Hell, my parents left me and my siblings alone all the damn time when I was eight! They made sure they put the fear of God in us before they left. Of course they were only goin' out to eat, or down to the local bowling alley, but we did just fine! I should add, when I was eight, I had older sibs around 11 and 12. With my step sibs and us we totaled 9.
Of course nowadays the gubmint is supposed to take care of ya, so I guess, there's no excuse for this mom.