Reply to Would you leave your 8th grader with friends to travel with DH?

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Reply to "Would you leave your 8th grader with friends to travel with DH?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I have a lot of friends I trust my kids with. For carpools and sleepovers, and even overnight trips.  But for 2 weeks or a month (your OP says both)? I would not feel comfortable with this. It's a lot to ask of the other family to begin with, even and they might feel compelled to say yes because of your friendship.  But most parents I know are swamped with their own kids during the school year.  Having them wake up, feed, carpool, transport and oversee your kid too?  I would be resentful of adding another kid to our household during the crazier times of the year when DH and I are hardpressed to get our own two kids (on ES and one MS) where they need to be, and to watch their tournaments, performances, etc.

Plus, once kids are old enough to be left with friends, they also need parental guidance and monitoring. You reallywant to leave another parent in charge of a kid who gets in trouble at school (and even the greatest kids do once in a while), has their heart broken by their first BF/GF, screws up on social media, starts to struggle academically with a class, is caught having sex or drinking-- or has a blow up the friend he is crashing with? Not to mention that even great teens have been known to argue, backtalk, sass, not do what they are told.  And you are leaving the displine for this to someone else without parental authority.

No.  I would not put full parenting responsibilities on someone else for more than a long weekend (when I was in the same time zone). And I would not feel comfortable having another parent provide the guidance and discipline for my kid.

If you have a grandparents or other close relative who can stay-- great. Otherwise, sorry. Having kids sucks sometimes. I agree it sounds amazing, and hard to pass up. But, this is one of those times parenting comes before having fun.

That said, it is up to you to decide whether your kid misses school. Just because he doesn't want to doesn't mean he can't (unless it does, like during APs, the SATs etc). Big difference between tacking a few days on to winter break and missing the entire month of May and/or June in HS.  [/quote]

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