It's one thing to have a teen watch your 10-yr-old for 5 hours while you have date night with your partner. But the teen would need to be very "grown up" to handle staying there and house sitting for more than a night or two. It also depends on the kid. But really, I don't even think that most apartment dwelling adults would be suitable for handling an extended stay in my absence. I swear that every time I take a trip for more than a week something crazy happens. It could be an unexpected ice storm that makes branches fall, a heat wave that threatens my plants, the neighbor's dog gets loose and escapes into the back yard and can't get back out, a fox has babies under the deck, etc... You name it. It's happened while I've been away.

Our friends did this 5 years ago. The teen smoked out front and threw the cigarette in a flower pot on front porch. The house burned completely to the ground. Teen made it out, but friend lost everything including dog

Anonymous wrote:If you have known the kid and family for years, I would. Just based on a recommendation, no.

I prefer a responsible adult, to handle the unexpected.

Adults are many times worse - they will defile your bathroom, sleep in your bed, wear your clothes, etc. and there’s nothing you can do. With a kid, you can tell their parents.

If you have known the kid and family for years, I would. Just based on a recommendation, no.

I prefer a responsible adult, to handle the unexpected.

Anonymous wrote:As long as you set some ground rules. Let him have a party at the house as long as he cleans up. Let him hook up with his girl - as long as it’s not on your master bed. Etc.

Wasn’t there a house sitter who was doing this stuff?

Nope. Take your dog to the kennel, close up the house and 5urn off the water.

Anonymous wrote:I think depending on the kid, yes, but as a parent of a kid that age, I'll say that between school and activities, my kid is not home enough to provide good dog care. Plus I think it would be lonely and weird for him to sleep in another house--it would be for me, especially if you aren't there during daylight hours.

Sorry, just saw it's for this summer. I don't know. I think kids, even good ones, tend to push boundaries the summer before college. Also, even a responsible kid likely isn't experienced enough with houses to be a great housesitter. If the dog got sick, or the dishwasher leaked, for example, I'm not sure my kid would know how to handle it. So if something unusual happened, figuring out what to do would fall to the kid's parent, and I personally am not that interested in taking that on, unless we are good friends/neighbors.

I think depending on the kid, yes, but as a parent of a kid that age, I'll say that between school and activities, my kid is not home enough to provide good dog care. Plus I think it would be lonely and weird for him to sleep in another house--it would be for me, especially if you aren't there during daylight hours.

Since she's a trusted babysitter and is presumably agreeable, I would be comfortable as the home owner. I have a kid exactly that age and they probably would not want to do it for two weeks--too lonely and too much responsibility for someone who has never lived on their own before. As a parent, I'd be a little uncomfortable unless the house was within a block or so.

If you trust this person to watch your children, you should trust them with your house and dog.

I have two teens, neither would have friends over or parties. One would be responsible and could handle this. The other one is more scattered and I would not trust to do this for two weeks.

How far away do the parents live?

It would really depend on the type of person that he/she is.

Under most circumstances I would not think this would be a good idea - mostly because I remember how I was at that age (Lol) but I know there are some very responsible people in that age group so it would really depend on the type of person overall.

No way