Just a touch of freedom

Joshua is now 10.5 years old. Just a month or so ago, Doug and I began to leave him home alone. First it was with just Andrea and they did school for the 10 minutes I took at the grocery store. After a few weeks, I left the three oldest at home while Sarah and I ran to pick something up at Wal Mart. This past week, Sarah has been quite sick and has been sleeping at times that I'd have to run out and bring kids somewhere. Since Joshua was still sick on a day that Andrea had to go to ballet, and Sarah was sleeping, I left him in the care of the two little girls for 30 minutes. Driving home after leaving Andrea, I took a deep breath and enjoyed the quiet ride home... alone. When I arrived back at the house, Joshua and Arianna were still in the same spots watching cartoons and Sarah was still sound asleep. It is nice knowing that he can hold down the fort for a short time while I run out and I don't have to pack up all four kids just to run 10 minutes out for milk. I know for sure that by the time I was 10 years old, I was watching my three younger siblings while my parents went to Bible study once a week. Now, I'm not ready to head to Edmonton alone yet, but it's nice knowing my oldest kiddo is getting responsible enough for me to leave.