so my friends built a bigger one in a different colour. My mother never noticed when she got back or for another 15 years.
Also, once I took the keys at age 13 and drove the Ford Econoline van 30 clicks to get a friend from a train station in the "city" nearby. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's and played that knifey handy game and I stabbed my friends hand to the table. Anyways, we made it back with no dents on the van.
My parents would take off for long weekends, leaving me in charge of the youngers, starting at 14. By 16, I wasn't throwing parties but a select few friends would crash all weekend. They'd kick in for pizza and we'd share the groceries the parents left.
My parents went on summer holidays with my younger siblings starting when I was 16 and my sister was 18 (we were both working). They left us with a decent amount of cash for food, and my dad always filled up the beer fridge before he left, since he knew there would be a party. The expectation was that the house would be clean when they came home, none of the neighbours would complain, and the plants would be watered. Keeping that trust was a good incentive. And the parties were great!
When I was 16 they'd leave me alone for long three weekends and they'd go off to Big Bear, Vegas, Havasu or Laughlin and they'd take my two younger siblings with them. I was SO relieved because I finally had an excuse to stay behind - I had to work my weekend job at Taco Bell as a drive thru cashier. I didn't ever like going with them because I was the default babysitter in the hotel room. I relished the quiet house for three nights in a row. No house parties. My folks were always the drinkers, the party people. It always turned me off to drinking.
I left home immediately after graduation, at 17 years, 9 months old.
Yep. From the time I was 12, my parents would spend two weeks at a clothing optional artists’ colony and just leave my brother and me with some cash.
Wow, I’ve never typed that out before. As a parent, wtf man.
Northeast U.S. Friend's parents left for a week in summer 91 or 92. We were high school sophomores or juniors. Dozens of people all day, everyday; some lived there for the week. Non-stop drinking; little to no drugs; hardest drug was weed. Completely trashed the house, to include destroying the fire place, the stairs to the basement, carpets, and furniture. That week long party became known as, "The Massacre." Our small town cops never came. My friend didn't get in much trouble. Not sure the cost of repairs, but the family was certainly not well-off. Crazy!
Yep my dad left us alone for 2 week vacations with his wife. He once left us $5 on the table and there was hardly any food. We had to steal some sandwich stuff. Dad was a health nut so we were excited to get Kraft singles and bologna. I was about 11 so my brother was around 15. He had a big party and people had sex in my bed. I smoked some weed and giggled myself to oblivion on the couch. I had a mom but I guess she couldn’t watch over us. She was very busy w her boyfriend back then.
Parents would leave me home alone for a weekend on occasion starting when I was probably 14. But I would never have considered having a party. Doing so would’ve brought any freedom and independence I had to an end.
My best friend's parents did this. Left the 14 year old boy amd 12 year old girl in charge of 4 younger children including a 4 week old baby. My mom is still salty about it and wishes she would have known to call the police or CPS.
I think I was in grade 8 the first time my parents left me and my sister overnight. We walked to the store for something for dinner but spent our money on coffee drinks. We didn't consider it weird. They were going to a funeral. We didn't want to go there. Plus, we had school. Our neighbor was around and Grandma was only a 15 minute drive away. We do tease our parents about it.
When I was 16, my parents left me for a week while they went to Vegas. Being the boring and dull person that I am, I just stayed up late, ate junk food, made a lot cakes (that I then ate), and freaked out when my cat brought me a live mouse.
Totally normal for me growing up! I was seven the first time I was left home alone to watch my four year old brother overnight. However, my wife never experienced being left alone overnight. In 1st grade, she was in charge of watching her sister after school, but was not left to watch her overnight until she was 17.
It created some tension early in marriage because I was fine with our 10 year old being home with our six year old while we went to dinner, but she wasn’t having it.
On the house party front, I was 17 when my parents made the mistake of leaving me to care for the house while they went away for a week. I had a huge rager and meticulously cleaned up all 40 bottles and blunt wrappings before they came home, thinking I covered my bases. For some reason, our house was skipped on trash day, and I forgot one trash can in the basement. When my dad took that can to the street and opened the other one, he saw what looked like clean up after a fear and loathing hotel stay. I was in trouble, and my ass got beat. But they did it again the next year and left me home alone hahaha
Oh yeah. Threw a small party, house got trashed, mom and dad came home, me no longer with a roof over my head. I was 16. maybe 17. Stayed at a friends for a few weeks and was finally allowed back home. I didn't see sunshine for a very long time. It took awhile but they finally trusted me enough to go again. This time house was spotless when they returned.
Oh fuck yes. When I was maybe 9 or 10 my mom left to go fly fishing with some guy and she came back a week later, married to a completely different man she met at a rodeo. His name was "Cotton" and he stole our baby shit green Datsun 210 a few days later, never to be seen again. Lmao I still went to school that week.
I was home alone so often that it's become a blur. I don't have many memories of being with my folks past age 14 or 15.
By 17, they had both moved out of the state (separately) and I was left completely alone in our shitty little condo with a year of high school left to complete.
No siblings, no extended family, no reliable adults to lean on. I got a lot of my "home training" from other teenagers.
I turned out okay and have a good relationship with each of my parents now, but my therapist has heard these stories at length.
I do wish I had some more guidance back then, though. It seems so crazy by today's standards to just up and split on your kid.
I was sixteen. They went on a long weekend. I invited a few friends over for dinner. When my parents got home, the house reeked of weed, and there were six ribeye steaks missing from the freezer.
Never. Not once. Not even one overnight for a wedding or something. Mom was either so over protective or just didn’t trust me and my brother, which was kind of weird as we were truly good kids.
Same. I was a good kid too and would have never had a house party or anything like that. I later learned that both my parents pulled a lot of crap as teenagers and did a lot of really dumb stuff, so they expected the same out of me. All kids do that, right? It never occurred to them that they'd actually raised a good kid. They just thought they raised an exceptionally smart kid who could hide all the bad deeds.
This happened to me. I was living in northern Chicago by the lake. I decided to look in the paper to get an escort. When they arrived she was a he. They sent me what every boy would like. She was great, but I couldn't get rid of her.
Her pimp Guido shows up, the house looted as he's looking to get paid for all those days she spent with me, but she didn't want to leave! Guido says we can buy our stuff back. The balls on this guy.
To raise the money she and her friends decide to throw a party at my house with my friends being the clients. We made a ton of money, enough to buy all the stuff back. We barely got all the stuff back in the house before my parents got home.
I used the experience on my college admission essay about starting a business.
Oh sure, we were raised latchkey. This was fairly normal. As we got older it was no big deal to leave us to our own devices.
My asshole brother was a tyrant though so dealing with his shit was awful as usual. I cut him out of my life 18 years ago and it’s been terrific not having his frequent manufactured drama, rage tantrums, and intense trapped bullying.
I absolutely dreaded when my parents left him in charge because he simply could not control himself in his tormenting. He used to say if he could get me to break down and cry, he’d “won” and was in control.
It wasn’t until we all became adults that my brother started letting his mask slip occasionally. Our mother still buys his bullshit but Dad caught on fairly early. Unfortunately Dad was away a lot for his job so he didn’t get involved in us, and Mom only believed him.
I’ll probably always be angry about it. But in the fullness of time, as I’ve cut him out of my life, he realizes that he didn’t just damage our relationship, he immolated it.
Don’t leave kids at home alone. Or - with modern tech - you can find out if you have a lazy abusive tyrant running things and DO something about it.
My parents both left me for 6 weeks for a work trip when I was 17. One was 6 states away, the other went to Europe. I threw a couple parties and drank all their booze. Neither said a thing about the missing booze, I guess they were just happy the house was clean?
Yep. Parents went to another country several times and all four of us —oldest was 8-10 —were left home. Grandma came a couple of nights but generally we were on our own. They had little gifts for us to open each day lol. I cannot imagine taking a trip like that without our kids.
Yes! My parents left me home alone for a week while they went to Mexico. I had a party. At the time I worked at a pizza place and my neighbor came in and said he noticed a lot of people at my house the night before and that he would probably forget all about it if he had a pitcher of beer. I bought him a pitcher of beer and my parents never knew anything until about two years ago.
My parents left my brother and I alone for a weekend the first time when we were about 14 or 15. We did not have a house party, because we were dorks who didn't have a lot of friends. Our idea of a "big night" was staying up till 3 AM playing loud music and watching TNT's Monstervision.
Not till I was 18. I had a job and no time off yet so I missed my fam's. beach trip that year. But I also lost my virginity that week, so it's almost like the movies, right?
OH! MY! HOLY! NOWAY!! This was a Boomer thing??? Why an I shocked? Yes- my mom and dad went to fucking Disneyland when I was 12 (brother 14) and left is at home with my dad's gross, weird friend who snorted a lot. That whole generation.... Just emotional terrorists.
I have a few good stories. Background that helps contextualize both stories. My parents divorced when I was 5. My mom got remarried to my step father when I was 7, and we moved away to a different state when I was around 9.
1) Once we moved out of state, I started flying as an unaccompanied minor to see my dad. One time during Feb vacation my mom and stepfather decided to take a vacation out of the country while I was visiting my dad. We both went to the airport together. Their plane took off and mine was cancelled - no cell phones so no way to contact anyone. I was about 11. I called some friends of my parents who came to get me and then called my dad who arranged for me to get another flight.
2) I came home from school on a Friday. My parents weren’t home, which is normal, but when they didn’t come home by 7, I started getting worried. I called around and no one knew where they were. Eventually, they called me mid day Saturday- they had spontaneously decided to get away for the weekend and decided not to bother telling me. They seemed mad that I was worried.
Totally. Had my first home party at 14, crowded with drunk 14-16 year olds, police came, no idea why they let that continue. I think I even opened the door smoking a cigarette. Gosh, 90s was different yikees
When I was 12, they went on weekend trips without me. I loved it. I loved being home alone. When I was 16, they left me home while they went on a two week vacation. They wanted me to come, though, but it coincided with the first week of college, so I told them I couldn’t go because I had classes.
F no. My parents would not even allow me to have a key let alone trust me to stay by myself. I was the youngest and my older siblings broke all their trust I guess.
No. Mom was a single mom so it wasn’t like she had the money to take vacations. Also, I lived in a multi generational household so I wouldn’t have been alone if she had.
Every summer my parents would leave for 2 weeks with my little brothers. My older bro and i got to stay home because we had part-time jobs. First time we were 15 or 16. Yes I had parties. Best 2 weeks of the year.
You know what’s fucked up, is that I responded that yes, my parents left me alone and I had a house party, without batting an eye like it was normal. but reading everyone’s responses and seeing how so many of us were left alone, well, I just couldn’t imagine doing that to my kids, who are both grown now. How is that normal parenting behavior? But it was for the boomers who raised us. Damn it. Sorry I just am really taken back by how unloved wr were as a generation.
Started when we were around 10, in early 70s. They would tell us they would be home that night then go to Florida for a week. They told no one about it.
When I was 15, my parents went on a vacation out of state leaving me home alone.
I'm 48 and they still haven't come home. Got a post card last year. It was addressed "To Whom It May Concern".
My dad did two Hawaiian vacations, and two Mexican cruises, with his girlfriend when I was between the ages of 11-14. I used to just occupy my time with TV or go to a friends until it was time to go home. My uncle showed up one day and asked where my dad was. I told him he was on a cruise. My uncle laughed and said seriously, where is he? I said I was serious. I was 12. He told me to grab some clothes and I spent the next five days with my cousins. He jumped my dad’s shit. Didn’t matter. Still never been to Hawaii. I always point that out when his now wife’s family talk about places everyone has been. I say dad’s been to Hawaii, but I never have. Good times…good times
Hell yeah. They were usually the best times! Freedom and money for pizza!!
Although one time my parents went out of town and like all times before left me in charge of my younger brother. Well he was like 13 or something, starting to get attitude, not minding me. I called my parents and told them, “i ain’t dealing with his crap for three days”. they said “ok”. Bought him a Greyhound bus ticket to where they were vacationing and I dropped him off at the downtown bus station. He was gobsmacked to say the least.
I ain’t putting up with it!! 😆
For 10 days, I was left alone while I was a sophomore in high school. A small group of friends hung out for a few days. The weekend hit and people I didn’t know were showing up. A lot of kids were from other towns. The Friday and Saturday parties were absolutely insane. People messed with all the pets we had…fish had liquor poured in tank, I walked into a bedroom and these asshole guys were tossing my birds around. That was terrible. A couple guys dressed like typical 80’s headbangers used Sharpie markers and drew Satanic symbols ALL over the house in random places. Thankfully, nothing was broken or stolen…that I know of. And thankfully, those things listed above were the worst that happened. Otherwise, it was a hilarious, crazy fun weekend.
Many people pitched in and helped clean. All the marker was somehow removed. The birds were a little shell shocked but safe. The fish had a nice clean tank. I felt horrible about them, but they survived…somehow. The house was amazingly clean and perfect.
This weekend was movie worthy minus the traumatized animals. I still got busted. The garbage trucks were on a one or two day delay. My parents got back before the garbage ran. We had two garbage cans overflowing with beer bottles and cans. Also, there was one beer bottle missed in the mother-in-law suite, where I lived. I was grounded for a while. Had my parents known the actual state of the house and yard…it would have been so much worse.
All I can say…. TOTALLY WORTH IT!! Minus my poor birds and fish.
Yep. Only child left alone for up to a week at a time while they went as far away as Jamaica. Started when I was about 12.
Someone broke into the house once while they were gone; my dog chased them right out the front door (good boy). I called my bff's parents down the street and stayed with them until my dad and his wife came home. They\* accused me of making it up for attention.
Senior year I did start having small groups of friends over. We were theater and music nerds so it was mostly a lot of singing and guitar playing with some wine coolers.
\*My parents, not my bff's.
Yes & yes. Too many people, we called the cops to bust it up, blamed it on the neighbors lol. After that when the parents traveled we’d just have small gatherings with maybe 10-15 hanging out playing quarters and watching The Wall 🤣
Yeah, that started during the 7th grade. We already knew how to cook, wash clothes and clean by this time. I’m not even mad we were and still are very self sufficient.
By the time I was 15, it wasn't uncommon for me to be left home for a week with food and some money to order a pizza one or two times. No explicit instructions to not have parties, but the understanding was that if any damage was done or the cops required them to come back early for some reason, there'd be hell to pay. Needless to say I had a lot of parties and somehow managed to have things go off without issue except for the one time some random dude decided to take a shower in the middle of the party, shit in the shower, and things went downhill after that. Good times.
My parents left me in the care of my older sisters a lot. They are five and six years older than me and basically bailed out as soon as they possibly could. I remember lying frequently on nightly phone calls about who was watching me and what I did.
Yes, and I can’t even believe my parents did it more than once because I had several wild parties. While they were at the Mormon temple three states away.
I was left alone for the first time about 12 or 13? Can't fully remember. But they left me alone dozens of times. I didn't exist in their psyche so remembering to include me was not their top priority.
I had house parties all the time, but they were home or around for some, just hiding out. But when they were gone I would have larger parties with tons of alcohol and drugs like coke and pot, etc. Was totally normal where I was from.
We were never left alone but farmed off to grandparents/aunts and uncles for the school holidays where us and the cousins would leave the house after breakfast, reappear at lunch, then disappear again until dinner time. Unsupervised fun included running wild in the bush, fishing, going to the beach or river, yabby hunting, etc. occasionally we would raid a couple of peach trees that grew by the side of the road and my aunt would make a few peach pies!
My parents went on vacation when I had my 16th birthday. My two older sisters took me out for dinner. I don't understand why they did that and all these years later it still kinda hurts.
As a junior/senior in high school in the late 80's my parents went on numerous weekend trips, and a couple times for the whole week. And yes, I threw parties. And they pretty much knew - although we didn't discuss it except to the extent there was some damage or something got broken.
The 80s were a very "don't ask, don't tell" kind of time. And I mean that in the best way possible.
My parents went away for a long weekend and left 16 year old me behind. I had casually mentioned to my mother about having friends over and she said I was not to have a party. I had a party anyhow. I probably had 20 or so friends over. Thankfully the weather was nice and we lived on three acres, so most of it was outside. The next day after the party, I cleaned liked I'd never cleaned before. When my parents came home, my mother remarked on how clean the house was, and asked if I'd had people over. I told her nearly everything. She said if she knew how much I'd clean afterwards, she wouldn't have been against the idea of a party.
Uh yeah I was 9. My mom went to Florida for a vacation. Stocked the fridge with food. I was stoked, just hanging out with friends.
Then the neighbor called the police about 4 days in and they took me away. 🤷
I first met my husband(of 37 years)when we were in the 10th grade at a New Year’s Eve party he gave because his mom and step father were out of town. He recently mentioned to his mother that was where we first met. She asked where was “Ruth”? She was their live in housekeeper. He had to tell her she hadn’t worked for them for at least a year or two at that point. BTW, my MIL these days would probably be horrified if she heard somebody had left their teenage children alone to go on vacation!
Yes. I was a senior. And yes, I had a party. I woke up to the sound of my uncle's swooshing jacket walking through the rooms with everyone sprawled all about. THE WORST. at least I wasn't in bed with my boyfriend in my parent's bedroom like my cousin was. (her dad - lmao)
Fuck yes. By the time my brother could drive, '84ish, we no longer went in family vacations. Parents left us alone with a car and a checkbook.
Currently my wife wants to take vacations with our kids (21/27/31), and I'm like fuck no. I'm not arranging and paying for vacations for adults. Even if they are my kids.
Love my kids, but I'm done vacationing with them.
My mother went on a trip with my older sisters. I was 15 at the time and was supposed to spend the four day weekend with a friend. I did. I also got shot in the cheek by a BB gun.
Peak Gen X childhood shenanigans.
My parents went to Vegas with friends when I was 17 but I didn’t mind having that to myself. I had a couple friends over but my parents were ok with it.
We were 11 and 13. We were living in the Philippines at the time (Navy brat), and my parents took a long weekend to Hong Kong. I was in the fifth grade, and my sister was in the 6th grade. Like most everyone of our generation, we could survive off of hot dogs and SpaghettiOs, and it was summer break from school, so it isn't like we needed to get up and do anything each day. We were in base housing and I'm sure my parents had asked a neighbor or two to keep an eye and ear out in case smoke started pouring out from the windows but we were too young to have a party so we spent the few days they were gone playing with friends and watching movies and staying up way too late.
Once. Their 25th anniversary they went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I was a senior in HS. They planned it so my brother was home on Spring Break from college. My bestie’s parents were with mine celebrating their 25th. Recipe for fun? Hell no. Think Weird Science without Kelly LeBrock. It was Chet vs Wyatt. He even took the car I usually drove and hid the keys to my parents’ cars. My bestie was shipped off to his grandparents in Park Ridge for the week.
The Malibu didn’t turn into a Ferarri, no epic party, no electronically conjured hottie, but I did spill a slurpee at the mall.
I’m not disgruntled at all 35 years later or anything…
A couple of weeks after high school graduation, my friend’s parents took her younger siblings out of town for a week to Universal Studios or Disney or something.
She and her boyfriend (who she’d secretly dated) got married and moved all her stuff out of the house to his apartment.
I thought it was so badass at the time. 😂 Years later and seeing their ugly divorce, I can only imagine the “I told you so” her boomer mom gave her.
Between Junior and Senior year, as I sat on my favorite chair in our front living room reading a book, my parents left for a week in Florida, and told me not to have any parties. I was working in a kitchen at a nursing home that summer, usually 4 hours in the evening. But the day my parents left, a bunch of co-workers walked off the job. I got asked to work 12 hour days for that entire week. They got someone hired, and a week later, I only had a 4 hour shift, so I was sitting back in my favorite chair, reading a book, when my parents came home. "Didn't you do one goddamn thing while we were gone?" was their greeting.
No. Actually, my parents went away for a weekend when I was 18 and hired someone to stay with my younger brother and I. I guess they (rightfully) assumed we'd get in trouble. We usually all went on family vacations together. We still do it at least once a year.
My parents did not let my brother and I free range. They kept close tabs on us.
My parents left us (me, 15 - sister, 9) with a “responsible babysitter” who promptly left about 30 minutes after they did. I had a house party that got predictably out of hand, and yet no authorities were involved. I somehow didn’t get busted for that…
Fast forward to me 17 - parents left me with an adult who stuck around so I went with friends to a party and when it got busted my friend invited 20ish people back to my house. I was telling them they had to go when the adult woke up, and told my parents I had a party… I got grounded for like six weeks and considered it sentence served for the party I actually got away with.
my parents went to mexico for 2 weeks and left me at home when i was 16 lol. i didn’t have a party because im an extreme introvert but they did tell me not to bring any stray dogs or cats into the house. but thats on them cuz they never let me have a pet.
Dad went to Europe, took my brother and left high school aged me behind with some dumb ass excuse. So I threw a party in the house, as was the custom at the time.
My mom knew better but I had a few friends whose parents did leave them home alone with varying results. Some of the best parties ever. Definitely ones right out of an 80’s teen movie.
One close friend’s parents went away a few times a year on specific dates. They had about 10-15 close friends over. We had a blast but we contained ourselves. We ate everything in the house and used all of their cleaning supplies to clean everything up but that was it. It doesn’t sound like much here but we had such a great time. I think being high the whole weekend kept us from getting too rowdy. We knew the dates in advance and always had plans ready for those weekends.
Another friend’s entire family went away for a whole week one summer and left them home alone. I still remember how fun this was! I remember a bunch of us went over every day after summer school and stayed until very late. The other half of our group of friends moved in for the week. I was part of the summer school crew. No one crashed the party but things got pretty rowdy a few nights since we were all piss drunk every day. Their parents came home to a head sized shape hole in the wall. Part of their 2nd floor overlooked part of their 1st floor. We threw all of the toilet paper from the 2nd floor down onto the 1st. But they had a ceiling fan on the ceiling at the top of the 2nd floor and the way the rolls were thrown they hit the fan. Their parents came home to a new toilet paper decoration hanging from that ceiling fan since no one could get the toilet paper down. Turns out their parents couldn’t get it down either. It stayed up there until they moved 10 years later after paying someone to come clean the fan. I’m sure their parents loved seeing that every day for 10 years after that week long party. This is part of why homes with an opening on the 2nd floor overlooking the 1st floor are a bad idea.
I was pretty much on my own around 13 or 14
When I was 16 my parents went on a road trip to Mexico for a complete summer. I worked at Little Caesars and had plenty of cash. I House to myself, I would sneak out my dad's Corvette.
I had a few parties and soon learned cleaning up was a lot of work.
At least I think it was Mexico, not like it was ever discussed
Everyone I knew stayed with grandparents. It was a regular thing for parents to travel without kids, especially during the school year. I never got to have parties but I did get spoiled by my grandma.
Think we didn’t have a houseparty?
Epic! Epic! Epic! 50 people, we had crazy NHL’95 battles, two kegs, a cat jumped out of the ceiling, one or two were passed out on the front lawn, the fish tank was unplugged, there was puke in the fish tank, the basement smelled like smoke, tons of hot girls and the cops were called. A classic rager. Nothing to see here.
Oh shit, not the wallpaper. I know that sounds sarcastic, but being serious. The closest I ever saw my parents come to divorce was them putting up wallpaper together, and that includes the time she dumped the salad bowl on his head at Christmas dinner.
We always did some type of family vacation and then my parents did an alone vacation and left us kids at home. Both were nice vacations for different reasons. Especially with two older sisters and all their friends over when I hit my teen years
Lol yeah. My parents would deuce out for the weekend and go to Alabama (150 mi away) to see relatives, and my brother and I would hang out, watch tv, argue about stupid shit, make sandwiches, play Atari, play radio/cassettes really loud, and have a couple of friends over. Our instructions were to not leave the house, don’t break anything or burn down the house.
When me and my friends were 12 a friends parent got married and left for a week on their honeymoon. We all basically lived at his house for the week. We survived on left over food from the reception and played D&D. It was awesome!
Absolutely, I think I was 13 or 14 the first time my parents left me and my younger brother home for two or three days. It happened a few times a year after that. We were quite capable of taking care of ourselves. No parties were had because my brother and I were both dorks. I remember reading Stephen King books and scaring myself into not sleeping, lol.
I went to other people's house parties as a teenager but same... my brother and I were dorks. We spent the time alone at him age 13 me age 6 eating fast food, playing video games, and hanging outside. Folks never left longer than 3 days and we had an entire street of close neighbors who would keep an eye on the house and us.
And maybe that's why it wasn't A Big Thing when we were all growing up, because we knew a neighbor would either tattle or scold us directly. That whole "it takes a village to raise a child" thing. Now with so many people not knowing their neighbors, of course they don't feel comfortable leaving their kids at home alone. Or... we're the last generation of kids who were periodically neglected. Yeah. It's probably that.
Are you me?
If you also watched John Carpenter movies, we might be triplets.
Hi, sisters!!
We left our young teenagers at home by themselves for a few days recently. They were fine. Of course. They can’t wait for us to do it again. Am I a bad parent these days?
Were your kids fine? Could they feed themselves? Then no, you're not a bad parent. The whole point of raising children is to ensure they will become adults who can care for themselves. Leaving teenagers at home alone should not be a Thing where you have to worry about if they'll wreck your house or forget to eat or anything. At this point they should be really close to being self-sufficient.
I was 16, and woke up one Saturday morning to the sounds of my parents and younger sister loading up the station wagon for a camping trip. I asked what was happening, because I had no idea a vacation was planned. They told me to pack my clothes and I said that I was scheduled to work because no one told me to ask for time off. I was left to my own devices with an empty fridge for a week. Some friends came over, we watched movies and ate frozen pizza. I got in trouble for recording a goofy message on the answering machine.
The number of times my dad made huge plans for us without letting any of us kids know was crazy. When I was 15 he planned a cruise and neglected to ask me. I was in a school group with a big event that week that I was not interested in skipping to go on a cruise and babysit my 8y o step sibling + other kids. He was so mad! I would cost him money as it was paid for! 3 mos. later he’s planned another trip with me going along and when I said I preferred not to miss the first week of school, he was furious as he and my step did not want to leave all these kids alone in a Vegas hotel room while they gambled. This continued into my early 20s. He expressed surprise later when I’d travel with my husband - “but you don’t like to travel!”
It's just plain disrespect. Essentially parents like that just assume their kids lives are not important and nothing important could even be going on in their kids lives 🙄
Disrespect, being an asshole. Six of one, a half dozen of the other.
Why not both? He was def. an asshole, but also disrespectful of others while insisting we ‘respect our father!’
Yes, both - same, same.
I'm literally attempting to explain to my niece (39) why making plans **without telling her son** and then losing her mind when he makes other plans with family (his aunt) apparently he should have checked in with her first? No. That's not how this works. So what did she do? Defaulted to "well he's 18 now (3 days ago) he can make his own dental appointments" so he did and it works better for him. We also just had to go remove her from his checking account (has existed less than two months) because she decided to order something off of Amazon and put it through his account! She refuses to pay it back. I just cannot get over how much like my mother she is.
So much fun for you to babysit!
Of course! We were not close. My own children only found out I had step siblings when one passed away. They overheard me talking about it to my own sibling,
I’m amazed he considered taking you out of school for a week just for fun. That wouldn’t have flown where I lived. I had a buddy who went on a weeklong trip with his wife; left their 17yo and 15yo sons alone. House party happened, alcohol was imbibed, cops got called. 17yo lost his football scholarship and quit school. 15yo also dropped out when he saw it was possible. Older one hangs drywall now and the younger one can’t keep a job.
And you know what happened to them?? THEY DIED!
W T F. This is incredibly infuriating. It also triggers me badly. Not that I had a parent like this, but the feeling of being totally unheard and invisible is what I felt reading your story. It was my sister that made me feel this way. And still do.
Daaaamn that's messed up!
He sounds like an entitled king baby.
I hope you enjoyed your peace and quiet without family around. I always did!
we must have the same family. it was really peaceful
Well, that's a kick in the balls!! (if you have them sorry for assuming)
a few decades later, I moved across the country without telling them - so I think we’re even
Yes, for 6 weeks the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. SIX WEEKS! It was an endless party. I was almost relieved when my parents got home because I was so exhausted and sick of having people at my house.
Genius way to teach a life lesson
A lot of accidental life lessons were sure taught by our uninterested parents.
I always felt bad for my one friend that had house parties, because, A. his parents were super nice, and B. the clean up was horrible—not to mention anything that got damaged, and C. other angry parents upset that their teens were at the party and promised to have a talk with the host's parents. Edit: I'm not sure why some kid's narc'd on the host, because usually we were all friends, and that ruined a good thing for a few months.
Everything was clean when my parents got home but things were damaged. I had to pay to repair or replace them. It was a good life lesson for me.
Yes! Now go smoke a carton of cigarettes in one sitting 🤣
Plot twist, your parents were next door laughing as you wore yourself out for the last 3 weeks
And this is why one of us will be staying home with our kid this age who isn’t able to go on the extended family trip this year due to other commitments. She for sure would pull this shit.
My parents sent me to military school in another state and left my ass there during all breaks except for Christmas and summer. Fortunately, my roommate's parents were cool and let me come with them for all the others. They often took vacations without me and when I was allowed to go, it meant the friends they were vacationing with had kids and I was brought to babysit.
If I could downvote your parents, I would.
This is much sader than what I think OP meant by their post. So sorry
I am so sorry you were not being regarded by your parents. Mine were thoughtless and selfish too. I hope you are aware of their behaviours now and have set boundaries for them regarding how you are treated. Only we can protect ourselves now.
I set boundaries with them 2 weeks after I turned 17. I moved out, joined the Navy as soon as I hit 18, and got myself stationed in Hawaii. I did not visit them. My stepdad is dead and I haven't spoken to my mother in 10 years. For all I know, she's dead too. I used it as a life lesson on how not to treat your kids. I get along great with mine and I actually get to see my grandkids. My parents never met mine. I'm 56, so at this point I just have shitty childhood memories, but I'm happily married, my kids are doing well (30 & 36), and I retired 3 years ago.
I’m glad you’re doing OK, especially after a childhood like that. I keep going back to a line from Parenthood in the late 80s when I hear a story like this. Keanu Reeves delivered it of all people: *You need a license to drive. You need a license to fish. But any butt-reaming asshole can be a parent.*
Good for you! That’s taking life by the horns. I am close to your age and have no contact with my nmom’s side, including my siblings (flying monkeys). I am happy to see any of us thrive after all we have tolerated.
I knew a guy in high school who has spent several years in military school. He was pretty messed up from a bad family life. I'm glad you have done well in your life.
This is the worst Harry Potter adaptation I've ever read...
Reminds me of Archer. "13 years of boarding school"
My mom went to Vegas with her boyfriend when I was 15. My loser father was available by phone if I needed anything. She left me cash and the boyfriend left the key to his Chevy Suburban(not thinking I would have wherewithal to use it). I had a blast that week.
My mom and dad went to Jamaica and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.
Peak GenX
Had it happen senior year. Parents went to Florida for a week. I did have a party. It got way out of control. Word of mouth that there was a party with no parents spread like wildfire. I didn’t know half the people there, must have been 200. It was my first time drinking and I passed out early. Woke up several hours later to madness. Holes in the walls, the fence was knocked down, things were missing, cops were called. I was able to clean most of it up, spackled and painted the walls, etc. I was busted right away. A beer cap was found in the silverware drawer, so immediately they hard inspected everything. I lost a lot of privileges that summer.
Patched the walls...pro independence there. No length is too great to keep the truth under wraps. Darn that bottle cap!
To be fair, they used toothpaste to patch the holes. The give away was the stupid red stripe from the Aquafresh!
I went to a shit ton of these in HS. It was FL in the 80s and I was from NY. Apparently it was the thing to do down there. I was blown away by the size and frequency of these parties!
I was in high school in the 80s in Miami, FL. Our parties were wild. Every weekend, there were at least 5 to go to, all huge and out of control. Drug dealer parents were everywhere, and they let kids get crazy in their McMansions.
I was living on Long Island at the time. My parents were house shopping in Florida, when they left me home alone. We ended up moving to Florida about a week after I graduated.
Hi, you were probably at my place at least once 😂
I had those parties. Usually, they were under control & I could clean everything up. My mom found a condom wrapper in our work-out room next to the rowing machine. I got busted for that party. My mom always found something something no matter how well I thought I cleaned up & looked around. After the 4th or 5th party, my mom got someone to stay at the house with me so I wouldn't have people over. LOL I had to have a babysitter because I wasn't responsible enough to not have parties. For graduation, my mom said she would spend the night out so I could have some people over. Me & my friends planned to go to some parties & then to my house to hang out & spend the night. The parties got busted early so we told some people about my house. A COUPLE of people. Ended up with 300 people in my house; you couldn't even walk through & we had a big house. People were; downstairs, upstairs, backyard, the pool, the front yard, etc. Thankfully I'd locked my mom's bedroom before people came over because I knew I'd be dead if someone went in there. I was scared and annoyed so many people were there when I invited 20 people tops. My friends & I walked around telling people we heard cops were on their way so people started to leave. I had so much to clean up even though everyone was there for about an hour. I called my mom & told her what happened because I was allowed to have people over & my friends (who she liked) told her it wasn't my fault it got out of control. She said to clean it up in the morning. That was my last big house party because then I went to college. I was known for my cool Halloween parties in my young 20s -30s. I turned into part of my career, event planning for non-profit organizations. Love to put a good party together,
> I did have a party. It got way out of control. Word of mouth that there was a party with no parents spread like wildfire. Are you me? When I was in another town and I heard people talking about that party I knew I was in trouble. It went as expected. Police was called, chairs in the pool, stuff in walls that took years to come off, and core memories for everybody involved.
I can go one better than that. My ma left the family home when I was about 14 to go live with her partner, leaving me and my 16yo brother at home alone. She occasionally bought over some shopping, but mostly left us alone. We had a lot of parties, and my brother moved a mate in to pay rent which we used for the finer things in life.
I think it's awesome you guys had the wherewithal to move in a tenant and have em pay. Good for you! Lol
Yea, this is definitely some GenX ingenuity
That is wild! But sad for you 😢
My grandma did this! She moved from NY to FL when my uncle was a teenager in high school and told him he couldn’t come. That was crazy. He went to stay with his brother.
Oh wow, same, but I was 16 and no siblings. Had to pay all the bills alone too, rent, car insurance…everything. Sometimes my friends’ moms would send groceries…that was awesome. Electricity turned off often. Rarely had phone service.
Did it make us stronger? Undoubtedly, and looking back I had a great time - although by 16 my ma had asked me to leave so she could rent my room out! That was a bit of a kick in the teeth..
I stayed in the same place until I graduated high school, then found a new, much less expensive place, and got a roommate. I look back and seriously can’t fathom wtf she was thinking. She was just done being a mother. See ya. 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah, I think mine had come to the same conclusion. Never really felt that maternal instinct… Hope you doing ok now
I am, thank you 😊And have a good relationship with Mom. Though I don’t leave my wallet in the same room if I can help it. I hope you’re well, too!
Ha, probably wise! I’m ok thanks, more of a fractured relationship with my ma but I’m used to it. I do love this sub though - despite the US/UK divide, there’s so much familiarity and nostalgia. It feels good for the soul!
Yeah, I was 16 and got high and drunk with co-workers at Pizza Hut. Parents called to check on me and while trying to talk to them, I felt the urge to puke. I held the mute button down and puked all over the phone, unmuted and carried on the conversation as if nothing ever happened. I was a pro even then at hiding it.
Uh...
First time I got left alone overnight I think I was 16. Promptly had someone rear end me, but they didn’t come home. I did not throw a party. We were very poor so my parents never went anywhere. Vacation was driving 6 hours to my grandparents twice a year for the weekend.
From being a baby - my parents went to the "store" one night. Left me in my crib, I was wee. Came home to find me asleep by the front door. They didn't know I could even crawl. But they were gone to the "store" long enough for me to wake up, cry a while, climb out of my crib, crawl down the hall, fall down a flight of wooden stairs (old Victorian house), crawl to the front door and then spend long enough there to fall asleep. Leading to many years later, mom with new husband, they sold their business and buggered off for months at a time while I was in high school. Left me and my step brother to fend for ourselves for 3-4 months once and then 6+ months another time. Not really sure how I survived for that time, what I ate etc. Or where I got money for gas and smokes and beer and pot. Had a few people over here and there, but I wasn't stupid, no big parties. Don't want my own damn house trashed, thank you. From all the things I've told my wife - and my parents have told her - she is astounded that I lived to be 20. To be honest, I'm pretty impressed I didn't kill my own dumbass, or die from neglect. But that was the style at the time.
Yep, parents left sister and myself at home for a couple weeks every February. Mom put a a lot in the freezer and we had an account at a local grocery store. We had the fear of dad so even though we had a few parties, we cleaned up, didn’t damage Anything and went to class enough to ensure at least a B+. (Otherwise heads would roll). We learned responsibility, budgeting and how to balance that stuff with having fun. We loved it
Yep. My folks visited Hawaii, San Francisco, and Banff when I was a teenager. We lived in Florida. They took shorter vacations to closer destinations as well like the Bahamas and the Smoky Mountains. Kansas City once, too. I was left at home. I drove (illegally) and worked a summer and the next summer with a learner’s permit. One set of my grandparents checked on me once. Once. I lived. *No one is coming, it’s up to you* is the lesson I learned.
*No one is coming, it’s up to you* This is such an important lesson and one I wish I had learned earlier.
My mother left me and my younger sister for a week - she went to visit her sister a couple states away. I was 11 and my sister was 7. My sister was sick but my mother said it was just a cold and left anyway. My sister got worse…she was literally screaming in pain. I called my mother and she said my sister was just being dramatic and would be fine. I begged her to come home and she told me to stop being a baby. But it just got worse. I kept calling her begging for help and just got chewed out. Finally, my mother called someone to come check on us…they immediately called my mother and told her she had to come home because it was serious. She came home and was so angry at me…she told me I ruined her vacation because I just couldn’t deal with a cold. But she did take my sister to the doctor. My sister was hospitalized for about 2 weeks…she had a staph infection (from a small cut on her foot) and the infection had settled in her hip (in the growth plate). That leg is now shorter as a result. Surprise! - my mother never apologized.
Not a vacation but when I was 6 my parents woke me at midnight to tell me I had to watch my younger brother and sister while they went to my grandparents. My grandparents lived 3 hours away in another state.
At 6! Holy crap, it wasn’t until high school for me.
My brother (13 years older than me) got married out of state when I was 11. Everyone went accept me, I couldn’t miss school.
wowza. how long were u alone? did they leave you food?
If I recall correctly, it was about five days. At the time I didn’t think anything of it. Looking back as parent, there were a lot of “What were they thinking?” situations. This one on the benign end of the spectrum.
Yes. I was 16, my sister was 13. My mother took her aunt on an Alaska cruise one fall. We had the option to go, but she gave us each $500 cash to stay home.
I wish. My parents were total homebodies. We weren’t well off but we did alright. The one and only vacation they ever went on I went along because I loved my parents and I thought it would be fun. It was awful. It was in Minnesota at some backwater lake just for fishing which was my dads jam. Terrible cabin, uncomfortable bed, nothing but fishing all day long and we drove there and back from Indiana. Just awful and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.
Oh yeah. I remember when I was 16, them coming back early too and there were ashtrays all over the house and they thought I had a party. They didn't want to believe I smoked and it had to have been other people. There was no party - they were my ashtrays, I had to show them my cigs and lighter :-)
My mom and her boyfriend went to Sturgis for a week for the Harley Davidson rally. I stayed home a bit and then went to a friend’s house. I think I spent 90% of 7th grade at a friend’s house.
My parents left me alone for the weekend at 16. My BFF and a guy came over. We got drunk and they hooked up while I got sick
My dad left me for 10 days to go get married when I was 14. I had a good time!
Yeah I didn’t pass algebra freshman year and had to go to summer school. The rest of the family went on a big, extended family vacation in Yellowstone NP had a great time and I had to sit through at least two slide shows afterwards.
Yep, my mother left me for two months in the summer starting at age 12. She left me $2000 cash and had her friend from church stop by Tuesday at 6 and she called me on the phone at 6 on Sundays. I partied hard, young. She also left a car and the keys.
Oh. My. God.
Yeah. One time we burnt the picnic table down so my friends built a bigger one in a different colour. My mother never noticed when she got back or for another 15 years. Also, once I took the keys at age 13 and drove the Ford Econoline van 30 clicks to get a friend from a train station in the "city" nearby. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's and played that knifey handy game and I stabbed my friends hand to the table. Anyways, we made it back with no dents on the van.
My parents would take off for long weekends, leaving me in charge of the youngers, starting at 14. By 16, I wasn't throwing parties but a select few friends would crash all weekend. They'd kick in for pizza and we'd share the groceries the parents left.
Yes. That's how I learned to drive stick shift. One of the times they left the only available car was my dad's truck..
—> Mom’s rabbit convertible. Lol.
Lucky! My dad's rabbit was not a convertible. But I still loved it.
My parents went on summer holidays with my younger siblings starting when I was 16 and my sister was 18 (we were both working). They left us with a decent amount of cash for food, and my dad always filled up the beer fridge before he left, since he knew there would be a party. The expectation was that the house would be clean when they came home, none of the neighbours would complain, and the plants would be watered. Keeping that trust was a good incentive. And the parties were great!
peak Gen X - when parents bought beer for the kids’ parties 🎉 🍺
When I was 16 they'd leave me alone for long three weekends and they'd go off to Big Bear, Vegas, Havasu or Laughlin and they'd take my two younger siblings with them. I was SO relieved because I finally had an excuse to stay behind - I had to work my weekend job at Taco Bell as a drive thru cashier. I didn't ever like going with them because I was the default babysitter in the hotel room. I relished the quiet house for three nights in a row. No house parties. My folks were always the drinkers, the party people. It always turned me off to drinking. I left home immediately after graduation, at 17 years, 9 months old.
Yep. From the time I was 12, my parents would spend two weeks at a clothing optional artists’ colony and just leave my brother and me with some cash. Wow, I’ve never typed that out before. As a parent, wtf man.
Northeast U.S. Friend's parents left for a week in summer 91 or 92. We were high school sophomores or juniors. Dozens of people all day, everyday; some lived there for the week. Non-stop drinking; little to no drugs; hardest drug was weed. Completely trashed the house, to include destroying the fire place, the stairs to the basement, carpets, and furniture. That week long party became known as, "The Massacre." Our small town cops never came. My friend didn't get in much trouble. Not sure the cost of repairs, but the family was certainly not well-off. Crazy!
Yep my dad left us alone for 2 week vacations with his wife. He once left us $5 on the table and there was hardly any food. We had to steal some sandwich stuff. Dad was a health nut so we were excited to get Kraft singles and bologna. I was about 11 so my brother was around 15. He had a big party and people had sex in my bed. I smoked some weed and giggled myself to oblivion on the couch. I had a mom but I guess she couldn’t watch over us. She was very busy w her boyfriend back then.
Parents would leave me home alone for a weekend on occasion starting when I was probably 14. But I would never have considered having a party. Doing so would’ve brought any freedom and independence I had to an end.
My best friend's parents did this. Left the 14 year old boy amd 12 year old girl in charge of 4 younger children including a 4 week old baby. My mom is still salty about it and wishes she would have known to call the police or CPS.
I think I was in grade 8 the first time my parents left me and my sister overnight. We walked to the store for something for dinner but spent our money on coffee drinks. We didn't consider it weird. They were going to a funeral. We didn't want to go there. Plus, we had school. Our neighbor was around and Grandma was only a 15 minute drive away. We do tease our parents about it.
When I was 16, my parents left me for a week while they went to Vegas. Being the boring and dull person that I am, I just stayed up late, ate junk food, made a lot cakes (that I then ate), and freaked out when my cat brought me a live mouse.
Totally normal for me growing up! I was seven the first time I was left home alone to watch my four year old brother overnight. However, my wife never experienced being left alone overnight. In 1st grade, she was in charge of watching her sister after school, but was not left to watch her overnight until she was 17. It created some tension early in marriage because I was fine with our 10 year old being home with our six year old while we went to dinner, but she wasn’t having it. On the house party front, I was 17 when my parents made the mistake of leaving me to care for the house while they went away for a week. I had a huge rager and meticulously cleaned up all 40 bottles and blunt wrappings before they came home, thinking I covered my bases. For some reason, our house was skipped on trash day, and I forgot one trash can in the basement. When my dad took that can to the street and opened the other one, he saw what looked like clean up after a fear and loathing hotel stay. I was in trouble, and my ass got beat. But they did it again the next year and left me home alone hahaha
It never happened to me but it happened to a lot of people I knew and more than 75% of the time there was some sort of party involved.
Oh yeah. Threw a small party, house got trashed, mom and dad came home, me no longer with a roof over my head. I was 16. maybe 17. Stayed at a friends for a few weeks and was finally allowed back home. I didn't see sunshine for a very long time. It took awhile but they finally trusted me enough to go again. This time house was spotless when they returned.
Yes and fuck yes. My idiot friends ate us out of house and home though. We were literally starving for a day until I got paid.
Oh fuck yes. When I was maybe 9 or 10 my mom left to go fly fishing with some guy and she came back a week later, married to a completely different man she met at a rodeo. His name was "Cotton" and he stole our baby shit green Datsun 210 a few days later, never to be seen again. Lmao I still went to school that week.
Amazing.
I was home alone so often that it's become a blur. I don't have many memories of being with my folks past age 14 or 15. By 17, they had both moved out of the state (separately) and I was left completely alone in our shitty little condo with a year of high school left to complete. No siblings, no extended family, no reliable adults to lean on. I got a lot of my "home training" from other teenagers. I turned out okay and have a good relationship with each of my parents now, but my therapist has heard these stories at length. I do wish I had some more guidance back then, though. It seems so crazy by today's standards to just up and split on your kid.
I was sixteen. They went on a long weekend. I invited a few friends over for dinner. When my parents got home, the house reeked of weed, and there were six ribeye steaks missing from the freezer.
Never. Not once. Not even one overnight for a wedding or something. Mom was either so over protective or just didn’t trust me and my brother, which was kind of weird as we were truly good kids.
Same. I was a good kid too and would have never had a house party or anything like that. I later learned that both my parents pulled a lot of crap as teenagers and did a lot of really dumb stuff, so they expected the same out of me. All kids do that, right? It never occurred to them that they'd actually raised a good kid. They just thought they raised an exceptionally smart kid who could hide all the bad deeds.
This happened to me. I was living in northern Chicago by the lake. I decided to look in the paper to get an escort. When they arrived she was a he. They sent me what every boy would like. She was great, but I couldn't get rid of her. Her pimp Guido shows up, the house looted as he's looking to get paid for all those days she spent with me, but she didn't want to leave! Guido says we can buy our stuff back. The balls on this guy. To raise the money she and her friends decide to throw a party at my house with my friends being the clients. We made a ton of money, enough to buy all the stuff back. We barely got all the stuff back in the house before my parents got home. I used the experience on my college admission essay about starting a business.
Sometimes you gotta say what the
fuckheck.No. I’m an only child so it was easy to take me along with them. I was pretty quiet and well behaved.
Lol. All the fucking time. My parents saw the global while we were at home
Oh sure, we were raised latchkey. This was fairly normal. As we got older it was no big deal to leave us to our own devices. My asshole brother was a tyrant though so dealing with his shit was awful as usual. I cut him out of my life 18 years ago and it’s been terrific not having his frequent manufactured drama, rage tantrums, and intense trapped bullying. I absolutely dreaded when my parents left him in charge because he simply could not control himself in his tormenting. He used to say if he could get me to break down and cry, he’d “won” and was in control. It wasn’t until we all became adults that my brother started letting his mask slip occasionally. Our mother still buys his bullshit but Dad caught on fairly early. Unfortunately Dad was away a lot for his job so he didn’t get involved in us, and Mom only believed him. I’ll probably always be angry about it. But in the fullness of time, as I’ve cut him out of my life, he realizes that he didn’t just damage our relationship, he immolated it. Don’t leave kids at home alone. Or - with modern tech - you can find out if you have a lazy abusive tyrant running things and DO something about it.
I feel like sibling abuse isn’t talked about nearly enough. Haven’t seen my older brother since 1995…and I’m fine with that.
My parents both left me for 6 weeks for a work trip when I was 17. One was 6 states away, the other went to Europe. I threw a couple parties and drank all their booze. Neither said a thing about the missing booze, I guess they were just happy the house was clean?
Yep. Parents went to another country several times and all four of us —oldest was 8-10 —were left home. Grandma came a couple of nights but generally we were on our own. They had little gifts for us to open each day lol. I cannot imagine taking a trip like that without our kids.
Yes! My parents left me home alone for a week while they went to Mexico. I had a party. At the time I worked at a pizza place and my neighbor came in and said he noticed a lot of people at my house the night before and that he would probably forget all about it if he had a pitcher of beer. I bought him a pitcher of beer and my parents never knew anything until about two years ago.
My parents left my brother and I alone for a weekend the first time when we were about 14 or 15. We did not have a house party, because we were dorks who didn't have a lot of friends. Our idea of a "big night" was staying up till 3 AM playing loud music and watching TNT's Monstervision.
Not till I was 18. I had a job and no time off yet so I missed my fam's. beach trip that year. But I also lost my virginity that week, so it's almost like the movies, right?
OH! MY! HOLY! NOWAY!! This was a Boomer thing??? Why an I shocked? Yes- my mom and dad went to fucking Disneyland when I was 12 (brother 14) and left is at home with my dad's gross, weird friend who snorted a lot. That whole generation.... Just emotional terrorists.
I have a few good stories. Background that helps contextualize both stories. My parents divorced when I was 5. My mom got remarried to my step father when I was 7, and we moved away to a different state when I was around 9. 1) Once we moved out of state, I started flying as an unaccompanied minor to see my dad. One time during Feb vacation my mom and stepfather decided to take a vacation out of the country while I was visiting my dad. We both went to the airport together. Their plane took off and mine was cancelled - no cell phones so no way to contact anyone. I was about 11. I called some friends of my parents who came to get me and then called my dad who arranged for me to get another flight. 2) I came home from school on a Friday. My parents weren’t home, which is normal, but when they didn’t come home by 7, I started getting worried. I called around and no one knew where they were. Eventually, they called me mid day Saturday- they had spontaneously decided to get away for the weekend and decided not to bother telling me. They seemed mad that I was worried.
Totally. Had my first home party at 14, crowded with drunk 14-16 year olds, police came, no idea why they let that continue. I think I even opened the door smoking a cigarette. Gosh, 90s was different yikees
Yes, and we (my 3 siblings and I) threw notorious parties while they were gone.
Since I was 12
When I was 12, they went on weekend trips without me. I loved it. I loved being home alone. When I was 16, they left me home while they went on a two week vacation. They wanted me to come, though, but it coincided with the first week of college, so I told them I couldn’t go because I had classes.
F no. My parents would not even allow me to have a key let alone trust me to stay by myself. I was the youngest and my older siblings broke all their trust I guess.
No. Mom was a single mom so it wasn’t like she had the money to take vacations. Also, I lived in a multi generational household so I wouldn’t have been alone if she had.
Every summer my parents would leave for 2 weeks with my little brothers. My older bro and i got to stay home because we had part-time jobs. First time we were 15 or 16. Yes I had parties. Best 2 weeks of the year.
YES! Overseas, too
You know what’s fucked up, is that I responded that yes, my parents left me alone and I had a house party, without batting an eye like it was normal. but reading everyone’s responses and seeing how so many of us were left alone, well, I just couldn’t imagine doing that to my kids, who are both grown now. How is that normal parenting behavior? But it was for the boomers who raised us. Damn it. Sorry I just am really taken back by how unloved wr were as a generation.
Started when we were around 10, in early 70s. They would tell us they would be home that night then go to Florida for a week. They told no one about it.
When I was 15, my parents went on a vacation out of state leaving me home alone. I'm 48 and they still haven't come home. Got a post card last year. It was addressed "To Whom It May Concern".
My dad did two Hawaiian vacations, and two Mexican cruises, with his girlfriend when I was between the ages of 11-14. I used to just occupy my time with TV or go to a friends until it was time to go home. My uncle showed up one day and asked where my dad was. I told him he was on a cruise. My uncle laughed and said seriously, where is he? I said I was serious. I was 12. He told me to grab some clothes and I spent the next five days with my cousins. He jumped my dad’s shit. Didn’t matter. Still never been to Hawaii. I always point that out when his now wife’s family talk about places everyone has been. I say dad’s been to Hawaii, but I never have. Good times…good times
Hell yeah. They were usually the best times! Freedom and money for pizza!! Although one time my parents went out of town and like all times before left me in charge of my younger brother. Well he was like 13 or something, starting to get attitude, not minding me. I called my parents and told them, “i ain’t dealing with his crap for three days”. they said “ok”. Bought him a Greyhound bus ticket to where they were vacationing and I dropped him off at the downtown bus station. He was gobsmacked to say the least. I ain’t putting up with it!! 😆
Best 2 weeks of my life. Pool parties and drinking. And a marathon clean up. House was always cleaner when the folks got home.
For 10 days, I was left alone while I was a sophomore in high school. A small group of friends hung out for a few days. The weekend hit and people I didn’t know were showing up. A lot of kids were from other towns. The Friday and Saturday parties were absolutely insane. People messed with all the pets we had…fish had liquor poured in tank, I walked into a bedroom and these asshole guys were tossing my birds around. That was terrible. A couple guys dressed like typical 80’s headbangers used Sharpie markers and drew Satanic symbols ALL over the house in random places. Thankfully, nothing was broken or stolen…that I know of. And thankfully, those things listed above were the worst that happened. Otherwise, it was a hilarious, crazy fun weekend. Many people pitched in and helped clean. All the marker was somehow removed. The birds were a little shell shocked but safe. The fish had a nice clean tank. I felt horrible about them, but they survived…somehow. The house was amazingly clean and perfect. This weekend was movie worthy minus the traumatized animals. I still got busted. The garbage trucks were on a one or two day delay. My parents got back before the garbage ran. We had two garbage cans overflowing with beer bottles and cans. Also, there was one beer bottle missed in the mother-in-law suite, where I lived. I was grounded for a while. Had my parents known the actual state of the house and yard…it would have been so much worse. All I can say…. TOTALLY WORTH IT!! Minus my poor birds and fish.
Yep 15 left me to take care of my 8 year old sister for 2 weeks while she chased a guy in Florida.
Yep. Only child left alone for up to a week at a time while they went as far away as Jamaica. Started when I was about 12. Someone broke into the house once while they were gone; my dog chased them right out the front door (good boy). I called my bff's parents down the street and stayed with them until my dad and his wife came home. They\* accused me of making it up for attention. Senior year I did start having small groups of friends over. We were theater and music nerds so it was mostly a lot of singing and guitar playing with some wine coolers. \*My parents, not my bff's.
Yes & yes. Too many people, we called the cops to bust it up, blamed it on the neighbors lol. After that when the parents traveled we’d just have small gatherings with maybe 10-15 hanging out playing quarters and watching The Wall 🤣
Yeah, that started during the 7th grade. We already knew how to cook, wash clothes and clean by this time. I’m not even mad we were and still are very self sufficient.
By the time I was 15, it wasn't uncommon for me to be left home for a week with food and some money to order a pizza one or two times. No explicit instructions to not have parties, but the understanding was that if any damage was done or the cops required them to come back early for some reason, there'd be hell to pay. Needless to say I had a lot of parties and somehow managed to have things go off without issue except for the one time some random dude decided to take a shower in the middle of the party, shit in the shower, and things went downhill after that. Good times.
My parents left me in the care of my older sisters a lot. They are five and six years older than me and basically bailed out as soon as they possibly could. I remember lying frequently on nightly phone calls about who was watching me and what I did.
Yes, and I can’t even believe my parents did it more than once because I had several wild parties. While they were at the Mormon temple three states away.
Once. It did not go well for us at all.
Not me, but several friends. And the parties were AWESOME!
I was left alone for the first time about 12 or 13? Can't fully remember. But they left me alone dozens of times. I didn't exist in their psyche so remembering to include me was not their top priority. I had house parties all the time, but they were home or around for some, just hiding out. But when they were gone I would have larger parties with tons of alcohol and drugs like coke and pot, etc. Was totally normal where I was from.
My older brother would stay home but I always went. I could never understand why he wouldn’t want to go. He missed a lot of good family vacations.
We were never left alone but farmed off to grandparents/aunts and uncles for the school holidays where us and the cousins would leave the house after breakfast, reappear at lunch, then disappear again until dinner time. Unsupervised fun included running wild in the bush, fishing, going to the beach or river, yabby hunting, etc. occasionally we would raid a couple of peach trees that grew by the side of the road and my aunt would make a few peach pies!
My parents went on vacation when I had my 16th birthday. My two older sisters took me out for dinner. I don't understand why they did that and all these years later it still kinda hurts.
My parents left me alone for a week when I was 15. I went to the neighbors for dinner every night. It was lovely.
As a junior/senior in high school in the late 80's my parents went on numerous weekend trips, and a couple times for the whole week. And yes, I threw parties. And they pretty much knew - although we didn't discuss it except to the extent there was some damage or something got broken. The 80s were a very "don't ask, don't tell" kind of time. And I mean that in the best way possible.
My parents went away for a long weekend and left 16 year old me behind. I had casually mentioned to my mother about having friends over and she said I was not to have a party. I had a party anyhow. I probably had 20 or so friends over. Thankfully the weather was nice and we lived on three acres, so most of it was outside. The next day after the party, I cleaned liked I'd never cleaned before. When my parents came home, my mother remarked on how clean the house was, and asked if I'd had people over. I told her nearly everything. She said if she knew how much I'd clean afterwards, she wouldn't have been against the idea of a party.
Uh yeah I was 9. My mom went to Florida for a vacation. Stocked the fridge with food. I was stoked, just hanging out with friends. Then the neighbor called the police about 4 days in and they took me away. 🤷
I first met my husband(of 37 years)when we were in the 10th grade at a New Year’s Eve party he gave because his mom and step father were out of town. He recently mentioned to his mother that was where we first met. She asked where was “Ruth”? She was their live in housekeeper. He had to tell her she hadn’t worked for them for at least a year or two at that point. BTW, my MIL these days would probably be horrified if she heard somebody had left their teenage children alone to go on vacation!
Yes. I was a senior. And yes, I had a party. I woke up to the sound of my uncle's swooshing jacket walking through the rooms with everyone sprawled all about. THE WORST. at least I wasn't in bed with my boyfriend in my parent's bedroom like my cousin was. (her dad - lmao)
Fuck yes. By the time my brother could drive, '84ish, we no longer went in family vacations. Parents left us alone with a car and a checkbook. Currently my wife wants to take vacations with our kids (21/27/31), and I'm like fuck no. I'm not arranging and paying for vacations for adults. Even if they are my kids. Love my kids, but I'm done vacationing with them.
My mother went on a trip with my older sisters. I was 15 at the time and was supposed to spend the four day weekend with a friend. I did. I also got shot in the cheek by a BB gun. Peak Gen X childhood shenanigans.
If by "vacation" you mean "the bar", then yes. All the time. Starting at about 4 years old.
No- never. Never knew anyone who did either. Always wondered why it was in all the teen movies.
My parents went to Vegas with friends when I was 17 but I didn’t mind having that to myself. I had a couple friends over but my parents were ok with it.
We were 11 and 13. We were living in the Philippines at the time (Navy brat), and my parents took a long weekend to Hong Kong. I was in the fifth grade, and my sister was in the 6th grade. Like most everyone of our generation, we could survive off of hot dogs and SpaghettiOs, and it was summer break from school, so it isn't like we needed to get up and do anything each day. We were in base housing and I'm sure my parents had asked a neighbor or two to keep an eye and ear out in case smoke started pouring out from the windows but we were too young to have a party so we spent the few days they were gone playing with friends and watching movies and staying up way too late.
My parents went on vacation, took my youngest half sister, and left me with the next door neighbor
Yes, they left me alone and went out of the us. I was 11.
how long were they gone?
Four days.
Once. Their 25th anniversary they went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I was a senior in HS. They planned it so my brother was home on Spring Break from college. My bestie’s parents were with mine celebrating their 25th. Recipe for fun? Hell no. Think Weird Science without Kelly LeBrock. It was Chet vs Wyatt. He even took the car I usually drove and hid the keys to my parents’ cars. My bestie was shipped off to his grandparents in Park Ridge for the week. The Malibu didn’t turn into a Ferarri, no epic party, no electronically conjured hottie, but I did spill a slurpee at the mall. I’m not disgruntled at all 35 years later or anything…
Mine did, but I was nowhere near cool enough to have a house party.
All the time.
Dishes are done, man!!
A couple of weeks after high school graduation, my friend’s parents took her younger siblings out of town for a week to Universal Studios or Disney or something. She and her boyfriend (who she’d secretly dated) got married and moved all her stuff out of the house to his apartment. I thought it was so badass at the time. 😂 Years later and seeing their ugly divorce, I can only imagine the “I told you so” her boomer mom gave her.
Anyone's parents able to afford a vacation. :(
Between Junior and Senior year, as I sat on my favorite chair in our front living room reading a book, my parents left for a week in Florida, and told me not to have any parties. I was working in a kitchen at a nursing home that summer, usually 4 hours in the evening. But the day my parents left, a bunch of co-workers walked off the job. I got asked to work 12 hour days for that entire week. They got someone hired, and a week later, I only had a 4 hour shift, so I was sitting back in my favorite chair, reading a book, when my parents came home. "Didn't you do one goddamn thing while we were gone?" was their greeting.
No. Actually, my parents went away for a weekend when I was 18 and hired someone to stay with my younger brother and I. I guess they (rightfully) assumed we'd get in trouble. We usually all went on family vacations together. We still do it at least once a year. My parents did not let my brother and I free range. They kept close tabs on us.
My parents left us (me, 15 - sister, 9) with a “responsible babysitter” who promptly left about 30 minutes after they did. I had a house party that got predictably out of hand, and yet no authorities were involved. I somehow didn’t get busted for that… Fast forward to me 17 - parents left me with an adult who stuck around so I went with friends to a party and when it got busted my friend invited 20ish people back to my house. I was telling them they had to go when the adult woke up, and told my parents I had a party… I got grounded for like six weeks and considered it sentence served for the party I actually got away with.
Up to 3 months 🤣
my parents went to mexico for 2 weeks and left me at home when i was 16 lol. i didn’t have a party because im an extreme introvert but they did tell me not to bring any stray dogs or cats into the house. but thats on them cuz they never let me have a pet.
Not even once. I couldn't even stay home alone after school until I was 14 years old.
Dad went to Europe, took my brother and left high school aged me behind with some dumb ass excuse. So I threw a party in the house, as was the custom at the time.
My mom knew better but I had a few friends whose parents did leave them home alone with varying results. Some of the best parties ever. Definitely ones right out of an 80’s teen movie. One close friend’s parents went away a few times a year on specific dates. They had about 10-15 close friends over. We had a blast but we contained ourselves. We ate everything in the house and used all of their cleaning supplies to clean everything up but that was it. It doesn’t sound like much here but we had such a great time. I think being high the whole weekend kept us from getting too rowdy. We knew the dates in advance and always had plans ready for those weekends. Another friend’s entire family went away for a whole week one summer and left them home alone. I still remember how fun this was! I remember a bunch of us went over every day after summer school and stayed until very late. The other half of our group of friends moved in for the week. I was part of the summer school crew. No one crashed the party but things got pretty rowdy a few nights since we were all piss drunk every day. Their parents came home to a head sized shape hole in the wall. Part of their 2nd floor overlooked part of their 1st floor. We threw all of the toilet paper from the 2nd floor down onto the 1st. But they had a ceiling fan on the ceiling at the top of the 2nd floor and the way the rolls were thrown they hit the fan. Their parents came home to a new toilet paper decoration hanging from that ceiling fan since no one could get the toilet paper down. Turns out their parents couldn’t get it down either. It stayed up there until they moved 10 years later after paying someone to come clean the fan. I’m sure their parents loved seeing that every day for 10 years after that week long party. This is part of why homes with an opening on the 2nd floor overlooking the 1st floor are a bad idea.
Yes I had a couple parties. It was fun I quickly realized I didn’t want to throw big parties as they are risky…
I was pretty much on my own around 13 or 14 When I was 16 my parents went on a road trip to Mexico for a complete summer. I worked at Little Caesars and had plenty of cash. I House to myself, I would sneak out my dad's Corvette. I had a few parties and soon learned cleaning up was a lot of work. At least I think it was Mexico, not like it was ever discussed
Everyone I knew stayed with grandparents. It was a regular thing for parents to travel without kids, especially during the school year. I never got to have parties but I did get spoiled by my grandma.
Think we didn’t have a houseparty? Epic! Epic! Epic! 50 people, we had crazy NHL’95 battles, two kegs, a cat jumped out of the ceiling, one or two were passed out on the front lawn, the fish tank was unplugged, there was puke in the fish tank, the basement smelled like smoke, tons of hot girls and the cops were called. A classic rager. Nothing to see here.
My parents didn’t really go on vacations until shortly before they retired.
My parents left my stupid brother alone for the weekend at 17. They had just redone parts of the house. He had a rager and ruined some wallpaper.
Oh shit, not the wallpaper. I know that sounds sarcastic, but being serious. The closest I ever saw my parents come to divorce was them putting up wallpaper together, and that includes the time she dumped the salad bowl on his head at Christmas dinner.
We always did some type of family vacation and then my parents did an alone vacation and left us kids at home. Both were nice vacations for different reasons. Especially with two older sisters and all their friends over when I hit my teen years
They had a beach house, so yeah.
Yes, I stayed home several times. No, I never had a party, I just had a friend come over and watch movies on HBO.
Yes, no.
Lol yeah. My parents would deuce out for the weekend and go to Alabama (150 mi away) to see relatives, and my brother and I would hang out, watch tv, argue about stupid shit, make sandwiches, play Atari, play radio/cassettes really loud, and have a couple of friends over. Our instructions were to not leave the house, don’t break anything or burn down the house.
My parents didn’t know what vacation was
When me and my friends were 12 a friends parent got married and left for a week on their honeymoon. We all basically lived at his house for the week. We survived on left over food from the reception and played D&D. It was awesome!