Jane's Posts

Sep 01 1998 12:00 am

[is age 10 old enough to fly alone]

My daughter just turned 11 yo. She has been flying back and forth across the country alone since she turned 9 yo.

This is what works for us:

-Get non-stop flights. If it is absolutely necessary, direct will do, but it is much harder on a child because it keeps them cooped up longer.
-Pay the $30 for the escort.
-Buy her a Vogue.
-Make sure she has her cds and walkman, two books, a notebook, and a game boy (but NO NAIL POLISH) in her carry on.
-Try to schedule long enough visits that your daughter is ready to come home when the visit is over. I have my daughter in year round school so that she can go back for at least 3 weeks, 3 times a year. If she comes back in less than 2 weeks, she feels bad about leaving her dad. OTOH, if she were visiting more often, a shorter period would do. She would probably be happiest with about 4 days/mo there.

I would never even remotely consider flying her back for a weekend. (Actually, I would if her dad or one of her brothers were getting married.) I would, however, let her take a few days extra off school at Thanksgiving or another holiday to stretch things to a week.

Incidentally, she loves to fly, altho she would prefer to fly first class. She loves to go see her dad, and she loves to come home.

jane

P.S. I don't think you are overly protective. I do this regularly, but it still kills me to realize that my baby is all alone, way up in the sky, thousands of miles from either one of us. (Meanwhile, she's having a ball feeling all grown up.)