In a heart-wrenching decision (for me, anyway), we allowed our teenager to fly -- alone -- from Washington DC to Austin, Texas. For some, that may not have been a big decision and for others, we may seem crazy for letting him do it, but for us, it was a good choice. This poor kid was the best-informed, best-educated, best-prepared, best-prepped passenger on the plane. We spent a great deal of time talking him through every possible scenario, testing him on what he would do in each scenario, and reviewing every single airline policy, procedure, and guideline. We walked him to the very edge of security screening and kept our eyes on him until he absolutely had to enter the waiting area for his flight. We alerted our Texas connection and reminded him to call and text when he landed, when he de-boarded, and when he met up with Uncle Danny in Austin. It was no surprise that he made it there just fine and was happy to make the trip (sort of) alone. My precious teen, ready