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[quote=Anonymous]We have four kids: two boys ages 13 and 11, two girls ages 9 and 7. We're trying to figure out our comfort level with having the boys (collectively or individually) babysit the girls, particularly in the evening. Right now, we're comfortable with leaving the 13yr old to watch the 9 and 7 yr old (either with or without the 11yr old) if it's an hour or two during the day time and we're relatively nearby (as in 15-20 minutes away).

We're thinking about "working up" to having the 13yr old (probably along with the 11yr old) watch the younger siblings while parents go out in the evening together. For example - Saturday evening date night, which in all likelihood will be within 10-15 minutes of home, but might be long enough for dinner, or a movie, or dinner and a movie. We live in a pretty safe community with nearby neighbors we trust.

At what age would you feel comfortable with the older sibling(s) being the babysitter in this scenario?

We haven't talked a lot about leaving the younger kids with older kids if we're a greater distance away (like 30-40 minutes) for a longer period of time (a few hours), but I'm trying to get my head around when is the right time for that as well.

13yr old is a good kid, can be bossy and can get distracted and forget about things like brushing teeth, but is ok on safety. 11 yr old is super responsible and VERY safety/rule conscious. 9 and 7 yr old kids are pretty well behaved and wouldn't actually do much to truly rock the boat, and at most would just annoy their brothers.[/quote]

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