Lisa Twaronite Sone comments

... leaving him alone this way was extremely illegal, and had there been a problem in your absence the authorities would not have been sympathetic to your rationale.

This is Japan. Leaving a child home alone is not "extremely illegal." I frequently left my kids home alone when I worked, so my son was comfortable with the responsibility of taking care of himself from a young age. There is no law here against leaving children unattended -- the woman in this article was arrested on suspicion of neglect because she did it for two weeks and the power was cut off, which sound like extreme circumstances.

Had there been an emergency, trusted neighbors & my son's school were aware he was alone. Authorities would not have had to be "sympathetic" to me because what I did broke no laws.

In the US, I would very likely have been arrested, but this is not the US.

Sorry about your mother, but that still doesn't sound ok. I'd have taken him with me or at the very least asked one of his friends parents if they could watch him.

I did ask him if he wanted me call one of his friend’s mothers to stay over at their place, but he told me he wanted to sleep in his own bed. He also pointed out it would be easier for him to walk our dog in the morning before school if he was at home.

I felt worst about him being alone when I gave him the news that his grandma had died. He reacted stoically on the phone but said he later started crying at school. I regret not waiting until I got back to tell him. But I have no regrets about leaving him home alone in a family emergency -- I wouldn't have felt safe doing that if we had been in the US.

 You left the country and left your 11 y/o alone? Seriously? For how long?

He was 12. Just for a few days -- I left him money for food, and he went to school every day. My spouse was working overseas at the time, and our older kids just happened to be away on trips. It wasn't planned -- I got sudden news that my mother was dying and I took the first flight I could get (but unfortunately got there 3 hours too late).

Yeah, a third grader is too young to be alone that long, even in this country. But I once left my sixth grader home alone when I had to rush back to the US, and everything was fine, fortunately.

The poor mother -- she was probably in shock from giving birth! I hope she gets the help she clearly needs, and is well enough to be reunited with her baby someday.