As a grandmother myself, I was happy (and honoured to be trusted)to mind my grandson last summer, while my daughter and husband went away. He was not quite 2 at the time. I think we all approached it with a little trepidation but all worked out fine. We had a great time with our grandson, he loved it and his parents had a well earned rest and some adult time together. He was thrilled to see them when they got back but didn't fret while they were away and his parents appreciated their time together. It has further cemented our relationship with our grandson, who often stays over at weekend.

Go, have a great time and don't feel guilty!

People often forget how important having a good marriage is to the happiness of their children.

Go and have a wonderful anniversary trip. Let your child bond with grandma while you and your husband have some romantic time alone. All this will be good for your family.

We always go somewhere for our anniversary without the children. I think it's actually easier leaving a 15-month-old than 2 teenagers just to give it some perspective!

gruezi

<i>See, not everyone's odds of dying in a vehicle are the same.</i>

Certainly. But I would think that most still have a much, much higher chance of dying in a vehicle than dying on a plane. Personally, I suggest not worrying too much about either risk.

Well, FWIW, one company I worked with did not allow &quot;key&quot; employees to fly to conventions or business trips on the same plane. It was a scramble for the company travel agent to find so many business class seats on different flights to the same destination over the same time period. Plus the fact most of them did not want to fly the country's &quot;flagship&quot; carrier.

OTOH, it was disconcerting for the employees who were told they could all fly together. To them, the company was saying: no problem, you don't matter much to us anyway!

<i>Well, FWIW, one company I worked with did not allow &quot;key&quot; employees to fly to conventions or business trips on the same plane.</i>

I think this is relatively common. My company has a similar requirement.

Perhaps the woman described in the OP works for one such company and has simply gotten used to that mindset. In that case, while it's not a question I would ever ask, it doesn't shock me that this woman did.

Re the comments about parents leaving their children for some alone time: my parents did not have much money, but every once in a while they could get away for a weekend out of town to visit one of my mother's brothers or one of Dad's friends from when he was in the service during WW II. They would leave us with relatives of Dad's--one to each household. I remember those times as great fun! Part of it was being the only child and queen of the household; part of it was being out of the routine; part of it was there were different playthings at other houses.

It was always good to see my parents once again, but 60 years on, I remember those visits as wonderful!

I am also grateful to my brother and his wife for trusting me with their dear children when they went off for a few days, for letting them come here for a three week visit each summer, for letting me take them on trips to Europe on my own.

I am also grateful to my sister for realizing that I was too &quot;structured&quot; for her children and not leaving them with me.

So, thereadbaron, go and enjoy that 10th! May you have many more!

Since most people die in bed, I will start asking couples with children, &quot;You aren't sleeping together, are you?&quot; :)

wow - I cant believe how many responses!

Save 1 or 2 people, the response has been so positive. I think I will go ahead and snag those AA tickets before they are gone. :)

But maybe stay just 6 nights instead of 7 ;)

AS someone who was in a horrific car accident when I was 5 months old with my parents-my dad was killed instantly and my mom has had over 50 years of medical problems as a result of it...I say this!

I fly overseas everyweek for the airlines and I sure feel alot safer on an airplane than with the idiots on the road.Go together on the same plane and ignore the &quot;idiots&quot;-you will have a wonderful trip with great memories and your child will have a terrific time being spoiled by the nanny and grandma!

Along those same lines, I had rather young clients with two young sons who always flew separately. But they too had a very serious car accident one night less than a mile from their house. It kind of put it all in perspective for them and they've flown together ever since. Ignore these boors who think it is any of their business anyway.

Hi thereadbaron, don't cut one night off of your trip. With no doubt a bit of jetlag on arrival you will want the seven nights. Get those tickts and enjoy planning your 10th anniversary trip!

As loveItaly said, don't cut one night off your trip! Go end enjoy!

Ignore them. A happy marriage makes happy children. :)

I've left my kids (just a few months ago) and it was difficult to leave. But I also had a fantastic time.

Do not cut your vacation short! Enjoy every moment. Your baby will be waiting for you when you return.

Do the executives whose company splits them up to fly commute in a carpool?

One response is that flying separately, you double your chances of something happening to one of you.

The fear is irrational, the chances of getting hurt on the way to the airport have to be greater than on the plane.

That said, my husband and I flew separately (and we weren't traveling much once he got out of the military), until our sons were over 21. The main reason was that we didn't want to have any of our relatives be their guardians!

Though I wouldn't do it myself, I wouldn't ever comment on some other couple flying together.

So if you do have good caretakers, both temporary and long term, and if you have up-to-date legal paper and a cell phone that works in Europe (check!), you will do fine -- have a good trip!

&quot;One response is that flying separately, you double your chances of something happening to one of you.&quot;

What a great response. Why didn't I ever think of that?

go go go and have a wonderful guilt free celebration with your husband.
i faced the same dilemna on my 10th anniversary. i was torn between leaving my then 8 month old with my parents and bringing back the romance in my marriage.
just as lot of other posts, i would advice having a living trust drawn with specific instructions as to guardian ship and physical and financial care of your child. i did it just for peace of mind.
you will come back rejuvenated and delighted to see the growth and change in your child.

Back in 1962, a plane crashed at Orly Field in Paris, with 122 members of the Atlanta Arts Association on board. I believe this included several married couples. In the following years, it was pretty common for Atlanta people to fly separately from their family members. Although the odds are overwhelmingly against it, Atlantans had seen that small chance happen. I know my in-laws always flew separately, and they were an airline family.

That being said, I've always thought it was an unnecessary hassle, backed up without much logic. My husband and I have always flown together for our 28 years of marriage. And I would never dream of asking that question to someone about to travel. But so many people are irrationally afraid of flying.

''One response is that flying separately, you double your chances of something happening to one of you.''

Actually it doesn't. To get the correct risk of you both being affected by incidents in separate aircraft, you have to multiply together the chances of each one of you being an accident, which will give you a smaller, not larger 'risk'. The chances of each one of you being in an accident remain the same - the chances of both of you being affected are minute.