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Child in Charge
Is Your Child Ready to Care for Siblings? By Heather V. Long
Babysitting and staying home alone aren't always just about maturity and security, but also about being prepared. The ultimate responsibility of the parent is to prepare them for life. Staying home alone and looking after others is a part of that preparation. Parents don't want to just throw their kids into the deep end of the pool, however.
A good measure of knowing when a child is ready to look after others or even to stay home for short stints by themselves is to judge the child's experience and abilities individually. Some kids are ready by the time they are 10, and some won't be ready when they are 20.
Another good key is to check out classes like "Safe Sitter" and "Alone at Home." "You know, I'm a certified educator, and I tell my daughter things all the time," says Jornsay-Hester. "Then she'll come and say, 'Hey Mom, the teacher said the same thing you did. You got it right!' Sometimes kids just need to hear the same information from a different authority figure to make it 'real' for them in a way maybe Mom and Dad can't."
Preparing for Emergencies
