Recently, we marked a special occasion in our home—buying our two ’tween daughters their own keys to the house. Why? My husband and I had decided that the girls were ready to stay home alone.

We I didn’t just wake up one day and come to his home-alone conclusion. Little by little we’d been testing them on their maturity—and their ability to handle situations on their own. Also, we’d bought the girls the American Girl Library book “Staying Home Alone” to help them prepare for the big day, and now they felt they were ready.

If you think your kids are ready to stay home alone, here are some ideas to consider before giving your child a key to the house:

Is she easily spooked?

A child with an overactive imagination, who can’t even stand being on a different floor of the house than the rest of the family, probably won’t do well being in the house by herself. A family pet might help her feel less afraid. However, a nervous dog that barks at every noise might actually have the opposite effect on your kid—making her think that trouble is lurking behind every bark.

Does he understand responsibility?

Ask your child to explain why it’s important to lock the doors or why cooking without an adult around is dangerous. If he can’t explain the reasoning behind each scenario—and you’ve explained them to him in the past, repeatedly—he isn’t ready to stay home alone.

Can she handle a phone call?

Caller ID has made everyone’s life easier, including a child who is home alone. We’ve taught our daughters that if they don’t recognize the name or number that pops up when the phone rings, they should let the call go to voice mail.

How does he react when there is a knock at the door?

You need to take the time to teach him the importance of looking out a window or peep hole first before answering the door. You should model this behavior when you’re home, saying out loud, “Someone’s at the door. Let me see who it is first before I open the door.”

Can she recognize danger or handle an emergency?

If your daughter is the calm, cool and collected one when someone is bleeding, including going to get the first aid kit, then you can probably bet that she’ll be equally calm when faced with an emergency when she’s alone.

Also, does she know what to do in a thunderstorm or to locate the flashlights if you lose power? Make things easier for her by posting emergency phone numbers in an easy-to-reach spot, such as on the refrigerator, or keeping flashlights in a central place.

Do you have a neighbor who can act as a backup?

It’s always ideal to have an adult neighbor your child can call if something happens that she can’t handle or, worse, a house she can go to should there be a fire.

Despite all of your practice and precautions, your child may suddenly decide that he’s not ready to stay home alone after all. That’s OK—and very mature of him to admit that. Let him know that you’ll just try again in a few months.

‹ Besides preparing her daughters to stay home alone, writer Leah Ingram is also teaching them how to grow up green. Read her blog, The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal), at http://suddenly frugal.blogspot.com.

Home Alone Against the Law?

In the classic movie “Home Alone,” Macaulay Culkin’s character is accidentally left home alone when his parents leave on a trip without him.

Those parents are lucky their story, which is set in a Chicago suburb, is fictional, because Illinois is one of only two states that makes it illegal to leave an older child home alone.

According to the National Child Care Information Center, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, Illinois’ state law says that it is illegal to leave a child under age 14 alone for an unreasonable amount of time.

Maryland has a similar law but it applies to younger children—you’ll be in trouble for leaving a child age 8 and younger alone.

For the most up-to-date information on leaving children home alone, visit the NCCIC Web site at www.nccic.org/poptopics/homealone.html.