RLA

Here is something else to consider for those of you who utilize teens to pet-sit while you are away. In my neighborhood, a teen who was doing this for her neighbor allowed a "few" kids to gather inside the traveler's home whom she had access to feed their pet while they were away. A "few" quickly grew into a hefty party - quickly. When word spread that the police has arrived, someone flicked a cigarette (an alarming amount of teens smoke, if you didn't already know) onto a couch as they fled and the house burnt to the ground.

An awful lot of parties go on in teen homes while parents are away - even so called "good" kids. I do believe there are some kids who would be fine and not allow such. As for your own, the fact that you are hesitant speaks to your intuition. Your kids may be the least likely to have a problem, but I encourage you to follow your intuition whatever it is.

dln

As it is just three nights, and you obviously have the confidence that your teenagers can handle it, do it. We left our 16 year old son alone for two nights when we went to Chicago, three hours away. However, before we left, we told our friends we'd be gone, and asked them to check in. And we alerted the neighbors, giving them our contact phone number, so if they noticed any carousing they could tell us about it! I think if your kids knew the neighbors were keeping an eye on them, they might think twice about throwing wild parties. I worried about my son eating, so we left enough money with him for take-out, and I also left prepared meals that I knew he liked. We called every day, too. I asked how things were going, but I also asked our son to tell us what came in the mail that day, so it didn't appear that we were calling solely because we didn't trust him to behave himself or fend for himself! We had a great trip and it all worked out very well.

ncgrrl

I guess I was 11-12, my brother was 16. I was sent off to a friends house when my parents took their first-ever weekend trip. My brother got to stay alone. The weekend away for may parents ended when the police called. My brother and a couple of his friends did something really stupid. It could have happened at any time, but that's when it happened. My parents didn't take another weekend away trip until I was a junior in college.

Now, when I was in college . . . . One co-worker was housesitting and decided to have a 'gathering' that got out of hand. Boy was the house trashed (and I didn't do it). The house didn't burn down, but furniture was ruined, clothes destroyed, a giant mess. The housesitter, was a 'good' girl from a 'responsible' family.

Jeffdavis

Plan your trip around Queen's Day and take the kids with you. Its one of the biggest parties on Earth. Trust me they'll have a great time.

Tulips

Jeffdavis is right; I do not believe that there is a teenager who would not enjoy himself on Queen's day in Amsterdam (30 April). The entire city turns into an enormous party.
Wether it would be fun for you is another matter! If you are confident they can be left alone at home, perhaps they can be left on their own to explore Amsterdam as well, and you can have dinner together in the evenings.

Retired_teacher

Although our kids are 25+, my husband and I still fly separately as we do not want to risk leaving them with the responsibility of his aging parents as he's an only child. Take a look at different airline flight schedules and I'm sure that you'll find separate flights that will work for you.

isabel

I think the key here is the responsible adult nearby. In the case of the original poster, there is a brother. In other people's cases there is often a friend or close (both literally and figuratively) neighbor who can and will pop in frequently and unexpectedly. As these posts have shown, even "good" kids might find themselves the unwilling hosts of a party if word gets around school that they are alone. If there is some close adult who can be called, or will notice they can be the ones to put a stop to it. They can also be the ones to handle little emergencies like plumbing problems, etc that the kids may not know what to do about.

My husband and I left our 20, 19 and 13 year olds alone for two weeks last summer but I have two very close friends, one directly across the street and one just down the road. They were always popping in (just like they do when I'm home) so while the kids "took care of themselves" there was that adult presence. I wouldn't have done it without that.

cparris

It also might be different leaving them when you are going a 1-3 hour drive away as opposed to across the atlantic. It is still risky though unless you really have good support lined up. I would try to have them either stay with your brother or hire someone to stay at night. It would be well worth the peace of mind it would provide.

cparris

I forgot to add that maybe they would like amsterdam better now that they are older and you could let them go around during the day there themselves. My 16 and 18 year olds had a much better time this summer on our European trip because they were older and could walk around Munich and Vienna by themselves during the day. We didn't force them to go to all the museums we went to. They saw a few. Mostly they did things they wanted to do. Just a thought, although it makes the trip much more expensive.

Cluny

We left our 18-year-old by herself at home for two weeks last year, but she had spent the odd weekend alone over the previous two years. The house was there when we got back, the liquor didn't appear to have been watered, and nothing was broken. I know she had people in, but she also has enough sense of responsibility (and she cares enough about our house and our things) to make sure that it didn't get out of hand.

A solution might be to pay a responsible college student to live in during your time away. They'll be a lot more cool than an adult, but they'll also make sure that the rules are being followed.