I let her go on a school trip!

Good for you for letting her go! Sounds like you had all the bases covered, and at 11 she's a big girl and able to start looking out for herself a little more. I bet she's proud of herself, and she should be. congratulations to both of you!

The trip to Ottawa is over. Only problem was I had sent two lones with my daughter in case she needed a drink. She came home with 3 quarters. When I ask her what she bought her response was "Starburst I think?". She purchased candy from a vending machine! Not something that we have ever talked about but something we have never done! We both learned a lesson. I need to be more specific when I give her money. I also need to teach her a view more things about what mommy feels is safe and not safe when on a school trip with out one of her parents. She learned when mommy sends her with alot of food that is all she eats! Good thing school is out !

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Karalot

My daughter is the same age as yours and we live about 2 hours north of Toronto. This year was the first year she went on a field trip without me being one of the chaperones. It was to the Toronto Science Center and she had a blast.

We've had the same problem with vending machines, but my daughter is allowed to buy from them, if the product is something she knows she can have, and the vending machine doesn't have either bags of nuts or pre-packaged cookies. Sometimes these leave crumbs in the dispensing tray of the machine.
She has a list of treats that are OK for her to purchase from these machines and she still reads the labels.

It makes her feel independent.

Last summer we took the plunge and sent our girl away to camp for 10 days. It was a camp I went to when I was a child and they have full-time nursing staff and the kitchen was peanut and nut free. All treats sent from home had to be labelled and distributed by the councillors. The menues were sent to me ahead of time and the day we arrived I inspected the products to make sure nothing suspicious was included. A lot of work, but well worth it. My daughter's self-confidence and self-esteem got a big boost!

It's nice to see there's another mother of a similarly aged child. You give up a lot of control as your child gets older, but you still feel 100% responsible. In some ways, it seems more difficult than when your child totally relies on you to make the decisions.

My daughter's going into Grade 6 and I know she'll want more and more independence and it's a very tough thing to deal with!

Good for you letting her go on her own - it's a big step and one I definitely relate to.