DD babysitting

[a8263]

Would you leave your DD15 to look after your DS8 if they were both reasonably sensible? And if so, what's the longest you'd leave them for?

My Mum thinks I'm being unreasonable to consider doing this!

15? Of course I would. I used to babysit for neighbours at the same age.

Yes, absolutely. The age gap between my two is the same and I did this. I would leave them for the evening, keeping in touch by phone.

Absolutely I would! I know people who had their own baby, as a single parent, at 16 and did a great job.
I was babysitting for half the village before I was 15 and absolutely I cared for those children.

Yes. At 15 I was regularly babysitting for a family who had 3 young children including a young toddler. I prepared food for them all, kept them all entertained and put them all to bed. An 8 year old in comparison to that is a breeze, your mum is being OTT!

Of course

I think my mum is worried because DD doesn't have huge amounts of patience with her brother, although she would never hurt him / let anything happen to him.

You should probably have mentioned that in your OP.

I was actually wondering if there was a reason your mum thinks you're being unreasonable to consider it.

Yes absolutely - an afternoon or an evening.

@worraliberty Yes I probably should have!

She's never mean to him though, just finds him a little annoying sometimes.

Thats just normal sibling relationships, bickering and winding each other up, mine are the same , but behave nicer to each other when I'm out.
I left my oldest in charge or the younger 2 from around 14 years old.

What does your DD do when she finds your DS annoying? What is your DS doing that your DD finds annoying?

The ages alone are not the way to make the decision - it matters how they interact and what they will do.

Yes I would.

@carefullycourageous She just gets a bit huffy and on occasion, snappy with him. I don't think he doesn't anything to wind her up specifically, it seems to be more the normal brother and sister bickering. They never touch each other or have major arguments.

In that case I think it is OK to try. I'd start with short stretches.

Assuming neither of your kids is a danger to themselves and/or each other, pretty standard for a 15-year-old to babysit siblings.