[Tax-chick]

... a mother, who had left her young children in charge of her absent-minded husband one Saturday ...

I leave my kids in charge of their Dad sometimes, but I have to be very subtle about it, or he gets in a snit. I would say that a child has to be at least 12 to adequately manage a Dad.

(Verbal mayhem ping, y'all ... mind your indirect objects!)

[NCSteve]

I would say that a child has to be at least 12 to adequately manage a Dad.

That's about correct for girls. Boys have a narrow age band for managing Dad. At 10 they are pretty good at it, but by the time they are 14, they are liable to be following Dad around and getting into the same trouble rather than managing him.