I was wondering how to handle this.  I have a 9 year old SWCAH son and an almost 12 year old non CAH daughter.  Our daughter is very responsible and mature and we are starting to leave her home for very small periods to "break" her into it slowly.  We are actually in the process of signing her up for a baby-sitting certification course.  I’m thinking of this because yesterday I had a doctors appointment that was no more than a mile from our house and I left both my kids home with the typical instructions.  I even spoke with them twice in the 40 minutes that I was gone.  But it got me wondering about as they get older and if he ever went into a crisis while they were together or he was home alone.  I obviously would never leave him alone now but I’m speaking more like when he might be 15, 16 ish.  How do those of you that have children this age deal with this?

Thanks for any input you may offer.

Judy